A Systematic Literature Review on Non-Player Characters Actions and Characteristics in Serious Games for Cyber Security Education

Cyber security has become a growing concern for an increasing number of organizations, many of which are investing significant resources to address the issue. Cyber security education, based on serious games, can enhance learners’ interest, motivation and engagement. Players’ gaming experience, enjoyment and immersion can also be enhanced by the implementation of non-player characters (NPCs) into serious games. The present systematic review was based on the updated PRISMA guidelines and identified 28 papers, each one referring to a different serious game with one or more NPCs. The actions, characteristics, roles and educational benefits NPCs can offer in the context of serious games for cyber security education were examined, as well as the evaluation methods and data collection techniques researchers used. The analysis of the results revealed that NPCs supported players during the game by providing them with feedback, guidance and encouragement primarily through verbal communication and also that NPCs have the potential to increase players’ interest. The evaluation methods and data collection techniques used in serious games for cyber security education involved mostly qualitative and quantitative data collection methods with pre-, in-, and post-game activities, focusing mainly on target users and less on the comparison of the control and experimental groups. The development of a comprehensive classification of NPCs’ actions and characteristics could help fill the gap identified in the literature and could be useful for researchers and designers aiming to implement NPCs into serious games for cyber security education.