Eco Tetris: A Serious Game on Sustainability

Eco Tetris is a serious game designed to build recycling habits and environmental awareness, particularly among older adults. Developed by researchers at the Games, Interaction and Learning Technologies group of the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto in Portugal, the game adapts the classic Tetris format so that players sort falling garbage into color-coded recycling bins. It adds card collecting, multiplayer play, and geo-referenced beacons that link in-game activity to real recycling points, where augmented reality content offers positive reinforcement and environmental information. The authors position the project within broader sustainability agendas, including the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and argue that individual behavior change depends on knowledge, infrastructure, and incentives.

The paper's literature review frames recycling as a persistent collective action problem, noting that awareness does not always translate into action and that household recycling carries real time costs. It draws on prior serious games such as Keep Cool, Climate Mission 3D, and PEAR to argue that engaging, immersive games can improve sustainability knowledge and, in some cases, pro-environmental attitudes. The authors cite these works as supporting evidence rather than presenting new empirical data on Eco Tetris itself.

The design section describes a four-layer software architecture, a deployment model using GPS, camera, and Bluetooth on mobile devices, and a dynamic difficulty adjustment system that responds to correct and incorrect placements. Evaluation relies on the Quantitative Evaluation Framework, which scores functionality, adaptability, and usability against requirements derived from ISO 9126 and SCORM, with some criteria assessed through quality assurance tests and user surveys. The document does not report survey sample sizes, user test results, or measured changes in recycling behavior, so the game's effectiveness remains a proposed outcome rather than a demonstrated one. The authors acknowledge that further testing, wider deployment, and partnerships for beacon installation are needed, and they suggest future adaptation for classroom use with younger players.