LOOP: A Transversal Framework for Game-Based Learning Analysis and Design

LOOP is a transversal framework for analyzing and designing game-based learning, developed at the University of Caen Normandy since 2017. It is organized around seven dimensions (Ludicity, World, Mechanics, Experience, Values, Accessibility, and Transformation) and is intended as a reflective scaffold rather than a prescriptive standard for success. Its central argument is that existing approaches, including MDA, LM-GM, CEPAJe, and critical or ethical frameworks, each capture part of the picture but none jointly integrate structural, experiential, ethical, and deployment-context considerations.

The framework is supported by three exploratory studies. A qualitative analysis of 372 analog games by 28 analysts found thematic alignment ranging from 93% for Ludicity to 51% for Transformation. A process-based diagnostic review of 24 educator-led projects flagged Mechanics (23 of 24) and Accessibility (24 of 24) as the most frequent weaknesses. A generative study of 47 game creations produced through LOOP-structured game jams examined how the framework shapes design output. The findings are explicitly descriptive: alignment percentages are not reliability coefficients, the results are not chance-corrected, and they do not extend to digital or virtual reality formats. The work makes no claim about learning effectiveness, and the author acknowledges the self-validation risk inherent in developer-conducted evaluation.

The concluding portion consists largely of bibliographic material spanning game studies, serious games research, game design theory such as MDA and DDE, and educational motivation literature including self-determination theory. Key references include systematic reviews of serious game evidence and a recent scoping review of digital serious game design frameworks, alongside the earlier publication introducing the LOOP device. Taken together, the work presents LOOP as a promising but early-stage analytical tool whose empirical validation remains to be established through independent and outcome-focused research.