In this dissertation we take an inductive approach to LBG design by gathering evidence from popular commercial LBGs with six original research articles (Studies I-VI). Understanding phenomena related to LBGs is important for various stakeholders from game designers to urban designers and educators. Since then, new games such as Jurassic World: Alive, The Walking Dead: Our World and The Witcher: Monster Slayer have emerged. In 2016, Pokémon GO brought the LBG genre into spotlight by being downloaded hundreds of millions of times and generating over 4 billion USD in lifetime revenue to date. The earliest academic studies on location-based games (LBGs) were conducted in the early 2000’s, but the recent upsurge in the popularity and success of commercial LBGs has created a need to re-examine the genre in light of new empirical evidence. The review aims to (1) explore the various ways each strategy is implemented on mobile-based PTs for PA and SB, (2) evaluate the effectiveness of different ways of implementing the PSs on mobile-based PT interventions for PA and SB, (3) provide a comparison of the different ways of implementing each PS, (4) show the weaknesses and strengths of the interventions based on the strategies and implementations, (5) highlight the limitations and pitfalls of the existing research, and (6) give recommendations and directions for future research. This paper provides a systematic review of 16 years of research from 2006 to 2021. Thus, the use of mobile technology to deliver PT interventions has dramatically increased, especially for promoting PA and reducing sedentary behavior (SB) by employing various persuasive strategies (PSs). Research has revealed the capabilities of digital technology interventions such as persuasive technologies (PTs) for providing health support and encouraging healthy behavior changes to assist people in preventing chronic diseases and having healthier lifestyles. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as spending too many hours sitting and inadequate physical activity (PA) can contribute to different chronic diseases. The results of the study presented in this paper shed light on how differences in users' lifestyle can be related to exergame enjoyment and to attitude change fostered by the exergame. Second, we wanted to introduce important measures (such as users' attitude towards walking) in the evaluation of exergames, by adopting validated questionnaires employed in the medical literature. To this purpose, we propose a location-based version of the classic Snake mobile game, in which users can control the snake by walking. First, we wanted to design a fun and easy-to-use mobile exergame to encourage walking. The research we present in this paper had two main goals.

Different mobile exergames have been proposed in the literature, and typically evaluated with informal interviews and ad-hoc questionnaires. Mobile devices are an interesting platform for exergames because they can support outdoors activities such as walking and running. Exergames (video games that combine exercise and play) could encourage physical activity by making it more enjoyable.

Classic snake games