A Review of Serious Games for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)

This paper reviews 40 serious games designed for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and these games/studies are classified into four categories; technology platform, computer graphics, gaming aspect and user interaction. Moreover, the paper discusses serious games designed for the improvement of communication skills and social behavior, social conversation, imaginative skills, sensory integration and learning accounts in ASD children. The children usually interact with these games by ordinary IO (input/output) e.g. keyboard and mouse or touchscreen tools. Previous researches show the effectiveness of playing serious games on mobiles or tablet devices in helping ASD children to express their feelings and improve the level of engagement with others. However, there are limitations in designing games for helping autistic children with sensory processing disorder (SPD), improving imaginative play, and teaching first aid. Further, there is not much research that addresses repetitive behavior in ASD children.