Insights on game-based learning for educating on environmental protection and sustainable development

Earth’s life-supporting system is on the verge of falling into non-Holocene-like conditions since humanity continues to have unsustainable behaviors. Humans are poorly involved in protecting the earth’s natural systems and must transform their socioeconomic and cultural practices. Education for sustainable development (ESD) can facilitate these transformations by directing change into a sustainable path. Game-based learning has emerged as a promising tool in ESD, showing effectiveness in analog and digital formats. Bibliometric analyses can reveal insights into future research on shifting human practices through education. Sample was assembled (n = 463) and analyzed using RStudio, Microsoft Excel, and statistical package for the social sciences. Results indicate that the quantity of literature is increasing exponentially (coefficient of determination R2 = 0.940). While quality standards adopt a decreasing trend through time (β = -0.707, p = 0.001, R2 = 0.754) and correlate negatively with literature accumulation (r = -0.625, Τ = -0.487, ρ = -0.615, p 0.05). Multi-correspondent analysis showed conceptual gaps in the literature on ocean literacy, climate change and circular economy subtopics. Digital learning environments account for most reports (n = 311, 67.2%) compared with analog ones (n = 132, 28.5%) or hybrid (n = 20, 4.3%). Digital environments unit good evidence albeit they should not constitute the total period of training. Meanwhile, bibliometric analysis traces a comprehensive map and, at the same time, contributes to the discussion around procedures and metrics for assessing the literature.