Who Learns from City Games? Examining the Role of Motivation, Personality, and Experience

Abstract

The growing popularity of escape rooms has led to the emergence of various adaptations of the escape game concept (The Economist, 2019). One such variation is the city game, which extends the escape game format by distributing puzzles throughout an urban environment. While city games share core mechanics with escape rooms, such as puzzle-solving, teamwork, and time constraints, they differ in key ways (Veldkamp et al., 2020). Unlike traditional escape rooms, which take place in a controlled, enclosed setting, city games integrate real-world locations into their design, encouraging players to navigate and interact with their surroundings as part of the experience. This shift from a confined space to an open environment allows for greater exploration and immersion, often incorporating elements of local history, culture, or education into the gameplay. In this way, city games can be seen as an evolution of escape rooms, blending structured play with the dynamic and unpredictable nature of urban spaces. Because of this, city games are often designed to promote learning about specific themes within a city. However, research on players, gameplay, and learning opportunities in city games remains limited.