How Award-Winning Research from Portugal is Showing the Positive Power of Video Games
Plus, a look back on the achievements of eGames Lab in 2024
Welcome to the sixth edition of Games From Portugal, a monthly publication that brings you the latest updates and news stories from Portugal's video game development sector and creative industries. This newsletter is brought to you by eGames Lab, a unique e-games development and creative industries cluster in Portugal.
This month, we examine two award-winning academic projects from eGames Lab researchers investigating the positive impact video games can have on everyday life. These projects include two VR exergames for boosting fitness and wellbeing, as well as a transmedia project on how interactive media can enhance education.
Meanwhile, as we enter the New Year, we look back on the many accomplishments of eGames Lab’s consortium over 2024. There’s plenty to celebrate: from a unique sound-based relaxation app, an entertaining mobile game improving our recycling habits, and even Portugal’s first-ever Pavillion at Gamescom.
How Video Games Can Enhance Everyday Life: Breakthrough Research from Portugal
Every day, millions of people across the globe jump into their favourite video games to be entertained and immersed. But the level of interaction and focus that video games demand means they’re capable of much more than just being a hobby; they’re also a highly effective way to enhance our learning and expand our skill sets.
The researchers at eGames Lab know that better than most. They have been hard at work throughout the past 12 months launching research projects investigating the positive impact games can have on our lives.
Below, we look at two projects recognised with prestigious industry awards:
“Assessing Physical Activity Levels While Playing Virtual Reality Exergames: A Pilot Study,” by Mário Teixeira, Hildegardo Noronha, Pedro F. Campos and Cíntia França. Awarded the Best Poster Award at the 12th International Conference on Sport Sciences
“Where’s the Finance?: A Transmedia Storytelling Experience to Engage Young Adults in Financial Educational Content,” by Constança Freitas, Ana Santos, Paulo Bala, Pedro F. Campos, and Mara Dionísio. Awarded the Best Paper Award at the 17th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling.
What Impact Can Virtual Reality Exergames Have On Fitness?
Playing video games and losing hundreds of calories without ever leaving the living room is an enticing prospect that developers have been experimenting with for decades.
The first “exergames” (video games that combine physical activity with entertainment by tracking body movement or reactions) emerged in the 1980s, such as Nintendo’s Power Pad for the NES and Foot Craz for the Atari. Exergames hit the mainstream once Nintendo released the Wii in 2006, which saw families worldwide gather in the living room to bowl in Wii Sports or hop on their Wii Fit Balance Boards.
Thanks to virtual reality, exergames are now set to take the next stage in their evolution, with titles like Beat Saber and Synth Riders combining full-screen immersion with highly active gameplay. But just how can virtual reality games fit into a healthy, active lifestyle?
Mário Teixeira, Hildegardo Noronha and Cíntia França from the University of Madeira and LARSYS, Interactive Technologies Institute, alongside Pedro F. Campos from WowSystems, are looking to answer that question. The group recently conducted a Pilot Study, Assessing Physical Activity Levels While Playing Virtual Reality Exergames, that analysed the experiences of five healthy adults playing VR exergames.
Each participant played two custom-built titles for 20 minutes (40 minutes in total). The first was a dance game where players scored points by hitting colour-coded virtual obstacles timed to the beat of the music. The other game focused on skiing: players hurtled down a virtual snow-covered mountain, physically moving to steer left and right and even jumping and ducking to avoid obstacles.

Participants were tracked using heart rate and physical activity monitors as they played. The data collected revealed that users spent around 65% of their playtime being light or moderately active, with feedback indicating that the snow skiing game required the most exertion.
“These results show that, while these games cannot replace a traditional approach to exercise, they can diversify the process,” says Cíntia França, Researcher at the Interactive Technologies Institute. “The feedback that we received was really good. Participants said they would like to use it more often and that the games were easy to play.”
França also says that VR exergames could benefit individuals who struggle to exercise outdoors, such as those with medical conditions or people with limited mobility who lack the autonomy to leave their homes.

Of course, this is only a pilot study, so there’s still much more to learn about VR games' potential health benefits. Looking further ahead, França and her team are developing a VR exergame for older adults and just completed the initial testing phase with participants last week.
"We're aiming to explore how different types of gamified physical activities compare in terms of calorie expenditure and intensity,” says Franca. “Specifically, we want to understand what someone gets from a regular physical activity class versus what they might get from a VR-based exercise game.”
She adds: “The big challenge with commercial games is that they don’t replicate a regular fitness class – they’re often just random games you play. But if you have a structured and logical program, you can start making valid comparisons. As of now, we don’t have much data on this. One or two studies have tried something similar, but the literature on this topic is still limited. So, this is something we hope to investigate further with this new project."
Level Up Your Finances: How Gamification Can Teach Us Better Money Management
Managing money effectively has never been more important in today's challenging economic climate. Yet, financial literacy – understanding the basics of budgeting, saving, investing and managing debt – remains a skill many people lack.
Until now, those looking to enhance their financial management skills have opted for traditional learning methods, such as classroom-based courses, books or videos. However, Constança Freitas, a Research Scholar at eGames Lab, believes that there’s a much more effective way to improve financial literacy: gamification.
To test this theory, Freitas, in collaboration with researchers from ITI-LARSys, the University of Madeira and Wow!Systems, spearheaded an innovative research project titled Where’s the Finance: A Transmedia Storytelling Experience to Engage Young Adults in Financial Literacy.
The project involved developing a suite of transmedia products aimed at teaching financial literacy to young adults through interactive experiences. These tools were then evaluated for effectiveness with a targeted sample group, with participants tested on their financial literacy before and after the project.
The products themselves were split into two categories. Concept A, Financial Frenzy, focused more on learning as part of a group and was divided into a board game, a mobile app and a social media profile. Concept B, “Where’s the Finance?” took a more personalised approach, allowing users to move at their own pace. It consisted of a web game, a colouring book and another social media page.
Following the project, the results showed that Freitas's theory was right on the money, with most participants showing at least a slight increase in their financial literacy. Concept B stood out as particularly effective, with participants who interacted with the web game achieving perfect scores on their post-activity questionnaires.
Participants also gave feedback on their experience with the products as a whole. For example, many users stated that they enjoyed learning in this format and then applying their knowledge, while others had more specific suggestions, like adding in-game incentives.
After an initial round of feedback, the team decided to hone in on the web game, as it offered the richest narrative potential, and make some improvements. The redesigned project features five main characters, each facing a unique financial challenge, which players must find the solution to on the in-game map.
“For example, one of the characters is a grandma who doesn't have a retirement savings plan and has some struggles, and she teaches this to her granddaughter,” Freitas says. “Her granddaughter has to make her own plan, so the player must find some papers across the map, each of which are different savings plans. The player learns she can take higher risks as she’s young, as she has more time to recover if things go wrong.”
Alongside her team, Freitas hopes to continue developing the game and further investigate its positive impact on education.
eGames Lab in 2024: Reflecting on a Year of Growth in Portugal’s Gaming Sector
While 2024 was challenging for the global games industry, Portugal’s rising video game sector was a much-needed bright spot that went from strength to strength. Its continued success is expected only to grow, with projections estimating that it will be worth upwards of $292 million by the end of 2025.
Helping to drive this momentum is eGames Lab, a unique games development and creative industries cluster spread across Portugal comprising 22 entities (14 micro and small companies, two scientific organisations, and six public and private institutions).
Throughout 2024, the consortium worked together to position the region as a global leader in the video game industry – showcasing Portugal’s knowledge and achievements at some of the industry’s biggest events, launching innovative products available worldwide, working on award-winning research, and strengthening partnerships with international partners.
Latest Releases From the eGames Lab Consortium
The eGames Lab consortium launched various products and initiatives throughout 2024, but three products in particular highlighted Portugal’s combined creativity and expertise.
The first came from WalkMe Solutions, a Madeira-based developer that has released over 15 puzzle and trivia games on mobile. As part of its ongoing partnership with eGames Lab, the studio was given a new challenge: to develop a mobile game that was not only fun to play but would also educate about the importance of sustainability.
That challenge resulted in Waste Rush, released onto the iOS and Google Play stores early last year. In the game, players control a vehicle or character responsible for collecting garbage along a track and learn handy tips for becoming more sustainable in the real world along the way.
Another project that caught the attention of many was FootAR. This free mobile app revolutionises live sports viewing by overlaying real-time data (such as player statistics and game analytics) onto a digital recreation of the football pitch using augmented reality. Fans can use it to relive every goal, track every pass, and stay connected with live updates, AR-enhanced visuals, and social interactive capabilities.
FootAR launched at the perfect time too, landing right around the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship. Two notable Portuguese media organisations, GMG (Jornal de Notícias) and SportsMultimedia (VSports), even integrated the app into their coverage.
Last but not least, Infinity Games – whose portfolio of mobile games has amassed more than 250 million downloads – released its new relaxation companion app, Chill. While many mindfulness apps are available on the mobile market, Chill is unique in that it focuses on haptics and sounds.
Users can add ambiances like rain and birdsong to their favourite songs, which are professionally captured and recorded by Infinity Games’ foley experts. They can even listen to original songs written by the studio’s composer to encourage mindfulness.
Portugal on the Global Gaming Stage
Throughout 2024, eGames Lab showcased these projects, among many others, at major industry events worldwide, where the team also had the opportunity to connect and exchange ideas with the global gaming community.
Such events included Portugal’s debut at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in Cologne, Germany. There, eGames Lab showcased the consortium's best games, with a title from OneWayEleven (WOWSystems and Fapptory) going on to become a finalist in the GDC Pitch. But that wasn’t the only historic moment for the sector, as eGames Lab also inaugurated the first Portuguese pavilion in Gamescom's business area alongside APVP.
Portugal’s flag was raised for the first time at Tokyo Game Show too, where Infinity Games’ Chill earned much attention during its first public debut. The partnership between China and Portugal was also strengthened at the Macau International Fair (MIF), where scientific knowledge was exchanged with the University of Macau.
Looking closer to home, eGames Lab attended Mobidictum’s Conference in Lisbon, where it supported a networking event with over 100 participants focusing on topics such as user acquisition and mobile game development. The consortium was also at hand during Mobidictum’s alternate conference in Istanbul, Turkey, which provided another opportunity to strengthen ties with the global video game community.
Wider eGames Lab Initiatives
eGames Lab was pivotal in fostering Portugal’s creative ecosystem throughout 2024, supporting various initiatives and events highlighting its contributions under the Portuguese European Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
These included:
Gaming Startup Retreat & GameJam+ European Final (February): Supported by Startup Madeira and PACT in Évora, this event brought together startups, international mentors, and local organisations to collaborate and innovate.
Demo Day - Gaming Startup Retreat [2nd Edition] (March): A showcase of groundbreaking industry projects developed during a six-week retreat. Ten startup companies were involved, hailing from across nine countries.
GameJam+ European Final (April): The European Final of the Game Creation World Championship Final Game Jam+ took place on the island of Madeira and brought together 12 European finalist teams from Slovakia, Spain, Poland, Sweden and Portugal (three from Figueira da Foz and one from Funchal).
Óbidos Vila Gaming (May): A four-day celebration of gaming culture and innovation in the historic town of Óbidos that’s attended by more than 40,000 gamers.
GameJam+ Madeira (October): A 48-hour game development marathon held in partnership with Startup Madeira, promoting prototype creation, regional networking, and the creative ecosystem.
Looking ahead to 2025
2024 was a remarkable year for the eGames Lab consortium and Portugal’s gaming sector, but what’s in store for 2025?
One project eGames Lab can reveal is the IXP by 4Spiro, an innovative project aimed at facilitating traffic exchange between local and international networks. It will provide greater connectivity and efficiency for Portugal’s video game and technology companies, enabling faster and more accessible data exchanges. This project will serve as a critical pillar of the country’s technological infrastructure, contributing to the industry's growth and sustainability.
More projects – including groundbreaking new titles that will further enhance Portugal’s global visibility in the video game market – will be revealed when eGames Lab attends this year’s GDC in March.
Updates from The eGames Lab Consortium
The eGames Lab consortium will attend Pocket Gamer Connects London between 20 and 21 January. Pocket Gamer Connects is an annual event focused on together delegates from across the entire gaming ecosystem with all the key formats covered, from mobile, PC and console to XR, AI, Web3 technology and beyond.
Business & Gaming Stories Affecting Portugal
DevGAMM Lisbon 2024, held from 14 to 15 November at the stunning Oitavos Hotel in Cascais, celebrated another successful edition with more than 750 attendees from around the world. The event brought together a stellar roster of over 50 industry icons, including John Romero, the legendary creator of DOOM.
The head of GamesIndustry.biz, Christopher Dring, has reported that sales of new video games in Europe were down by 29% compared to 2023, with only six brand new titles making it into the top 20. Conversely, the top 5 best-selling titles of 2024 in Europe were EA Sports FC 25, EA Sports FC 24, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, GTA V and Hogwarts Legacy.