"Tiny Biome Tales": a gamified review about the influence of lifestyle choices on the human microbiome

Abstract

In the last two decades, new discoveries from microbiome research have changed our understanding of human health. It became evident that daily habits and lifestyle choices shape the human microbiome and ultimately determine health or disease. Therefore, we developed "Tiny Biome Tales" (https://microbiome.gamelabgraz.at/), a science pedagogy video game designed like a scientific review based exclusively on peer-reviewed articles, to teach about the influence of lifestyle choices on the human microbiome during pregnancy, early and adult life, and related health consequences. Despite the scientific character, it can be played by a broad audience. Here, we also present a scientific assessment, and showed that playing the game significantly contributed to knowledge gain. The innovative style of the "gamified review" represents an ideal platform to disseminate future findings from microbiome research by updating existing and adding new scenes to the game.