The quality of a team in organizations has an impact on the success of the team in achieving their goals. Team building activities are one of the elements which can improve relationships in different kinds of teams. One of those can be playing competitive digital games, whether for teams working remotely or on site. This paper presents a case study that explores the design and development process of an innovative online game that combines elements of third-person action and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games to provide an experience that strengthens team cohesion. The game design and mechanics support distribution of team roles based on Belbin's theory, highlighting the importance of diverse roles for balanced team functionality. By integrating unique character functions, the game encourages players to understand and appreciate the different roles individuals play in a team, enhancing empathy and mutual respect among team members. The game is uniquely designed to be simpler and more accessible than typical MOBAs, making it an ideal tool for educational and organizational settings to boost team cohesion and communication skills among people from various backgrounds. The leveling of the playing field allows individuals with minimal gaming experience to participate fully and effectively. The design principles ensure that the core mechanics of the game encourage teamwork and effective communication over individual skill, emphasizing collective success. The case study delves into the development process, the challenges faced, the solutions implemented, and the outcomes observed as part of a research project conducted between 2022-2023. The findings suggest that game-based learning can significantly transform traditional team-building methods, introducing a new paradigm for fostering high-performance teams in an increasingly digital world.

Team cohesion, teamwork and team building are important constructs regarding teams and their performance in various organizations and environments. In this review, we sum- marize the current state of research on the influence of digital games on team cohesion and related constructs. We found a total of 7 studies that fit the criteria, resulting in 18 outcomes. Among the 18 outcomes that improved throughout the intervention, 15 reported significant improvement from the intervention and 3 reported no significant differences. Specifically, team communication, task delegation, atmosphere, trust, team flow, team performance and goal commitment were the most improved sub-constructs by team building video gaming interventions. The majority (n = 9) of those with significant improvements post-test were from randomly controlled trials (RCTs) with single or two control groups. Overall, we found that team video gaming may be effective in supporting team cohesion or team building; however, to enhance the understanding of the relationship between digital games and team cooperation, it is recommended to extend or vary gameplay intervention times, prioritize diverse outcome measures, address re- porting biases, conduct follow-up assessments, include diverse populations and report demographics, and recognize the specific effects of different game features on outcomes.

In the 1990s, two digital-game distribution companies were established in Slovakia. These companies started to distribute local game titles formally. Although digital games were created and distributed in Czechoslovakia before 1989, they were distributed informally at that time, mainly through computer clubs. Copyright Act No. 35/1965 did not protect computer programs until 1990. With the advent of the market economy and the amendment of copyright Act No. 89/1990, some informal distributors in Czechoslovakia switched to legal and official distribution of digital games. However, even after the amendment, some did not stop their illegal business of selling pirated copies of games. Slovak gaming magazines attempted to protect the authors of Slovak games and started to sell their games officially. After the opening of the borders, games by mostly amateur Slovak creators could hardly compete on the local market, where foreign titles started to arrive in larger quantities and none of them managed to reach the foreign market until the second half of the 1990s.