This research explores the educational potential of commercial video games -defined as titles widely used by children and adolescents outside the school environment- versus those designed explicitly for pedagogical purposes. The research starts from a gap detected in the literature: the scant attention that these digital environments have received in educational research, despite their growing relevance in the cultural practices of young people. In order to lay the foundations for an empirical research agenda, a critical review of existing studies has been carried out, complemented by a bibliometric analysis of 98 publications indexed in Scopus (2010-2024). The results indicate a growing academic interest in the relationship between video games and learning, although the focus has predominantly been on games designed with explicit educational goals. In contrast, this article offers an alternative perspective by considering the actual use of commercial video games in mediated contexts. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, the study refers to contributions from a range of scholars in areas such as active exploratory learning, symbolic play and social mediation, vicarious learning and contextual influence. These frameworks are used to analyse how digital play environments can foster meaningful cognitive and socio-emotional processes. From this conceptual basis, we present the design of a quasi-experimental study that will analyse the impact of a selection of popular commercial video games -such as Minecraft, Roblox, Animal Crossing or Lego Builder's Journey- on dimensions of learning such as strategic planning, cognitive flexibility, peer cooperation or frustration management. This study contributes to broadening the framework of analysis on technology-mediated learning, linking the study of youth digital practices with solid theoretical and methodological foundations. It is intended to provide a basis for future educational applications that integrate digital play in a critical, contextualised and evidence-based way.

Keywords: Pedagogical innovations, commercial video games, critical thinking and problem solving, digital practices, educational research.