The present study examined (1) how executive control contributed to in-game behaviors in young
children while playing a serious game, (2) whether the levels of control changed when the game was
played repeatedly, and (3) how the first experience with the game mediated the role of executive control
to in-game behaviors when the game was repeated. Attentional and action control were directly assessed
in 106 kindergartners, who played a single-leveled serious game twice. During their gameplay, the
following behaviors were registered: time, number of scaffolds needed, mistakes, verbal expressions,
questions, irrelevant game activities (drawings), and off-task behavior. The results for the first game
round showed that time, expressions, and the need for scaffolds were predicted by attentional control. In
the second round, a strong role for action control was found to overcome off-task behavior and irrelevant
drawings. Verbal expressiveness was again influenced by attentional control. Moreover, mediation effects
of attentional control to efficient in-game behaviors in the second gameplay were evidenced via scaffolding
and expressiveness in the first gameplay. It is concluded that in new games children's attentional
control contributes to formulating strategies and problem-solving, while their action control underlies
sustained and goal-directed learning over time.