Designing Narrative Games for a Serious Context (original) (raw)

Why Story Matters: A Review of Narrative in Serious Games

Journal of Educational Computing Research

Literature has shown that immersive learning environments such as digital educational games and simulations often incorporate storytelling elements in their designs as narrative can be an effective way of making learning more meaningful to students. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the role narrative can play in the experience of a learner engaging in learning games and to synthesize research on features of story that have demonstrated success in these learning environments. The findings have shown that distributed narrative, intrinsically integrated fantasies, empathetic characters and virtual agents, and adaptiveness or responsivity are four characteristics of game narratives found to be effective. Several learning game analyses were performed to illustrate how these games used narrative to foster greater immersion, engagement, motivation, and learning. Finally, a narrative design strategy for serious games is suggested which integrates the effective narrat...

Narrative Serious Game Mechanics (NSGM) - Insights into the narrative-pedagogical mechanism

2014

Narratives are used to construct and deconstruct the time and space of events. In games, as in real life, narratives add layers of meaning and engage players by enhancing or clarifying content. From an educational perspective, narratives are a semiotic conduit for evoking critical thinking skills and promoting knowledge discovery/acquisition. While narrative is central to Serious Games (SG), the relationships between gameplay, narrative and pedagogy in SG design remain unclear, and narrative's elemental influence on learning outcomes is not fully understood yet. This paper presents a purpose-processing methodology that aims to support the mapping of SG design patterns and pedagogical practices, allowing designers to create more meaningful SGs. In the case of narrative, the intention is to establish whether Narrative Serious Game Mechanics (NSGM) can provide players with opportunities for reasoning and reflective analysis that may even transcend the game-based learning environment.

Teaching Narrative Design: On the Importance of Narrative Game Mechanics

Narrative Mechanics: Strategies and Meanings in Games and Real Life, 2021

First, the article will discuss the notion of narrative game mechanics, and its theoretical groundings. Second, it will showcase the Narrative Design Canvas as a practical instrument for teaching narrative design. This canvas can be used by students to analyze and design narrative games. It helps them to recognize and establish a connection between a game’s written narrative (expressed for example in dialogues and cutscenes) and a game’s mechanics. The article concludes with a closer look at the game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Using the canvas, the game’s narrative design will be analyzed. This analysis reveals how the game succeeds in creating an engaging narrative experience by articulating developments in the authored storyline through changes in the game mechanics.

A Personalized Narrative Method to Improve Serious Games

WorldCIST 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 469. Springer, 2022

Serious Games apply game strategies to a training environment to encourage participants to make decisions and face challenges-the more interactive, the greater the participants' involvement with the content. Moreover, the best way to train is to simulate and identify scenarios for decision making, recreating situations, and strategies for learning. The Serious Games for training have this purpose. A Serious Game for training can be refined with a game narrative, a methodology centered on group experience defining problems and giving solutions through the game story. The challenge is how to diversify a unique narrative according to the individual player's experience. The present study aims to answer, using Design Science Research, whether a personalized narrative can improve the design of serious games for training. The specific goal is to design, develop and evaluate an artifact based on Design Thinking to design a personalized narrative method for Serious Games.

Gameplay, Emotions and Narrative: Independent Games Experienced

2019

This book is devoted to emotional and narrative immersion in the experience of gameplay. The focus of our research is the complex interplay between the story and mechanics in digital games. Our goal is to demonstrate how the narrative and the ludic elements together can form unique player experiences. The volume is a collection of case studies involving close reading of selected independent titles, with focus placed on the themes, motifs and experimental approaches to gameplay present therein.

The Role of Narrative in the Design of an Educational Game

Storytelling is an important, engaging social practice. While video game designers are storytellers of the information age, educational video games fall short of using narrative effectively in practice. To better understand useful narrative approaches, this study explored how designers perceived and used narrative during the creation of an educational video game. A qualitative, ethnographic, single case study approach was used to collect and analyze data pertaining to the narrative design trajectory of the game design team as well as Citizen Science, the game artifact they produced. Findings include typologies comprised of fourteen key types of narrative perceptions and uses that surfaced in this case study. Implications include the notable use of narrative as a reward mechanism, and as a design team anchor.

Interdisciplinary Models and Tools for Serious Games: Emerging Concepts and Future Directions

Forward Chris Dede, Harvard University, USA Preface Richard Van Eck, University of North Dakota, USA Acknowledgments Genre, Classification, and Definitions Narrative Definitions for Game Design: A Concept-Oriented Study of Nine Computer Game Design Books Sanna-Mari Äyrämö and Raine Koskimaa, University of Jyväskylä, Finland There is a long history of controversy over the application of theoretical constructs such as narrative from disciplines like film and literature to the burgeoning field of games studies. The authors of this chapter argue that narrative has its place in game analysis and game design and that the time has come to identify what we mean by narrative from design theoretical perspectives. The authors first establish a theoretical base for narrative definition that extends from Aristotle to the modern day and covers the major schools of thought. They then classify these definitions into three major schools of thought and apply those in a mixed-methods approach to interpret and classify explicit and implicit definitions of narrative in nine modern game design texts. What emerges is a modern composite model of narrative definition to guide practice and research, an innovative concept of "co-storyliner" to explain the role of the player in the coconstruction of narrative meaning, and suggestions for further research needed to address gaps in the literature of narrative in serious games. Rethinking Genre in Computer Games: How Narrative Psychology Connects Game and Story Jasmina Kallay, University College Dublin, Ireland The notion of genre in serious games is problematic. This chapter highlights some of the significant drawbacks of classifying games that confound narrative and gameplay style and result in cross-genre hybrids like action–adventure. Rather than seeing narrative and gameplay as separate elements, the author argues that we should look for a common denominator that unites these two elements. Kallay argues that common cognitive–emotional constructs can be used to develop a classification system that can guide analysis and design of serious games and that the field of narrative psychology provides the key to doing so. She presents an overview of research in genre classification, a summary of the ludology–narratology debate as it relates to genre, and key concepts from narrative psychology and media studies. Kallay then proposes a model for the analysis of games and applies it to two modern games as case studies. Toward a Rhetoric of Serious Game Genres Lee Sherlock, Michigan State University, USA In this chapter, Sherlock argues for yet another perspective on resolving the problematic issue of game genre classification systems. Borrowing from rhetorical theory and Ian Bogost's argument for persuasive games, Sherlock presents a unifying framework for understanding the "social action and persuasive possibility spaces" of serious games. Sherlock presents an in-depth, well-reasoned analysis of the field of rhetoric and its application to serious games in order to propose a new notion of genre for classifying serious games. Theoretical Perspectives Serious Games for Transformative Learning: A Communication Perspective on the Radical Binarisation of Everyday Life Thomas J. Yannuzzi, Penn State University, USA, and Bryan G. Behrenshausen, Millersville University, USA The authors of this chapter rely on existing theory from the fields of communication and education (critical pedagogy) to describe the need for games to support the learning outcome of critical self-reflection. They argue that the modern information-driven world tends to promote the "binarisation" of life, whereby notions of "self" and "other" are constrained by digital technologies, and critical self-reflection is de-emphasized. The authors first distinguish between two schools of thought in communication theory: information transfer, which they argue is too often the focus of serious games, and social construction of meaning, which they argue should be the focus of more serious games. They then argue for the application of the latter school of thought to understand and design serious games that support the critical self-reflection that 21st-century education requires. Examining Motivational Factors in Serious Educational Games Renae Low, University of New South Wales, Australia Motivation is a commonly cited benefit of serious games, but Low argues that conflicting definitions and perspectives regarding motivation in serious game study hampers current research and design. Low analyzes motivation as an educational outcome and academic competency, discusses its relation to past and present educational theory, presents key research findings regarding motivation, learning, and educational technology, and outlines the relationship of this body of knowledge to serious games research and design. Sacred Geographies: Myth and Ritual in Serious Games Larry Friedlander, Stanford University, USA This chapter identifies an overlooked narrative resource that could be used for the design of serious games. Arguing that existing storylines in games are often too simplistic and limited to capture the full range of human expression and interests, Friedlander points to sacred narratives as a way to enrich the narrative backdrop and ludic structure of serious games. Because sacred narratives tap deep social, cultural, and religious archetypes for understanding humankind's relation to the universe and to the sacred, the story structures are relevant across all cultures and religious backgrounds. And, because they are also well-structured narratives, they can be used to design serious games in ways that tap algorithmic rather than linear possibilities, thus paving the way for a new kind of serious game. Research Methodological Considerations in Educational Research Using Serious Games Putai Jin, University of New South Wales, Australia Few would disagree that the field of serious games is entering a critical period of time where theories, models, and research are needed to substantiate claims about the educational benefits of games and to validate approaches to designing games to support existing learning strategies. But with so many people coming from so many different disciplines, there are similarly few who understand the full range of educational research theory and practice well enough to evaluate existing research or to design research that optimally tests our hypotheses and models. This chapter surveys existing educational research with technology in general, and games specifically, to provide an overview of some of the key methodologies for advancing research in the field of serious games. By presenting specific descriptions of actual studies and the methods they employ and the rationale for how those methods support the research under study, Jin provides a valuable primer for understanding how to conduct the kind of rigorous, empirical research needed in serious game studies. Evaluating Video Game Design and Interactivity Matthew J. Sharritt, Situated Research, LLC, USA Interaction may be the defining characteristic of games as a medium, technology, and social experience. It follows that one of our primary areas of research in serious games lies in representing interaction and developing theory-driven tools for both describing and studying games and gameplay in situ. Sharrit argues for a blended approach of ethnomethodology and grounded theory, informed by Activity Theory and related tools for analysis (the mediational triangle). Such an approach has the advantage of capturing games as lived experiences while simultaneously allowing for analysis of natural and manipulated interventions in the learning process via serious games. He outlines this model and documents its effectiveness through a case study of how different interface elements impact gameplay and concludes with recommendations for further testing and implementation. Persuasive Play: Extending the Elaboration Likelihood Model to a Game-Based Learning Context Steven Malliet and Hans Martens, University of Antwerp, Belgium Theoretical perspectives from psychology are used in this chapter to explain the persuasive power of games. The authors argue that information processing theory can both explain how games can change attitudes and how to design better persuasive games. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) is used to develop a model of how individual player characteristics influence both cognitive and affective learning outcomes. The authors argue that changes in these outcomes occur as the result of intervening variables such as player motivations, implying that research that assumes direct causal relationships between interventions and outcomes will be less effective. After outlining the theoretical basis upon which their approach is based, the authors then use existing research data from 538 participants to preliminarily validate the model. Future research directions are discussed for further refinement and validation of their approach. Theory Into Practice Aligning Problem Solving and Gameplay: A Model for Future Research and Design Woei Hung and Richard Van Eck, University of North Dakota, USA The authors argue that one of the most promising and frequently cited benefits of video games is the ability to promote problem solving. Like games, however, problems and problem solving are far more complex than they at first appear. Research in problem solving over the last 75 years has produced a rich set of theory, experimental evidence, and instructional approaches for addressing problem solving as a learning outcome. The authors detail this history, outline the cognitive skills involved in solving problems, and describe 11 different types of problems in terms of their structuredness, cognitive requirements, and other unique characteristics and requirements in order to set the stage for a discussion of how games can support problem solving and specifi...

Sticky Ends: Employing Thinly-Sliced Narratives in Serious Games for Mobile Platforms

International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Engineering, 2014

Angry Birds. Clash of Clans. Cut the Rope. What do these three titles, arguably some of the most popular mobile games, have in common? On the surface, they lack a coherent narrative structure, being driven only by simple, perhaps even addictive, mechanics. This is typical for games designed for the mobile market, given average play sessions of 5-10 minutes. In contrast, many serious games are adopting narrative structures from console and computer games to contextualize the interventions they deliver. While useful on these platforms, techniques such as interactive music, open world exploration, AI driven characters, and rich graphics are not necessarily appropriate for mobile devices, which are limited both technically and in terms of user expectations and usage time. These limitations present problems both with initial engagement and with sustaining meaningful narrative arcs over many usage sessions, especially when it comes to games for health, which often involve narrative as therapy or as a catalyst to prompt behavior change. Given that serious games must compete against other apps for a user's attention, an understanding of how to package narratives in small slices of time is necessary. The AppHappy Project, an experimental design group composed of individuals from the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Game Lab, addresses this through evocative storytelling and community elements in its upcoming title, the mobile adventure game Journey to the West.