Game Mechanics Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

As serious games are emerging as a new educational paradigm, it is increasingly important to understand how to integrate educational content into the games, and what elements of the game make learning more effective. This research proposes to add to the work in the area by examining whether learning objectives delivered through the game narratives as text, or learning objectives delivered through game mechanics provide a more effective way of integrating educational content in a game. In order to investigate this question, we designed a study to evaluate two types of participants that were divided into two groups to take part in complementary versions of the game. Participants are asked to play a game in which learning objectives are delivered either through text or game mechanics. An evaluation was performed with 60 participants. The results show that for one of the learning objectives, the participants learn more when the educational content was integrated through the game mechanics and that the difference between the group that learns through text and the one that learned through the game mechanics is statistically significant. For the rest of the learning objectives covered, no statistically significant difference was obtained between the two ways of integrating the learning objectives.

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- Educational Technology, Serious Games, Games for Learning, Educational Games

Resumo Este artigo analisa a relação existente entre as mecânicas de jogos digitais e a narrativa emergente, ou seja, aquela que surge espontaneamente, derivada da interação do jogador com o mundo do jogo. Acredita-se que a maneira como as mecânicas são desenvolvidas acarreta em um maior ou menor grau de influência das ações do jogador sobre a narrativa do jogo. Assim, conceitos relacionados ao design e pesquisa de jogos digitais, bem como questões oriundas do estudo da narrativa nos games, são desenvolvidos ao decorrer do trabalho, como forma de auxiliar no devido entendimento e análise dessa relação. Desta forma, através desta análise, foi possível perceber pontos de interseção entre a liberdade proposta pelo conceito de narrativa emergente e as possibilidades provindas através da configuração de mecânicas nos jogos digitais. Palavras-Chave: mecânica, narrativa emergente. Abastract This article analyzes the relationship between the game mechanics and the emergent narrative, in other words, one that arises spontaneously derived from player interaction with the game world. It is believed that the way the mechanics are developed leads to a greater or lesser degree of influence the player's actions on the game's narrative. Thus, research related to design and digital gaming concepts and issues arising in the study of narrative in games are developed over the course of the work, as an aid in the proper understanding and analysis of this relationship. As well, through this analysis it was possible to perceive points of intersection between the concept of freedom proposed by the emerging narrative and the possibilities emanating through the mechanical configuration of the digital games.

- by Rodrigo Brandão and +1
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- Game Theory, Narrative, Game Design, Video Games

This paper investigates the evolution of larp safety in the NordicAmerican larp community in the last decade, tracing the correlation between safety rhetorics (opinions, arguments, and policies) and mechanics (explicit rules regulating player interactions). It appears that up to around 2010 there was a general acceptance of risk, with a significant share of responsibility for risk identification and harm prevention put on the player. This correlates with mechanics such as safety words, which expected players in distress to actively signal their discomfort. Safety measures expected from the organisers consisted mainly in providing safe off-game spaces, emotional support, and intervention whenever something harmful happened. Around 2014 the safety debate put a larger share of responsibility on players initiating potentially troubling interactions. This correlates with the ‘OK check’ mechanics which requires communication between the initiator and the target of such interactions. Aroun...

- by Michal Mochocki
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- Sociology, Role-playing Game Theory, Safety, Game Mechanics

This book is about the three identities of the videogame, the gamer, and Game Studies. I write that there are no definitive truths but rather discourses and constructions; ideas, actions, beliefs, and practices related to videogames are... more

Background. The rapid development of technologies changes the nature and objectives of artistic and design activities, pushing them away from the craft tasks closer to the realization of the relationship between the object-user system, closer to mastering the methods of design-thinking, synergy of the humanities and mathematical approaches. Therefore, the actual training of designers-specialists involves the cultivation of syncretic thinking, which arises only as a result of the implementation of complex non-deterministic innovation tasks. In the article the author focuses on the development of board games, as an example of such a task.
Objectives. Is to analyze the market of original “insets” development and to demonstrate the necessity of introducing such types of tasks for senior-student students. So the few smaller tasks arised:
– to establish and to disclose the basic concepts and terms;
– to analyze the market of table games in Ukraine and in the world;
– to classify the stages and components of the development of board games;
– to confirm the necessity of implementation of this type of tasks for senior-student students.
Methods. Used at this research are common in scientific culture: analysis, synthesis and a conclusion based on structured materials. Classification of the stages and components of the development of board games was made.
Results. The key to the effectiveness of education abroad is the ability to work in a team. Specialists involved in UI / UX design, in addition to specialized skills, note the importance of so-called “soft skills”. In particular, such as team members ability to argue, critique, and debate – skills that, unfortunately, are not a priority for higher education in Ukraine. It’s virtually impossible to create an exciting game on your own. That is why the introduction of tasks, the work on which will promote the professional communication of designers – the priority task of modern design education. The development of a board game combines various types of design, and also takes into account their marketing. The development process is close to the design-thinking mechanisms. But if the application of DT is often revealed on important social and community projects, the stages of the development of a board game are easier to understand, the effectiveness of project iterations is tangible and easily verifiable. As noted, the core of creating a board game is the development of game mechanics, and this is an important step towards understanding the design of the interaction. Various game attributes also help to captivate game interaction: maps, cubes, playing fields, chips and tokens, tokens, tiles, tablets, miniatures, screens – the list is limited only by the imagination of the developer. Their graphic and 3D spatial design is not able to replace the satisfaction with well-thought-out and balanced game mechanics, but can allow it more complex to admire it. Students with advanced visual thinking will be more effectively implemented in aesthetic solutions. Effective design – imperceptible design. By the simplicity of any design-development – an industrial product, a subject environment, a mobile application, there are many hidden invisible for the work of an amateur. Works on simplification, cutting off superfluous thanks to testing on mockups and prototypes. A good design is the absence of unnecessary details. The quintessence of this approach is best represented in the development of the board game, and this is repeatedly confirmed by the developers.
Conclusions. The market of board games is developing and requires some interesting new products. The focus on creating a game without the prospect of localization in the global market is a task that is doomed to commercial failure. Only local games with excessive dominance of the “national” ideology, specificity or political situation are created only for grant money and in fact can not claim to be successful due to the mechanics of the game. Development of a board game – an actual and complex task for students-designers. This task is contained in the field of opportunities for implementation by senior students and even requires their mental efforts, combining the functionality of the design of the interaction and the integrity of the aesthetic decisions. Creating a quality design product is built on high empathy and numerous iterations to simplify and adapt the design. The process of creating an exciting board game develops empathy, syncretic approach and teamwork skills – the skills needed by the designer and which are the foundation of design thinking.

- by Taras Habrel
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- Interaction Design, Design thinking, Board Games, Game Mechanics

This article seeks to build a digital ritual framework for the analysis of social gaming and social networking. The architectural design that intertwines Facebook and FarmVille is heightened by the formal and informal participation in ritual practices, which we theorize as digital rituals. Facebook and FarmVille provide a substantive case study that delves into the topical blurring of lines around the game space or magic circle. Through digital ethnographic methodologies the article identifies a number of digital ritual engagements that fit well with Grant McCracken's (1986) four different kinds of consumer rituals: exchange rituals, possession rituals, grooming rituals, and divestment rituals. Social gaming is contextualized as the extension of digital third places complicating distinctions between social network and social networking sites. Beyond simply phatic communication or decompression, FarmVille and Facebook through digital ritual participation are increasingly the manifestation of our networked interests, communities, and lives.

- by Benjamin Burroughs
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- Cultural Studies, Media Sociology, Social Theory, Game Theory

This research examines relationships regarding moral foundations and moral deci- sions in the Mass Effect video game series. The findings suggest that moral foundation predicts what type of moral decisions a player will make during play. This research reports an online survey (N=138) that asked participants the salience of their moral foundations, along with the moral path, either traditionally heroic (paragon) or traditionally antiheroic (renegade), they chose in their first time playing through the Mass Effect series. The results indicate that moral foundations predict the extent to which game path players choose, but only with regard to the harm/ care moral foundation. These findings are discussed in light of game design and the potential for game designers to use morality as a game mechanic beyond the harm foundation and into realms of more nuanced moral situations in game narratives.

- by Andy Boyan
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- Game studies, Moral Psychology, Game Design, Mass Communication

Today's schools face major problems around student motivation and engagement. Gamification, or the incorporation of game elements into non-game settings, provides an opportunity to help schools solve these difficult problems. However, if gamification is to be of use to schools, we must better understand what gamification is, how it functions, and why it might be useful. This article addresses all three questions – what, how, and why bother? – while exploring both the potential benefits and pitfalls of gamification.

- by Joey Lee
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- Education, Game Design, Gamification, Game Mechanics

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in the use of video games for education because of the high level of engagement of players. This article blends research on game engagement from the media flow perspective with current pedagogical theory to advance 2 core design principles for a model educational game design: model matching and layering.

- by Andy Boyan
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- Cognitive Science, Game studies, Video Games and Learning, Mass Communication

Videogames are evolving as a medium, so in order to reach all kinds of audiences, games with very different types of gameplay and metaphors are being made. One of this new type of titles are disempowering fantasies, in which the player experiences a metaphor that has as an objective to make him/her feel weak or vulnerable. In order to understand this new phenomenon, we will analyze Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook, 2016), a game that uses the empathy that the player has for his characters to create a powerful experience that resonates with the players.

- by Yeray Pachon Ortega
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- Design, Empathy (Psychology), Game Design, Video Games

This paper explores the notion of narrative game mechanics byapposing theories from the field of cognitive narratology with design theorieson game mechanics The paper aims to disclose how narrative game mechanicsinvite game agents, including the player, to perform actions that support theconstruction of engaging stories and fictional worlds in the embodied mind of the player The theoretical argument is supported by three case studies The paper discusses examples of games that employ mechanics and rules to createengaging story events, focusing on! building tension through spatial conflict,evo"ing empathy through characteri#ation and creating moral dilemmasthrough player choices.

- by Teun Dubbelman
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- Game studies, Game Design, Cognitive Narratology, Interactive Narrative

Książka Miłosza Babeckiego jest przedsięwzięciem niezwykle potrzebnym. To publikacja pionierska, nie tylko w Polsce, ale także na tle światowych game studies. Autor postanowił ukierunkować swoją rozprawę i skupić się na szczególnym wariancie tzw. gier poważnych, serious games - na grach dostępnych w Internecie. Podjął problematykę związaną m.in. ze środowiskiem, w jakim gry te funkcjonują - konsumentów gier, ale jednocześnie ich twórców - a także z rolą portali i wortali internetowych w upowszechnianiu internetowych gier poważnych. Książka przynosi nie tylko próby sformułowania definicji, ale także zrozumienia procesu nadawania powagi grze internetowej. Czytelnik znajdzie tu wyczerpującą i wieloaspektową analizę mechaniki gier poważnych oraz sposobów ich odwoływania się do emocji graczy, a także uruchamiania przez nie procesów poznawczych. Gry poważne mogą być bowiem postrzegane jako miniaturowe "światy w pudełkach" odzwierciedlające zjawiska rozgrywające się w społecznym otoczeniu jednostki.
Z recenzji prof. dr. hab. Andrzeja Pitrusa

- by Miłosz Babecki
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- Game studies, Media Studies, Serious Games, Gamification

Game mechanics are the rules, processes, and data at the heart of a game. They define how play progresses, what happens when, and what conditions determine victory or defeat. Now two leading authorities in game design–Ernest Adams and Joris Dormans–are here to teach game designers and students alike the essentials of game mechanics. This in-depth resource teaches you to craft mechanics that generate challenging, enjoyable, and well-balanced gameplay. You'll discover at what stages to prototype, test, and implement ...

- by Ernest Adams
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- Computer Science, Game Design, Video Games, Video Game Design

Gamification is to use game elements in a non-game context to increase engagement between human and computer, on the other hand, to encourage in-demand for good behaviors in learning. This research tried to increase student engagements in learning by conducted Gamification technique especially in difficult subjects such as Programming Language courses. The previous work was shown that students dropped, failed, or withdrew from the course at rates of between 35% and 50%. Therefore the main objective of this study is to increase student engagements in learning programming subject, and also to measure the impact of game elements on student's engagements. Finally, the findings have shown the score of game elements that have a good effect on student's engagement in the experiment group.

Currently, thus the interaction design and mechanical position themselves among the main elements in the structure of digital games and should be considered as a way to develop a better design, that facilitates the development of products with gameplay and interaction well connected. This research refers to the analysis of the relationship between digital games, interaction design and mechanical games. As a result of the analysis, we find a strong influence on how the interaction design relates to game mechanics through channels established by the interface design.

For any given Game Based Learning (GBL) project to be successful, the player must learn something. Designers may base their work on pedagogical research, but actual game design is still largely driven by intuition. People are famously poor at unsupported methodical thinking and relying so much on instinct is an obvious weak point in GBL design practice. Cognitive Walkthrough (CW) is a user-interface design technique that helps designers model how a type of user will understand an interface. We suggest that CW should be extended for use in any context where a designer must model a user’s thinking. We present an extension of CW that is suitable for constructivist GBL and apply it to a previously evaluated game to understand why one section of the game was more successful than another. The CW extension explains hitherto puzzling results and suggests further development of CWs for designer support may be beneficial.

- by David Farrell and +1
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- Serious Games, Game Design, Game Based Learning, Game Mechanics

Video game play research and recent statistics reveal that 155 million players in America alone contribute to the 23 billion dollar industry; worldwide, it is a 71 billion dollar industry. Behavioral change theory has been intertwined with apps and games, building on players’ emotions with the game environment. The new, albeit limited, literature demonstrates the positive effect that electronic games have facilitating behavioral change. Medical research also correlates game use to improve patients’ health outcomes. This research project builds on the existing research to examine a conceptual prototype of a serious game with behavioral change knowledge in its design. The researcher takes a human centered design approach to ask, how can the game mechanics communicate to the player for behavior change?
This thesis research designed a conceptual prototype connecting habit formation with fantasy JRPG battle system for players to setup their own habit formation that would connect the virtual world with the real world. Testing of the conceptual prototype reveals general interest and a diverse range of applications. Further design and research is needed to fully complete this model within a complete video game. And findings support of the future development.

- by Spencer Kay Raymond
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- Serious Games, Game Design, Virtual Worlds, Habit Formation

The Canadian/Brazilian production Red Foot Saga (RFS) is a narrative videogame about the cultural memory of Londrina city. Our goal is to examine the function of symbolic mediation through the videogame’s nonverbal language. The authors... more

- by Tamer Thabet
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- Game Theory, Game studies, Serious Games, Game Design

Cette analyse s'intéresse à la place que possède le temps dans The Legend of Zelda : Majora's Mask (Nintendo, 2000). Elle est principalement basée sur la théorie du temps de Jesper Juul et des concepts temporels présentés par Guillaume... more

- by Francis Montpetit
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- Game Design, Video Games, Video Game Theory, Philosophy of Time

What do stories in games have in common with political narratives?
This book identifies narrative strategies as mechanisms for meaning and manipulation in games and real life. It shows that the narrative mechanics so clearly identifiable in games are increasingly used (and abused) in politics and social life. They have »many faces«, displays and interfaces. They occur as texts, recipes, stories, dramas in three acts, movies, videos, tweets, journeys of heroes, but also as rewarding stories in games and as narratives in society – such as a career from rags to riches, the concept of modernity or market economy. Below their surface, however, narrative mechanics are a particular type of motivational design – of game mechanics.

- by Beat Suter
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- Game Design, Narrative Theory, Game Mechanics, Narrative Mechanics

This paper analyses the use of asymmetric gameplay on the videogame console Nintendo Wii U, using concepts of interaction design, interface design, playability, game mechanics and the console by itself. The interaction between player and console, and the interface elements can shape and limit the game mechanics, with direct influence on the playability. We analysed the asymmetric gameplay on the title Nintendo Land and as a result, we highlighted the main game mechanics and playability trends used. Through the analysis of them, some new possibilities of game mechanics using asymmetric gameplay, specifically on Wii U, became clear, and we could identify some incremental changes on game interface systems, proposed by Schell.

- by Marisardo Filho
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- Interaction Design, Game Design, Video Games, Video Game Design

This paper is the author's personal side project and is of no affiliation to any institution or courses. The paper is a rookie attempt to deriving mathematical expressions of the well-known puzzle, the bridge and torch problem. The problem is about finding the shortest time needed for n people to cross a bridge at night. The catch is the bridge can only support at most two persons at a time, and the two persons will cross the bridge at the speed of the slower one. Moreover, a torch is needed for each and every crossing, and the torch has a finite time of burning. Thus, the puzzle is a problem to determine the possible shortest time from the choice of the two persons per crossing against the finite burning time of the torch. The result of this paper gives into fruition of a set of three equations--the vector form describing the mechanics of the logic solution, even-valued n function and odd-valued n function.

- by Akmal Hafizi
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- Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Algebra, Physics

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a major role in modern video games by making them feel both more realistic and more fun to play. Game intelligence usually works alongside the game logic, in the background, invisible to the players who enjoy the resulting character behaviors, the adaptive gameplay, and the procedurally generated content. However, artificial intelligence can also have a central role and become a major component of the overall gameplay (as for instance in the video game Black & White). In this paper, we define the genre of scripting video games and introduce Fuzzy Tactics, a video game we developed that has an innovative gameplay based on fuzzy logic and uses fuzzy rules as its core game mechanic and user interaction mechanism. In Fuzzy Tactics, players lead their troops into battle by specifying a set of fuzzy rules that determines the battle behavior of the units. Fuzzy logic is the only mean that players have to interact with the game and to command to their troops. Thus, it becomes the main game mechanic that allows us to (i) extend the depth of the game, (ii) keep the interaction intuitive, while also (iii) increasing the replayability and the educational value of the game.

- by Michele Pirovano
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- Fuzzy Systems, Game Mechanics, Mathematical Sciences

This article argues that the computer automation of perspective and rendering in Google Earth has far-reaching consequences for the relationships between representations of the earth, its ecology and cultural responses to climate change. Theorists Erwin Panofsky (1991) and William Ivins (1975) to Lev Manovich (1993) and Don Ihde (2009) have argued that the emergence of Renaissance perspective structured a new relationship between the image and the object: contributing to the initiation of industrialisation and science. Whilst Manovich describes the impacts of Renaissance perspective in terms of its effect upon scientific and industrial structures, Jean Louis Comolli has argued that its advent was both a cause and a consequence of a shift to a humanist social regime. This article argues that Google Earth and its corollaries now complicate the visual and discursive constitution of the cultural and ecological environment. The contemporary computer-generated ‘visual nominalism’ of Google Earth results in a photomapped representation of the earth that can elevate environmental awareness through visualised data sets at the same time as it reduces the earth to a product design–engineered object. As Comolli’s Machines of the Visible becomes Machinima of the Visible, this article asks whether public and scientific calls for a turn towards geoengineering can be viewed through a product design–engineered interface that reconstitutes the social machine as an engineer of the earth object itself.

- by Leon Gurevitch
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- Sociology, Environmental Sociology, Cartography, Game Theory

The aim of this paper is to rethink games and game design within the theory of self-producing interaction systems. With this research, I seek to identify several dynamics of play and engagement elicited by games that, by extension, can serve as game design parameters. The research is oriented toward an analysis of football (soccer) and Pokémon GO within the context of Niklas Luhmann's (2002/2012) theoretical framework of autopoiesis (i.e., self-producing interaction systems). The theoretical discussion of play situations in the two games reveals five concentric interaction systems through which games motivate play and engagement. These game dynamics are continuing simultaneous communication, multiple observations, double expectations, system autonomy, and unexpectedness through system coupling. The study further shows that when a game succeeds in eliciting these dimensions, functional, continuous, and changing structures allow for the emergence of numerous behaviors and the production of new interaction systems.

- by Tore Gulden
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- Game Theory, Systems Theory, Play Theory, Game Mechanics

This paper aims to expand existing knowledge on narrative game design. Specifically, the paper discusses the importance of game design patterns for the analysis of narrative game mechanics. By bringing together insights from cognitive narratology and game design theory, the paper creates a preliminary theoretical perspective for deconstructing the design of mechanic-driven narrative games. To support the theoretical argument, the paper discusses Papers , Please as case study.

- by Teun Dubbelman
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- Game studies, Game Design, Interactive Narrative, Interactive Digital Storytelling

To recognize satire, the audience must be aware of the context and the satirical intent of the work in question. Academic research on the possibilities and effects of satire in games is minimal, if compared with other rhetorical uses of playful interaction. This paper contributes to our understanding of satire in games by discussing and annotating design decisions that were meant to be taken satirically. More specifically, the focus of this paper is Construction BOOM!, a tile-laying boardgame designed by the some of the authors of the paper (Gualeni and Schellekens) themselves with the overt intention of satirizing the current situation of real-estate development in Malta. Part of our contribution consists in lever-aging the notion of the 'implied designer' as articulated by Van de Mosselaer and Gualeni to show how game elements participate in the player's inferring a satiric implied designer for the game. The paper highlights the opportunities available for designers to implement satire into the various elements of a game and opens the door to further research into exploring how much these elements influence the perception of satire by players.

- by Jasper Schellekens and +2
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- Game studies, Rhetoric, Architecture, Serious Games

Gamification, the idea that game mechanics can be integrated into assumed “non-game” circumstances has gained ascendance
amongst champions of marketing, behavior change and efficiency. Ironically, some of the most heated critique of gamification
has come from the broader community of “traditional” videogame developers. Connecting broadly to projects surrounding “big
data” and algorithmic surveillance, the project of gamification continues to expand and intensify. This paper examines the
complex relationship between game designers and the rise of arguments in support of gamification. I analyze the various actors
and interests mobilizing arguments, deconstructing their underlying assumptions about the relationship between games and social
phenomena. Turning to an analytic framework rooted in the Assemblage of Play (Taylor 2009) and emergent coercive forms of
(played) control (Taylor 2006), the essay critiques assumptions on either side of the debate on the role of games and play. The
strained connections between debates on gamification and broader interest in serious games offers an important moment to
explore algorithmic surveillance.

- by Casey O'Donnell
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- Game Design, Surveillance Studies, Surveillance, Gamification

Games on the seashore of Salalah: the discovery of mancala games in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman During the 2013 fieldwork of the French archaeological mission along the shores of the Arabian Sea, mancala games were discovered on the seashore of Salalah at the site of Ad-Dahariz. They are cup-hole carvings made directly into rock slabs and distributed in six distinct zones of the site. They usually consist of fourteen cup-holes aligned in two lines of seven, two supplementary holes being sometimes present on each side. They are the first of their kind in South Arabia and can be compared to similar configurations of carved games elsewhere in Arabia, such as at Jebel al-Jassasiya, Qatar. This paper presents the potential origins of this game in the region, as well as a plausible dating of their use.

- by Federico Borgi and +1
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- History, Cultural History, Play Therapy, Cognitive Science

Rooted in the complexity of purposeful design, this paper embraces a phenomenological perspective of design as both a process and artifact. We use this perspective to interpret why the conceptualization and realization of design intentions can be difficult to achieve and why design is often perceived as a so called ‘wicked problem’. This paper revisits the concepts of game design patterns and game mechanics, arguing that refactoring these concepts is needed to clarify their relationships and motivations. We outline the separation of concerns between them and suggest that an additional contextualizing layer should be added to the discourse. Using this, we define and reflect upon what we refer to as the conceptual relationship model.

- by Steve Dahlskog
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- Computer Science, Game Design, Digital Games, Game Mechanics

Rooted in the complexity of purposeful design, this paper embraces a phenomenological perspective of design as both a process and artifact. We use this perspective to interpret why the conceptualisation and realization of design intentions can be difficult to achieve and why design is often perceived as a so called ‘wicked problem’. This paper revisits the concepts of game design patterns and game mechanics, arguing that refactoring these concepts is needed to clarify their relationships and motivations. We outline the separation of concerns between them and suggest that an additional contextualizing layer should be added to the discourse. Using this, we define and reflect upon what we refer to as the conceptual relationship model.

- by Steve Dahlskog
- •
- Game Design, Digital Games, Game Mechanics, Gameplay Design Patterns

This paper explores the notion of narrative game mechanics by apposing theories from the field of cognitive narratology with design theories on game mechanics. The paper aims to disclose how narrative game mechanics invite game agents, including the player, to perform actions that support the construction of engaging stories and fictional worlds in the embodied mind of the player. The theoretical argument is supported by three case studies. The paper discusses examples of games that employ mechanics and rules to create engaging story events, focusing on: building tension through spatial conflict, evoking empathy through characterization and creating moral dilemmas through player choices.

- by Teun Dubbelman
- •
- Game studies, Game Design, Cognitive Narratology, Interactive Narrative

This paper investigates the evolution of larp safety in the Nordic-American larp community in the last decade, tracing the correlation between safety rhetorics (opinions, arguments, and policies) and mechanics (explicit rules regulating player interactions). It appears that up to around 2010 there was a general acceptance of risk, with a significant share of responsibility for risk identification and harm prevention put on the player. This correlates with mechanics such as safety words, which expected players in distress to actively signal their discomfort. Safety measures expected from the organisers consisted mainly in providing safe off-game spaces, emotional support, and intervention whenever something harmful happened. Around 2014 the safety debate put a larger share of responsibility on players initiating
potentially troubling interactions. This correlates with the ‘OK check’
mechanics which requires communication between the initiator and the
target of such interactions. Around 2016 the safety debate moved to the
position in which it requires organisers and participants to do their best
to prevent harm from ever happening. This finds its expression in the rapidly expanding toolkit of mechanics of consent and calibration, which clearly put responsibility for overstepping someone’s boundaries on the one who oversteps. To simplify, the first approach obliged players and organisers to taking care of those who signalled they needed it. The second approach required caution and care in testing someone’s boundaries. The last one states that boundaries are to be carefully identified and respected – not tested.

- by Michal Mochocki
- •
- Role-playing Game Theory, Safety, Game Mechanics, Role Playing Games

Multimodal data channels such as bio-physiological signals are increasingly used in game-play studies to better understand players' behaviours and their motivations. It is however difficult to perform any sort of conclusive analysis solely based on bio-physiological signals due to the complex nature of epistemic, semiotic and ergotic activities surrounding in-game activities and the artefacts facilitating player immersion. Thus a combined analysis of multiple data streams including in-game data and bio-physiological signals is indispensable to produce contextualised information from which a deep analysis of game mechanics and their effects can be performed.

- by Sandy Louchart and +1
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- Psychophysiology, Entertainment Computing, Learning, Game Mechanics

In this paper I will investigate whether the struggle of behavioral change can be enhanced with the entertaining and engaging benefits of video game playing. Can behavioral change decision making be applied to video game decision making and still be entertainment, but help people align their ideal self with actual self through instant feedback and other benefits of video games? To answer this question, I will first explore the complexities of decisions in video games and assess whether they overlap or are similar to behavioral change decision making. Then I will switch to looking at behavioral change decision making processes and assess if video game decision making mechanics can be overlaid. By looking at each in its own right and aligning the other, this will reduce missing opportunities for design. Each topic needs to strengthen the benefits of the other for a positive design outcome.

- by Spencer Kay Raymond
- •
- Design, Habit Formation, Game Mechanics, Behavioral Change

The aim of this paper is to describe the research, planning and development stages for the project entitled “Generic Interface for Developing Abstract Strategy Games”. The project consists in the development of a generic platform capable of creating any kind of abstract strategy game, and is essentially divided in three phases: research on related topics, design and specification and lastly the development of a working prototype. Through the analysis of similarities between game mechanics this project intends to define abstract ...

- by Ivo Paz dos Reis
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- Artificial Intelligence, XML, Game Mechanics, Measurement

Corporate communication is mutating and gamification has become a powerful tool when it comes to providing new models and methodologies. Universities, because of their special characteristics, must make an effort when it comes to generating projects in this area: either because of the implications of their R & D + innovation activities, their semi-forgotten function of spreading knowledge or the need to adapt to new media and users. The aim of this article is to show the opportunities and disadvantages of Twitter-based gamificated university corporate communication models. To achieve this, the methodology used has been the critical analysis of practical experiences and consulting projects in which the author participated: #dametuits, RT # dametuits and #PowerUp_ECAM. The data suggest a high potential of this type of structures in specific actions, concerns about the generalization impact of long-term acquired knowledge and the key importance of the choice of gamification mechanics with a quantitative or qualitative approach depending of the relationship of the user with the institution. This leads to the conclusion that it is necessary to continue supporting research that leads to optimize these structures and further clarify the most important variables when creating new projects.

- by Carlos Gonzalez Tardon and +1
- •
- Corporate Communication, Social Media, SPAM, Corporate Communications

Gamification is to use game elements in a non-game context to increase engagement between human and computer, on the other hand, to encourage in-demand for good behaviors in learning. This research tried to increase student engagements in learning by conducted Gamification technique especially in difficult subjects such as Programming Language courses. The previous work was shown that students dropped, failed, or withdrew from the course at rates of between 35% and 50%. Therefore the main objective of this study is to increase student engagements in learning programming subject, and also to measure the impact of game elements on student’s engagements. Finally, the findings have shown the score of game elements that have a good effect on student’s engagement in the experiment group.

- by Tengku Wook
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- Psychology, Programming Languages, Motivation, Gamification

- by Tore Gulden
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- Game Theory, Systems Theory, Play Theory, Game Mechanics

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.

- by Theodore Lim
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- Serious Games, Critical Pedagogy, Technology Enhanced Learning, Game Mechanics

The two distinct levels of representation in gaming – the game-world and the mechanics – bring into focus the role of audience attention. To engage in deep and rich experiences of direct representations, players must be seduced into the represented world, but that seduction will always to some extent be doing battle with the player’s immersion in system-solving, even in cases without any ludonarrative dissonance. The corollary is that for a game to inspire imitation (including violent imitation) it must be able to engage the player in the represented world as well as the game mechanics – the reason being that when the player is not so engaged, they are effectively interacting with an abstract system rather than acting in the represented world. The ethical ramification of this is that violent games, if we are primarily engaged in their mechanics and not their worlds, are unlikely to inspire imitation. We demonstrate throughout the chapter how opportunities for deep reasoning are effectively diminished when game mechanics “take over”, and what conditions need to obtain for games to become subjects of moral thought for their players.

- by Oliver Milne and +1
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- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Ethics, Applied Ethics

La saga Silent Hill en su conjunto, y de manera específica Silent Hill 4: The Room, supone un caso paradigmático de construcción de lo fantástico en los videojuegos. Sirviéndose de las convenciones características de este medio, y alterándolas oportunamente para obtener determinados golpes de efecto, es posible generar en el jugador un amplio abanico de sentimientos. Concretamente, la modificación de algunos parámetros del espacio de juego (ya sean audiovisuales o aquellos que afecten a las mecánicas lúdicas de ese universo) es uno de los recursos más eficaces a la hora de sumergir al jugador en la experiencia. En el caso de Silent Hill 4, diversas modificaciones en el espacio de juego (el apartamento del protagonista) revelan de qué manera lo fantástico y lo siniestro pueden converger en el medio videolúdico.

Lee, JJ & Hammer, J. (2011). Gamification in Education: What, How, Why Bother? Academic Exchange Quarterly, 15(2). ... Gamification in Education: What, How, Why Bother? ... Joey J. Lee, Teachers College Columbia University, NY Jessica... more

- by Joey J Lee
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- Education, Game Design, Gamification, Game Mechanics

In the context of games for learning, it is argued that taking individual differences among players into consideration during game design can be beneficial for the game and/or learning experience. Researchers have studied a variety of factors that can be used for taking individual differences among players into consideration. Although research work indicates that the intelligence levels according to the theory of Multiple Intelligences may be a promising direction to follow, this direction is among the least explored ones. The research presented in this paper explores the applicability of the theory of Multiple Intelligences for personalized and player-centered (serious) game design using empirical evidence. Our results show that there is a correlation between gamers' intelligences, their preference for games, and game mechanics. To release the results to the game development community, a kind of recommendation system has been developed that provides information about appropriate and non-appropriated game mechanics for different intelligence dimensions.

- by pejman sajjadi and +1
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- Education, Serious Games, Intelligence, Multiple Intelligences

Abstract There is an eco-revolution going on, but not many people are joining it. Meeco intends to guide, encourage and commit people to live eco-friendlier lives in a more social and enjoyable way. It uses Location Based Services, Web... more

- by Sergio Gracia
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- Location Based Services, Social Networking, Game Design, Web Services

Essential for the development of effective Serious Games is the careful balance of education and play. It is necessary to develop a clear understanding of game mechanics (i.e. the tools of game-play) and how these relate to relevant educational strategies. In this paper, we raise conceptual questions regarding the nature of Serious Games and the relationship between game mechanics, pedagogy and the conceptual level at which they connect. In developing theoretical framework linking game mechanics and learning, we aim to ease the work of the Serious Game designers attempting to produce both fun and pedagogically effective Serious Games.

- by Neil Suttie
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- Technology, Pedagogy, Learning, Game Mechanics

The challenge of delivering personalized learning experiences is often increased by the size of classrooms and online learning communities. Serious Games (SGs) are increasingly recognized for their potential to improve education. However, the issues related to their development and their level of effectiveness can be seriously affected when brought too rapidly into growing online learning communities. Deeper insights into how the students are playing is needed to deliver a comprehensive and intelligent learning framework that facilitates better understanding of learners' knowledge, effective assessment of their progress and continuous evaluation and optimization of the environments in which they learn. This paper discusses current SOTA and aims to explore the potential in the use of games and learning analytics towards scaffolding and supporting teaching and learning experience. The conceptual model (ecosystem and architecture) discussed in this paper aims to highlight the key considerations that may advance the current state of learning analytics, adaptive learning and SGs, by leveraging SGs as an suitable medium for gathering data and performing adaptations.

- by Cristiana Degano and +1
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- Serious Games, Game Mechanics
- by Adam Brown
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- Cultural Studies, Game Theory, Narrative, Narrative and Design