scholarly journals Game Design for Emotions: a practicebased research on the design of game emotional experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 34-35
Author(s):  
Rafael Lucio de Mattos

This research focuses on the development of emotionally directed gaming experiences demonstrating how the same game, when subjected to targeted audiovisual changes that do not affect its rules, objectives, and mechanics, can provide different emotional experiences. These experiences are related to the psychological and player motivation profiles of each individual. To this end, the research was structured into four main parts. The first, theoretical-conceptual, explored game design, seeking to find structures and elements that make up a game and the experience it proposes. A bibliographic review was carried out on: the study of emotions, including different classification approaches; a study on the relationships established between player, avatar, and game environment; and the concept of emotional design, proposed by Don Norman. The second part, analytical-investigative, consisted of the case study of three games (Journey, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and Thomas Was Alone) with different gaming experience proposals. They were analyzed using a methodology based on game design elements and their relationship with the levels of emotional design. In this way, it was possible to understand how the design of each game contributes to the creation/development of different emotional experiences. In the third part, a field research was carried out to collect the psychological (Big Five) and player motivation (Quantic Foundry) profiles, through the application of questionnaires. The participants were then divided into groups according to their profiles (psychological and player motivation) to participate in the second part of this stage. Based on the information gathered by the previous steps, a short game was developed. From it, changes in its design were made to generate modified versions that, maintaining the game structure and essential rules, proposed different experiences to the players. All games had a player performance information collection system developed specifically for the research. The games were then made available to participants from the previous stages, who answered a final questionnaire. The responses, as well as information about the players’ performance, were used both to assess how each game affected the perception and to verify whether the psychological and motivation profiles of the player help to understand the emotional experiences of the game. Thus, the fourth part consisted of putting the knowledge into practice and testing the hypotheses developed from the previous steps and listed below. The research showed that 1) the visual and sound aesthetic influence of a game can have a considerable impact on the experience of playing, even if it does not affect the game mechanically; 2) The Big Five psychological profile and the player motivation profile are related to the emotional gaming experiences and can be used to better understand them.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-146
Author(s):  
Micael Sousa

Modern board games are booming, exploring new design elements, and providing dynamics that can support unique experiences. Serious game approaches can benefit from these insights and novelty. With the appropriate adaptation, modern board games may become flexible and cheaper ways to use and prototype serious games. Exploring these games and player engagement can support digital game design. Digital game designers may learn from modern board games to playtest player engagement and build prototypes for their serious games. This paper describes an experience with several adapted modern board games aiming to create a “Light Collaborative Ideation Process”, supported by the “Engagement Design” model and “The big five personality traits”. The game session objectives concerned fostering collaboration and ideation among participants in an informal meeting. The session successfully supported the potential of using modern board games, although showing the limitations and future developments required to benefit from the modding approach.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
John Edison MUñOZ ◽  
Kerstin Dautenhahn

The use of games as vehicles to study human-robot interaction (HRI) has been established as a suitable solution to create more realistic and naturalistic opportunities to investigate human behavior. In particular, multiplayer games that involve at least two human players and one or more robots have raised the attention of the research community. This article proposes a scoping review to qualitatively examine the literature on the use of multiplayer games in HRI scenarios employing embodied robots aiming to find experimental patterns and common game design elements. We find that researchers have been using multiplayer games in a wide variety of applications in HRI, including training, entertainment and education, allowing robots to take different roles. Moreover, robots have included different capabilities and sensing technologies, and elements such as external screens or motion controllers were used to foster gameplay. Based on our findings, we propose a design taxonomy called Robo Ludens, which identifies HRI elements and game design fundamentals and classifies important components used in multiplayer HRI scenarios. The Robo Ludens taxonomy covers considerations from a robot-oriented perspective as well as game design aspects to provide a comprehensive list of elements that can foster gameplay and bring enjoyable experiences in HRI scenarios.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-90
Author(s):  
Lilian J. Shin ◽  
Seth M. Margolis ◽  
Lisa C. Walsh ◽  
Sylvia Y. C. L. Kwok ◽  
Xiaodong Yue ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent theory suggests that members of interdependent (collectivist) cultures prioritize in-group happiness, whereas members of independent (individualist) cultures prioritize personal happiness (Uchida et al. Journal of Happiness Studies, 5(3), 223–239 Uchida et al., 2004). Thus, the well-being of friends and family may contribute more to the emotional experience of individuals with collectivist rather than individualist identities. We tested this hypothesis by asking participants to recall a kind act they had done to benefit either close others (e.g., family members) or distant others (e.g., strangers). Study 1 primed collectivist and individualist cultural identities by asking bicultural undergraduates (N = 357) from Hong Kong to recall kindnesses towards close versus distant others in both English and Chinese, while Study 2 compared university students in the USA (n = 106) and Hong Kong (n = 93). In Study 1, after being primed with the Chinese language (but not after being primed with English), participants reported significantly improved affect valence after recalling kind acts towards friends and family than after recalling kind acts towards strangers. Extending this result, in Study 2, respondents from Hong Kong (but not the USA) who recalled kind acts towards friends and family showed higher positive affect than those who recalled kind acts towards strangers. These findings suggest that people with collectivist cultural identities may have relatively more positive and less negative emotional experiences when they focus on prosocial interactions with close rather than weak ties.


Author(s):  
Meenu Sethu ◽  
Dan Nathan-Roberts

Traditional banks and financial institutions have witnessed a profound transformation to electronic banking with the rise of the internet over the last two decades. However, most digital banking customers do not feel that the activity of managing their money and making online transactions is exciting or enjoyable. The gamification of e-banking systems is a novel approach for promoting customer engagement that is gaining popularity. This work reviews the factors influencing the adoption of e-banking and how gamification can be used to improve customer engagement, loyalty, and financial wellbeing. An exploration of the most extensively used game design elements in gamified e-banking applications suggests that the use of certain game mechanics and characteristics can be effective in creating enjoyable banking experiences. Based on this research, a set of guidelines is provided for designers and practitioners for introducing game principles in e-banking applications.


2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Oceja ◽  
Pilar Carrera

The Analogical Emotional Scale (AES) permits respondents to represent the changes that occur in the course of two different emotions over the time in which they are experienced ( Carrera & Oceja, 2007 ). We tested whether the use of the AES allows us to go beyond the distinction between sequential and simultaneous emotional experiences. Specifically, the AES permits us to detect and discriminate at least four different patterns of mixed emotional experience: sequential, prevalence, inverse, and highly simultaneous. We carried out four studies in which different stimuli were used for inducing emotion: personal memories, verbal accounts, videos, and photographs. The results supported our expectation that these four patterns are associated with different levels of emotional ambivalence and tension along a continuum from lesser to greater: sequential, prevalence, inverse, and highly simultaneous.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Cheek ◽  
Theresa Fleming ◽  
Mathijs FG Lucassen ◽  
Heather Bridgman ◽  
Karolina Stasiak ◽  
...  

Background Internet interventions for improving health and well-being have the potential to reach many people and fill gaps in service provision. Serious gaming interfaces provide opportunities to optimize user adherence and impact. Health interventions based in theory and evidence and tailored to psychological constructs have been found to be more effective to promote behavior change. Defining the design elements which engage users and help them to meet their goals can contribute to better informed serious games. Objective To elucidate design elements important in SPARX, a serious game for adolescents with depression, from a user-centered perspective. Methods We proposed a model based on an established theory of health behavior change and practical features of serious game design to organize ideas and rationale. We analyzed data from 5 studies comprising a total of 22 focus groups and 66 semistructured interviews conducted with youth and families in New Zealand and Australia who had viewed or used SPARX. User perceptions of the game were applied to this framework. Results A coherent framework was established using the three constructs of self-determination theory (SDT), autonomy, competence, and relatedness, to organize user perceptions and design elements within four areas important in design: computer game, accessibility, working alliance, and learning in immersion. User perceptions mapped well to the framework, which may assist developers in understanding the context of user needs. By mapping these elements against the constructs of SDT, we were able to propose a sound theoretical base for the model. Conclusions This study’s method allowed for the articulation of design elements in a serious game from a user-centered perspective within a coherent overarching framework. The framework can be used to deliberately incorporate serious game design elements that support a user’s sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, key constructs which have been found to mediate motivation at all stages of the change process. The resulting model introduces promising avenues for future exploration. Involving users in program design remains an imperative if serious games are to be fit for purpose.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-48
Author(s):  
Laila Shoukry ◽  
Stefan Göbel

This paper presents the design and development of "StoryPlay Multimodal", a mobile multimodal analytics platform for the evaluation of Serious Games. It is intended to serve researchers, teachers and educational game developers as a means to assess their Serious Game Design. This is done by capturing, pre-processing, synchronizing and visualizing multimodal serious games analytics and mobile sensor data from playtesting sessions. By linking log data with multimodal data, it is possible to uncover relations between design elements, gameplay interactions, context parameters and affective and cognitive states. This is crucial for gaining full insight into the session, even if not present with the player at the same location. After discussing design requirements, the architecture of the software, the different modules, additional features, implementation challenges and solutions are presented. The testing settings, participants and results are also discussed to demonstrate how the evaluation procedure can be applied to deliver valuable outcomes for Serious Games Research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-58
Author(s):  
Elena D. Andonova-Kalapsazova

The article undertakes the analysis of Ann Radcliffe’s novel The Italian, or the Confessional of the Black Penitents (1797) from a history of literary emotions perspective which, I argue, yields insights into the attitudes towards emotions embedded in Radcliffe’s works. A reading of the novel from such a perspective also complements the critical studies of the artist’s engaging with the eighteenth-century cult of sensibility. The novel is read as a text that registered but also participated in the dissemination of an epistemology of emotional experience articulated in the idiom of eighteenth-century moral philosophers – Francis Hutcheson, David Hume and Adam Smith - at the same time as it retained some of the older, theology-based conceptions of passions and affections. The dynamic in which the two frameworks for understanding the emotions exist in the novel is explored through a close reading of the vocabulary in which Radcliffe rendered the emotional experiences of her fictional characters. In this reading it is the passions which are found to have been invested with a variety of meanings and attributed a range of moral valences that most noticeably foreground the movement from a generally negative towards a more complex appreciation of powerful emotions.


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