Surviving Mars, Haemimont Games (2018)

Review of: Surviving Mars, Haemimont Games (2018) Stockholm: Paradox Interactive PC download, US$29.99

A systematic literature review of ‘empathy’ and ‘games’

Scholarship on the intersection of games and empathy is limited. However, over the past decade peer-reviewed articles have started to be published in this area. This study investigates this emerging scholarship on empathy and games to understand how researchers are describing, defining and communicating their work. For example, how are research articles about games defining empathy? From which disciplines are the researchers framing their studies? Which types of games are being used in the investigations? Forty-nine articles were found, coded and analysed by searching six different databases. For this investigation, each article was analysed based on the discipline, keyword(s) used to find the article, definition(s) of empathy used, types of games used in the article and the themes used in the article. Articles emerged from twelve different disciplines and described over thirteen different types of empathy. Findings were shared, as well as recommendations for researchers studying this area.

Cute, cuddly and completely crushable: Plushies as avatars in video games

This article examines video game avatars that are designed to resemble toys. It names this trope the ‘Blithe Child’ to capture the carefree, careless and childlike interactions this avatar invites. This article argues that the connection between the Blithe Child and traditional toys functions to express and explain non-violent game mechanics, to shape sentimental player–avatar relationships, to create cosy, snug playspaces and to encourage pro-social, creative and self-expressive playstyles. However, the Blithe Child inherits some of the more sinister dynamics latent in human–toy relationships, namely the desire to humiliate and mutilate the cute object and anxieties about what it means to be ‘real’ – to be an independent, agential subject rather than a passive, manipulated, othered object. Drawing on theories derived from cuteness studies and toy studies, this article uses a close reading approach to critique the age-based hierarchies that underpin this trope.

Modding as game development: Investigating the influences over how mods are made

Over the past few decades, game mods have slowly walked their way into mainstream popularity and although not being confined anymore to the dark corners of the internet, the reality is that we still do not know much about how mods are created and how modders manage to achieve their objectives. Seeking to better understand the activity of mod development, this article explores key influencing factors on mod projects coordination and development by taking a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with nine lead developers of total conversion mod projects. We identified three key factors – tendency towards agility, co-creative nature and open source attitude – that we believe are etched at the core of the activity of modding and that lead to, and are manifested, in the unique ways of how modders approach software development.

The Pokémon Go Phenomenon: Essays on Public Play in Contested Spaces, Jamie Henthorn, Andrew Kulak, Kristopher Purzycki and Stephanie Vie (eds) (2019)

Review of: The Pokémon Go Phenomenon: Essays on Public Play in Contested Spaces, Jamie Henthorn, Andrew Kulak, Kristopher Purzycki and Stephanie Vie (eds) (2019) Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 235 pp., ISBN 978-1-47667-413-1, p/bk, US$39.95

Playing Nature: Ecology in Video Games, Alenda Y. Chang (2019)

Review of: Playing Nature: Ecology in Video Games, Alenda Y. Chang (2019) Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 294 pp., ISBN: 978-1-5179-0632-0, p/bk, $27.00

The mind games have already started: An in-depth examination of trash talking in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports using practice theory

Trash talking is a contentious and prevalent practice in traditional sports but few studies have examined its practice in esports – a computer-mediated form of sports competition in videogaming. This study used practice theory to identify different forms and dialectical relationships of trash talking in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Fifty hours of structured observations of professional tournaments were conducted followed by semi-structured interviews with fifteen spectators/casual gamers. Inductive analysis of data based on practice theory-related constructs identified varying perspectives on trash talk, and six distinct forms. Trash talk was directed towards players from opposing players, coaches, fans, casters and analysts. ‘Teabagging’ was the most controversial, but a predominantly positive ethos for trash talk was found, such that it was a distinct part of this esports scene. Theoretical and practice-oriented implications are discussed and a conceptualization of the practice of trash talk is given to encourage further debate and discussion in the field.

Mechanisms of identification and social differentiation in player–avatar relations

The connection between player and avatar is central to digital gaming, with identification assumed to be core to this connection. Often, scholarship engages single dimensions of identification, yet emerging perspectives reveal that identification is polythetic (PID) – comprising at least six sufficient (but not necessary) mechanisms. The current study investigates the intersections of polythetic identification mechanisms and two different approaches to player–avatar sociality (as a marker of differentiation): general types of player–avatar relationships (PARs) and discrete dimensions of player–avatar interaction (PAX). Secondary analysis of an existing dataset of gamers revealed two main findings: (1) players reported overall diminished identification when they engaged in non-social relations with their avatar, and (2) increased liking and perspective-taking were most likely with human-like social relations, which require differentiation from rather than identification as the avatar. These findings are interpreted to suggest that player–avatar identification and differentiation are conceptually independent relational phenomena that are experientially convergent – some relational orientations and dynamics are associated with distinct combinations of identification mechanisms.

Playing with the Kitchen Table: Using persuasive games to promote empathy for persons with anaphylactic food allergies

This article focuses on the design and preliminary experimentation of a tabletop game called Kitchen Table, created to encourage more empathy towards people with severe anaphylactic food allergies. To measure the effectiveness of this game, the study ‘Use of persuasive games to promote empathy for persons with food allergies’ was conducted at the University of Waterloo in collaboration with the Games Institute and Department of Geography and Environmental Management's Genetics, Environment and Therapies: Food Allergy Clinical Tolerance Studies (GET-FACTS) project. This study involved volunteers completing a Likert scale-based pre-playtest questionnaire, playing the game, and then completing a post-playtest questionnaire identical to the original. Their pre-playtest and post-playtest responses were compared to measure the degree to which attitudes changed as a result of playing the game. In the end, the game was demonstrated to encourage more empathy towards people with severe anaphylaxis through the production of emergent narrative from the interaction between the players, the game mechanics and the participatory community experience.

Running scared: Fear and space in Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Popular horror video game titles such as Outlast, Dead Space, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent are well-known for their effectiveness at evoking negative affects of terror and anxiety. The various camera tricks, control schemes, and visual cues these games deploy to confuse players and limit their sense of control and personal mastery. This article examines how Frictional Games’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent pairs confined spatial layouts with an intentionally vague user interface design to disorient players and heighten the likelihood that they will walk into one of the game’s threatening monsters. This article deploys Marxist and Affect theory conceptualizations of proximity and space to analyse how the game’s use of corners frighten players by narrowing their available field of view. The resulting analysis examines the negative feelings and subjective experiences players are likely to feel when they are unable to properly see the virtual diegetic world with absolute clarity.