Active Games Research Articles

Game Pathfinding System Design based on A-Star Pathfinding Algorithm

Abstract. Pathfinding systems are used in many applications today, including navigation systems, autonomous driving systems, and games. The core part of the pathfinding system is the pathfinding algorithm, A Star pathfinding algorithm is a kind of efficient pathfinding algorithm, which is especially suitable for the design of game pathfinding. In this paper, based on the A Star algorithm, Godot game engine and C Sharp language are used to write a pathfinding program. After comparing different pathfinding methods and the estimated function, the A Star algorithm is improved according to the needs of the actual game pathfinding system, so that the pathfinding program can avoid crossing the obstacles through the diagonal by searching the surrounding obstacles and excluding unavailable nodes, and find a shorter path by using the Euclidean distance estimated function. The program applies the improved A Star algorithm in practice, and finally can complete the basic pathfinding needed in the game, which is practical for the design of the game's pathfinding system.

The Content and Game Action Weight of Senior Football Players as Goalkeeper

Football was and remains the number one sport, being very popular among the youth, both at the amateur and professional level. In recent years, specialists in several sports events, including sports games, have called for the differentiated training of athletes depending on their playing position. The players in the football teams are strictly specialized in playing positions, which are four in number: goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, and forwards. The given article represents an extensive analysis of all the footballers’ actions in the position of Goalkeeper, here being analyzed in detail the content of the actions of the footballers in the position of Goalkeeper, as well as their weight in an official match. The recorded results will allow the design of a differentiated training program for footballers for the Goalkeeper position, which will allow its implementation in the sports training of senior goalkeepers.

A Development of English for Communication Skills of Primary Students Using Jeopardy Game

Background and Aims: The purposes of this study were to; 1) examine the results of using the Jeopardy Game to enhance English communication skills in all Thai primary-school learners, and 2) to determine the learners’ satisfaction after learning English for communication by using the Jeopardy Game. Methodology: This study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods for collecting data, which were then analyzed statistically for the results. The samples of this study were twenty-six primary school students learning in grades 4-6, who learned English for communication with the Jeopardy Game for a certain range of assigned time. The instruments included a set of appareled pre-tests and post-tests, a questionnaire, and classroom observation. The data of the pre and post-test and questionnaire were collected, and the dependent t-test, the mean, and standard deviation were used to analyze the quantitative data such as the test and questionnaire and the content analysis was used for the interview as the qualitative data. Result: The data analysis, indicated that the mean score attained by the participants in the post-speaking test significantly surpassed the mean score attained in the pre-test. Additionally, it demonstrated that the learners enjoyed playing the game the most. Secondly, the learners required higher difficulty-level gaming activities used in the classroom. Thirdly, the learners were encouraged to speak English well. After the learners had learned English by playing the Jeopardy Game, their attitude toward learning English improved to a highly satisfactory level in terms of encouragement, attention, and fear reduction. It also showed that the learners obtained positive attitudes at high percentages, which are desirable factors of effective learning. Conclusion: The findings indicated that the Jeopardy Game had a positive effect on English learners. The game opened up the opportunity for the learners to speak English in meaningful conversations and situations, which made them speak English with less fear and learn unintentionally throughout the gameplay focusing on the eagerness and desire to win the game. However, continuity of learning English with fun games in the classroom should be undertaken in a variety of topics and skills.

Collective PES Contracts Can Motivate Institutional Creation to Conserve Forests: Experimental Evidence

ABSTRACTIncentives are a widely used tool for addressing deforestation and are often implemented as collective contracts. Local institutions are crucial to the solution of collective action problems associated with forest conservation, but we still have little knowledge of how to encourage institutional creation through policy. Since collective contracts do not eliminate freeriding incentives, we argue that their success hinges on their ability to stimulate the creation of institutions for collective action. To test these ideas, we analyze data from an incentivized lab‐in‐the‐field experimental collective action game played with natural resource users in four developing countries. The experiment simulates management of a common forest, and groups were randomly assigned to a conservation incentive payment condition. We observe how much group members attempt to coordinate on the creation of institutional rules and find experimental evidence that an external incentive program can stimulate the endogenous creation of informal institutions.

Incorporating Gamification in Second Language Learning: A Bibliometric Analysis

In the contemporary digital era, the utilization of gaming has emerged as a prevalent method for actively engaging students in the learning processes at various levels of academic curricula and within the broader educational community. This trend is particularly pronounced in English language teaching curricula, especially among learners whose mother tongue is not the English language. The judicious incorporation of gaming activities into courses pertaining to English as a second language (ESL) holds substantial promise for augmenting student learning, motivation, and knowledge acquisition across diverse disciplines. The present study conducts a bibliometric analysis focused on the utilization of gamification in ESL teaching and learning. The study's primary objective is to furnish a descriptive analysis of scholarly documents, authors, citations, and interconnections among authors. To achieve this objective, data extracted from the Scopus database are subjected to analysis. In addition to descriptive analyses, the extracted data undergo scrutiny using the VOSviewer software, facilitating the discernment of visual representations encompassing authors' interconnections, keywords connectedness and clusters indicative of research topics within the examined scholarly landscape. Using bibliometric analysis techniques, our investigation of the citation relationships among 61 publications has successfully identified two predominant themes influenced by gamification: language learning and student motivation. The discernible evidence of a rising number of publications focusing on gamification and ESL within the examined literature highlights the growing significance of this intersection. This study holds practical implications for serious game designers, English language educators, and educational institutions.

How does the application of low impact out bound locomotor games affect the physical fitness of children with moderate disabilities?

Physical fitness is an important element in the physical and mental development of children, including those with learning disabilities. Children with dementia often face various challenges that may hinder their participation in conventional physical activities. As a result, they are at risk of health problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disorders, and decreased overall quality of life. Therefore, this study aims to provide locomotor movement activities, namely playing outside the classroom or outdoors or outbound to improve the physical fitness of children with intellectual disabilities. This research is experimental research, research design with pretest-posttest control group design experimental research design used to measure the variable effect of outbound low impact locomotor games, namely game activities walking in a 10 m stove, running in a straight line 10 m, jumping times 30 cm, jumping holes 30 cm with light intensity. The population of the study was 42 children with disabilities at SLBN Marsudi Putra I Manding Bantul Yogyakarta, 30 children with moderate disabilities, the sampling technique was purposive sampling. The sample was divided into two groups, namely the control group and the treated group for 2 months per week twice. Initial data processing, the data was processed using descriptive statistics. Furthermore, the normality test was carried out using the Shapiro-Wilk test with a significance level of α = 0.01. The homogeneity test used Barlett's test with a significance level of α = 0.01. All data were tested using analysis with a significance level of α = 0.01. Before conducting the t test, the data was tested using the normality test and homogeneity test first as a prerequisite test. There is an effect of giving outbound low impact locomotor games on increasing the physical fitness of moderate deaf children assessed from the aspects of running 30 m, moving the ball, shuttle run 10 m, lifting barbells, and lying down. This shows that the data for running 30 m, moving the ball, shuttle run 10 m the experimental group has a faster average time than the control group. While the data on lifting barbells and lying sitting and resting obtained by the experimental group average is higher or the number is more than the control group. This research highlights the importance of integrating fun and inclusive physical activities in fitness programs for children with disabilities. By doing so, they can enjoy better health benefits and improve their overall quality of life.

Real-life boxing activity recognition with smartphones using attention assisted deep learning models

Mobile computing technologies play a pivotal role in narrowing the gap between athletes and sports monitoring systems, while also advancing towards intelligent and automatic supervision of individual sports activities. The widespread presence of smartphones equipped with multifunctional sensors has enabled the acquisition and analysis of data, facilitating Human Activity Recognition (HAR). Although recognising sports activities using a smart mobile phone’s accelerometer is widely used, traditional methods struggle with intricate and real time activities due to the high-dimensional sensor data. This study introduces a smartphone-based architecture for HAR utilising inertial accelerometers to record athlete’s game actions data sequences, extract relevant features and derive the player’s activity data through multiple three-axis accelerometers. In this paper an Attention assisted Deep Convolution Neural Network based Bi-LSTM (AT-DCNN-BL) model is proposed. The raw data undergoes sliding window pre-processing technique, the deep learning framework of deep convolution neural network layers helps in automatic feature extraction, the bi-LSTM structure process the boxing activity data and the attention is focussed over the boxing activity classification data. The attention mechanism redistributes the weights of the extracted features which aids in increasing the classification accuracy. Other classification models like Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN), Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory (bi-LSTM), Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) and Random Forest (RF) are also applied to the dataset collected from a mobile sensor. The study explores training of deep learning methods and illustrates the superiority of the proposed approach over others using the collected mobile sensor dataset. The AT-DCNN-BL model achieved a higher classification accuracy compared to the other models. The AT-DCNN-BL model outperformed all the other models achieving a higher accuracy rate (92.71%).

Application of Production-Oriented Approach in Seewo IWB Game Activities: An Innovative Strategy for Boosting Middle School Students’ Speaking Competencies

Application of Production-Oriented Approach in Seewo IWB Game Activities: An Innovative Strategy for Boosting Middle School Students’ Speaking Competencies

Модель змагальної діяльності зв’язуючого гравця високої кваліфікації у волейболі

Increasing the competitive performance of Ukrainian volleyball players requires scientific support of the educational and training process and the use of modern methods of scientific research, one of which is modeling. Indicators of technical and tactical actions obtained by analyzing official competitions are the basis for creating models of competitive activity. The aim of the study is to develop a model of a high-skill link player on the basis of statistical data from the games of the Ukrainian Volleyball Championship among men's teams of the Super League. Material and Methods. The data of 18 qualified volleyball players who perform the function of a linking player in their teams were used for the study. We analyzed statistical data of link players of 8 teams participating in the Ukrainian Super League championship of the season 2023-24. To create a model of a linking player of Ukrainian Super League teams, 10 athletes were selected from the total sample, the main criterion was quantitative indicators of participation in the championship games (at least 80% of official matches). Research methods: analysis of literary sources and data in the Internet, pedagogical testing, analysis and generalization of statistical data of competitive activity, methods of mathematical statistics. Results. The analysis of game technical and tactical indicators of qualified volleyball players allows to understand more clearly the peculiarities of competitive activity of players of different roles. In accordance with the purpose of the study we analyzed the game activity indicators of linking players (number of matches and sets, total number of assists, effective assists, satisfactory assists, number of errors). It should be noted that all game indicators indicated the heterogeneity of the group of highly skilled binders, which is explained by different experience, players' participation in matches, and the variety of tactical actions of the teams. Conclusions. The developed model of competitive activity of highly skilled liaisons contains general data (height, age), indicators of physical abilities (height of block and attack), technical and tactical indicators (execution of passes, number of errors). In addition to the average data, the model presents a variation series from the lowest to the highest results.

Combining visual cues with relaxing music, perfume and ventilation to reduce passenger car sickness: An experimental study

The autonomous, digital, and electric transformation of passenger vehicles is projected to elevate the incidence of motion sickness among occupants. This study investigates the effectiveness of an “anti-motion sickness” system that features dynamic light stimuli to support visual perception of longitudinal motion, combined with relaxing music, perfume and ventilation pulses to enhance user wellbeing. In an experimental design aimed at replicating a realistic passenger drive, fifty-three subjects were tested as front passengers engaged in a gaming activity. Subjective motion sickness ratings were collected throughout the drive, and the development of symptoms was monitored through in-ear physiological measurements, including RR-intervals, core temperature, and oxygen saturation. Post hoc analyses indicated non-significant improvement in subjective assessments of motion sickness. Similarly, physiological measurements did not demonstrate any significant difference across conditions. The tested system was however more effective in mitigating car sickness for low susceptible than for mid-to-high susceptible individuals.

The potential use of immersive virtual environments for collecting and archiving heritage gameplay activities in digital libraries

Purpose This paper aims to discuss and propose the potential use of immersive virtual environments (IVEs) for archiving and collecting heritage gameplay activities in digital libraries, which is expected to triangulate further discussions on the said knowledge scopes. Design/methodology/approach The key question of this paper is, how we can preserve and revitalize fading heritage game activities in digital libraries? To answer this, the paper is going to understand the applications of IVEs in heritage studies; the use of telepresence experiences in IVEs for activity-based collection; the creation of virtual and telepresence experiences in digital libraries; and a proposed use of IVEs for archiving heritage gameplay activities. Findings The applications of IVEs and/or other virtual technologies have certainly been gaining positive feedback about their ability to provide vivid images of artefacts and art pieces; perform a high level of interactivity between the exhibits and visitors; enhance visitors’ sense of immersion that evoke their memories of heritage issues; facilitate visitors’ learning process in libraries; increase enjoyment in digital libraries. As mentioned in the previous section, the activity-based historical collection, for instance, the heritage gameplay activities, can be preserved and archived vividly using IVEs. Research limitations/implications This paper is explorative, there is no empirical result for generalization. Originality/value This paper aims to provide librarians with valuable insight to apply IVEs for archiving and collecting heritage gameplay activities. Setting up a new type of digital library is affected greatly by the openness of librarians, visitors’ expectations and a whole lot of things that are happening around the technological world and digital culture. This paper addresses the applications of IVEs in heritage studies, the importance of creating virtual and telepresence experiences for library visits as well as proposing the use of IVEs for archiving heritage gameplay activities.

İBTİDAİ SİNİFLƏRDƏ RİYAZİYYAT DƏRSLƏRİNDƏ DİDAKTİK OYUNLARIN ROLU

Didactic games play a big role in education and upbringing of primary school students. Thanks to such games, it is possible to focus students' attention and attract their interest. Gradually, children become interested in the mathematics lesson itself, which is a necessary condition for successful learning. Game activity ensures the development of children's personal qualities, abilities and skills.

신체도구를 활용한 유아 주도적 운동게임이 유아의 운동능력, 인지능력, 자아존중감에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of child-directed exercise games on infants’ motor skills, cognitive abilities, and self-esteem. Methods The subjects of this study were 30 people, 15 in the experimental group and 15 in the comparison group, and the average age was 62.83 months. The experimental and comparison groups were randomly assigned, and the children in the experimental group were given child-directed exercise games, and the children in the comparison group were given teacher-planned exercise games. To analyze the effect of the experimental treatment, data were collected through the ‘Children’s Motor Ability Scale’, ‘Children’s Cognitive Ability Testing Tool’, and ‘Children’s Self-Esteem Test’, and the collected data were analyzed using t-test. Results The study found that child-directed physical games utilizing physical tools were more effective in enhancing young children's cognitive abilities and self-esteem compared to teacher-planned physical game activities. Conclusions These study findings are expected to serve as valuable foundational data in providing guidelines for supporting children's physical activities within the context of child-centered educational curricula.

Exergaming interventions for older adults: The effect of game characteristics on gameplay

PurposeExergames can be used to train physical and cognitive abilities and have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of falls in older adults. However, there is limited evidence about how people play exergames and how gameplay is affected by game settings and, thus, the potential training effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of repeated exergaming sessions over 4 weeks and two game settings (difficulty level and game speed) on gameplay (performance, physical activity and perceived exertion) in older adults over a four-week exergaming intervention. Methods28 independently living older adults (mean age 74.47 years; 14 females) played two different exergames (Puzzle and Fox) at two difficulty levels 3× per week for 4 weeks. Physical activity measures from an accelerometer at the lower back, performance as game scores from the exergaming system, and self-reported measures of physical and cognitive exertion were collected at sessions 1,2,3,6,9 and 12. ResultsFor the Puzzle game, performance and physical activity increased significantly across the 12 training sessions. For the Fox game, an increased game speed was associated with increased performance, physical activity, and exertion across the exergaming sessions. Across all exergaming sessions, increasing difficulty by adding cognitive elements decreased the performance and amount of physical activity. ConclusionGame characteristics significantly influence how the exergames are played during a 4-week exergaming intervention. Hence, individual tailoring of the difficulty level and game speed is important. This study highlights the importance of understanding the interplay between game characteristics and gameplay during an exergaming intervention, thereby adding critical information for interpreting intervention effects – or the lack thereof.

Role models in gaming: Wishful identification and maladaptive daydreaming mediate the association between desire for fame and game engagement

BackgroundThe popularity of video games has considerably increased in recent years, with approximately 3.24 billion players worldwide in 2021. Empirical evidence suggests that the quality of engagement in video games can determine whether a gaming activity is associated with psychological distress (i.e., problematic gaming) or self-enhancing outcomes (i.e., esports career pursuits). This study investigates the role of influential gaming role models and other external factors relating to fame appeal in gamers' different ways of engagement. MethodsA total of 803 adolescent and adult gamers (89.29 % male, Mage = 24.90 years, SD = 6.13) were recruited through an online questionnaire. ResultsA path analysis was constructed demonstrating that wishful identification partially mediated the relationship between desire for fame and esports career planning. Moreover, maladaptive daydreaming fully mediated the association between desire for fame and gaming disorder symptoms. Wishful identification with gaming role models predicted both esports career planning and gaming disorder symptoms. ConclusionsThe findings shed light on the importance of considering the role of gaming role models in predicting healthy and problematic gaming patterns.

Does gaming keep subjects awake?: Subjective and objective sleep parameters following gaming in comparison to a passive control

ObjectivesGaming is a global phenomenon often associated with impaired health and sleep patterns. Although the research activities are growing, the evidence to date is rare due to the various gaming titles and inconsistent study designs. Thus, this study aimed to examine the impact of excessive gaming in the evening on subjective as well as objective sleep parameters by focusing on specific game titles and assessing several evenings/nights using a mixed-methods approach. MethodsA total of 33 experienced young male adults (23.00 ± 3.53 years old, ranked players in League of Legends or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) took part. The individuals’ sleep parameters were assessed via diary and actigraphy. In randomized order, one week apart and for a duration of 120 min each, two study evenings were spent gaming, while the other two evenings were spent without digital media and gaming, but instead watching a nature documentary. ResultsNo significant difference between the conditions were found (p > 0.05) in either the sleep duration nor the sleep quality. Daytime sleepiness was significantly increased after watching the documentary movie, when compared to gaming (p < 0.001). ConclusionsThese results indicate that, one the one hand, the gaming activity leads to higher arousal and alertness as it requires concentration and dedication. On the other hand, this impact seems only short-term and does not necessarily affect sleep patterns. Future studies are needed to gain deeper insights, especially regarding the long-term health effects of gaming.

Jiving and Utilizing Gamification Activities in Science (JUGAS): An Intervention in Improving Grade 11 Students’ Conceptual Understanding

This action research explores the effectiveness of Project JUGAS in enhancing Grade 11 HUMSS students' understanding of Earth and Life Science. Using an explanatory sequential design, the study assessed pretest and posttest scores of students engaged in gamification activities—cabbage relay, geologic crossword puzzles, science mystery stations, and impromptu speech spinners—over four weeks. Results show a significant improvement in mean scores (p=0.00***) with a large effect size (d=0.92). Qualitative analysis identified six key themes: fun and interactive, engaging and motivating, challenging, collaborative, mastery of learning, and progression with rewards. The joint display confirmed that these qualitative themes support the quantitative data, demonstrating Project JUGAS's effectiveness as a pedagogical strategy.

Engagement Strategies in a Peer-quizzing Game: Investigating Student Interactions and Powergaming

Educational games are a popular means of engaging students in learning activities. However, students in game-based learning environments often engage in powergaming to reap undeserved rewards and spoil the experi-ence of their peers. This may happen when the students pretend to engage in game activities or collude with other students, exploiting the game settings and rules to maximize their points. In this explorative study, we investigate powergaming in three settings of an asynchronous online multiplayer peer-quizzing game in a blended learning setting – a first-year programming class in a Canadian university. We designed three experi-mental settings with three versions of an education game which allowed different levels of powergaming. The between-subject study involved three experimental groups: Group 1 used a game version where they received weekly performance feedback and tips on how to improve their performance, Group 2 used a game version with access to an existing resource bank, allowing them to maximize the number if their activities in the game, and Group 3 served as a control group with no additional interventions. The research aimed to investigate 1) the association between the power gamers' activity, their grades and their preference to work alone or in a group, 2) the types of activities (type of quiz questions) most used by power gamers, and 3) which game setting was the most conducive to power gaming. The results show that better grades are not associated with higher activity levels in the game. Students who engaged in more diverse types of game activities had better learning outcomes The control Group 3 had the highest average grades. As we expected, Group 2 engaged in the high-est number of activities, esp. in creating questions, a form of powergaming. The qualitative results showed that contrary to our assumption the powergamers in Group 2 was not harmful, because it created a rich set of re-sources in the game and fostered student engagement in the game.

Game-based Learning for History: Student Perceptions and Preferences

With the rapid development of games in the 21st century, the panoply of games on history shows a wide variety. Backstories from most historical eras have been implemented in different game genres and modalities. Furthermore, a growing number of studies have pointed to the didactic potential of historical games as learning tools. This study aims at investigating university students' perceptions of gaming and their game preferences, with a particular focus on history. The research question to answer was: "What types of games do history students play, and how can games, in their view, contribute to learning in their subject?" Educational action research was used as the overall strategy in a study where data was collected from five different university course groups in general history at the basic level. Students answered questionnaires with open ended questions about gaming preferences and their perceptions of games. The answers were then analysed in an inductive thematic analysis. Findings show that the students play a mix of analogue board games, digital games and hybrid forms. In the transmedial array of games available, important genres include role playing games, strategy games, quizzes and first-person action games. The students frequently provide arguments for the use of games in history education, and they give reasons why they find a particular game useful for this purpose. They describe how these games have a potential to add value to history education. To some extent, they also discuss how this can be implemented. In conclusion, the authors argue that so-called technology tree games are particularly relevant to learning history from a structural perspective, while RPG:s can strengthen interpretive approaches through a subjective historical experience.

Training for Board Game-based Learning: Evaluation Model and Preliminary Results From a National Program in Italy

Board Game-Based Learning (bGBL) is a dynamic pedagogical approach that leverages the immersive power and distinctive features of board games to promote active and meaningful learning. However, the use of board games in formal learning environments (such as schools, universities, etc.) is limited, and its use in informal learning contexts (such as cultural associations, after-school, fairs, summer camps, etc.) is often reduced to solely entertainment or engagement functions. The reasons include lack of competencies by teachers and educators and of pedagogical and instructional frameworks in scientific literature. In Italy, a joint effort by the National Sport association (CSI) and the Game Science Research Center has given birth to the first bGBL training course at the national level, based on a two-step structure: the first level (L1) is a short training aimed at all individuals willing to learn how to conduct board game activities in different settings; the second level (L2) is a more intensive course aimed at L1 trainees willing to learn how to design, implement, and evaluate bGBL activities. Evaluating the impact of such training is paramount to improve its quality, promoting new training opportunities nationwide, and better understand the competencies required for effective bGBL implementation in different settings. The present study focuses on two main aspects: first, presenting the model for evaluating the course, using Kirkpatrick’s Four levels of evaluation as a reference framework, and the related tools that have been developed, including an ex ante-ex post questionnaire based on four dimensions of self-assessment (performance, process, attitudes, and idea of self); second, presenting preliminary results. We aim to identify the professional, motivational and competence profiles of individuals entering L1 courses, information that is instrumental to design the training to fit participants’ needs and expectations. Taken together, this study might provide valuable information on the implementation of bGBL in various educational contexts and inform the design of learning curricula to enhance bGBL competencies.