Casual Games Research Articles

Quantifying Human Engagement into Playful Activities

Engaging in playful activities, such as playing a musical instrument, learning a language, or performing sports, is a fundamental aspect of human life. We present a quantitative empirical analysis of the engagement dynamics into playful activities. We do so by analyzing the behavior of millions of players of casual video games and discover a scaling law governing the engagement dynamics. This power-law behavior is indicative of a multiplicative (i.e., “happy- get-happier”) mechanism of engagement characterized by a set of critical exponents. We also find, depending on the critical exponents, that there is a phase transition between the standard case where all individuals eventually quit the activity and another phase where a finite fraction of individuals never abandon the activity. The behavior that we have uncovered in this work might not be restricted only to human interaction with videogames. Instead, we believe it reflects a more general and profound behavior of how humans become engaged in challenging activities with intrinsic rewards.

A game engine designed to simplify 2D video game development

In recent years, the increasing popularity of casual games for mobile and web has promoted the development of new editors to make video games easier to create. The development of these interactive applications is on its way to becoming democratized, so that anyone who is interested, without any advanced knowledge of programming, can create them for devices such as mobile phones or consoles. Nevertheless, most game development environments rely on the traditional way of programming and need advanced technical skills, even despite today’s improvements. This paper presents a new 2D game engine that reduces the complexity of video game development processes. The game specification has been simplified, decreasing the complexity of the engine architecture and introducing a very easy-to-use editing environment for game creation. The engine presented here allows the behaviour of the game objects to be defined using a very small set of conditions and actions, without the need to use complex data structures. Some experiments have been designed in order to validate its ease of use and its capacity in the creation of a wide variety of games. To test it, users with little experience in programming have developed arcade games using the presented environment as a proof of its easiness with respect to other comparable software. Results obtained endorse the concept and the hypothesis of its easiness of use and demonstrate the engine potential.

A Multi-Modal Approach for Evaluating Player Experience on Different Gaming Platforms

The aim of this experimental study was to adopt a multi-modal approach to analyse player experience on PC and mobile gaming platforms, and identify both the factors that potentially have an effect on this experience and the set of methods that are effective on measuring it. Game experience questionnaire was enriched through usability scales, semi-structured interviews and player observations. Data was collected from 20 undergraduate university students that were selected from casual gamers that had never played the Plants vs. Zombies game before. Results of the study showed that participants who played on the PC platform declared more positive feelings when compared to the players of the mobile platform. The bivariate correlations between the game experience items on each platform showed that flow, competence, and challenge were the marker components of game experience that differed due to the players' game experience on each platform.

Development of a Mobile Game to Influence Behavior Determinants of HIV Service Uptake Among Key Populations in the Philippines: User-Centered Design Process.

BackgroundOpportunities in digital distribution place mobile games as a promising platform for games for health. However, designing a game that can compete in the saturated mobile games market and deliver persuasive health messages can feel like an insurmountable challenge. Although user-centered design is widely advocated, factors such as the user’s subject domain expertise, budget constraints, and poor data collection methods can restrict the benefits of user involvement.ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop a playable and acceptable game for health, targeted at young key populations in the Philippines.MethodsAuthors identified a range of user-centered design methods to be used in tandem from published literature. The resulting design process involved a phased approach, with 40 primary and secondary users engaged during the initial ideation and prototype testing stages. Selected methods included participatory design workshops, playtests, playability heuristics, and focus group discussions. Subject domain experts were allocated roles in the development team. Data were analyzed using a framework approach. Conceptual frameworks in health intervention acceptability and game design guided the analysis. In-game events were captured through the Unity Analytics service to monitor uptake and game use over a 12-month period.ResultsEarly user involvement revealed a strong desire for online multiplayer gameplay, yet most reported that access to this type of game was restricted because of technical and economic constraints. A role-playing game (RPG) with combat elements was identified as a very appealing gameplay style. Findings guided us to a game that could be played offline and that blended RPG elements, such as narrative and turn-based combat, with match-3 puzzles. Although the game received a positive response during playtests, gameplay was at times perceived as repetitive and predicted to only appeal to casual gamers. Knowledge transfer was predominantly achieved through interpretation of the game’s narrative, highlighting this as an important design element. Uptake of the game was positive; between December 1, 2017, and December 1, 2018, 3325 unique device installs were reported globally. Game metrics provided evidence of adoption by young key populations in the Philippines. Game uptake and use were substantially higher in regions where direct engagement with target users took place.ConclusionsUser-centered design activities supported the identification of important contextual requirements. Multiple data collection methods enabled triangulation of findings to mediate the inherent biases of the different techniques. Game acceptance is dependent on the ability of the development team to implement design solutions that address the needs and desires of target users. If target users are expected to develop design solutions, they must have adequate expertise and a significant role within the development team. Facilitating meaningful partnerships between health professionals, the games industry, and end users will support the games for health industry as it matures.

Video game use among secondary school students and associated factors.

The rapid progress of technology and widespread use of internet has increased the frequency of video gaming among children. The objective was to determine the frequency and patterns of video game use and video game addiction (VGA) in secondary school students and the relationship with socio-demographic, familial and individual factors. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in four secondary schools in varied sociodemographic characteristics. A structured questionnaire was applied to the parents who agreed to participate. 'Videogame Addiction Scale for Children (VASC)' was performed to the videogamer students. 297 healthy students were included; 245 (82.5 %) reported as video game players. The rate of VGA was 1.6 % in our whole sample. The VGA rate was 3.1 % within the male students. VASC-Geometric Mean Score (VASC-GMS) was significantly higher in male and obese children (p < 0.001, p= 0.022, respectively). Students who use social media also had higher scores (p= 0.034). Gaming consoles, online games or games with multiplayers increase the VASC-GMS scores (p= 0.028, p= 0.002, p= 0.016, respectively). War and strategy games lead higher VASC-GMS (p < 0.001, p= 0.034, respectively). In contrast, mind and casual games were related to lower VASC-GMS (p= 0.006, p= 0.004, respectively). It was observed that being male, being obese, use of social media, game console ownership, playing specific game genres (war or strategy games), online and multiplayer games are related to higher scores of video game addiction scale in secondary school students. Future prospective studies and preventive measures on VGA should focus on these factors.

What's in a Review

As video game press ("experts") and casual gamers ("amateurs") have different motivations when writing video game reviews, discrepancies in their reviews may arise. To study such potential discrepancies, we conduct a large-scale investigation of more than 1 million reviews on the Metacritic review platform. In particular, we assess the existence and nature of discrepancies in video game appraisal by experts and amateurs, and how they manifest in ratings, over time, and in review language. Leveraging these insights, we explore the predictive power of early expert vs. amateur reviews in forecasting video game reputation in the short- and long-term. We find that amateurs, in contrast to experts, give more polarized ratings of video games, rate games surprisingly long after game release, and are positively biased towards older games. On a textual level, we observe that experts write rather complex, less readable texts than amateurs, whose reviews are more emotionally charged. While in the short-term amateur reviews are remarkably predictive of game reputation among other amateurs (achieving 91% ROC AUC in a binary classification), both expert and amateur reviews are equally well suited for long-term predictions. Overall, our work is the first large-scale comparative study of video game reviewing behavior, with practical implications for amateurs when deciding which games to play, and for game developers when planning which games to design, develop, or continuously support. More broadly, our work contributes to the discussion of wisdom of the few vs. wisdom of the crowds, as we uncover the limits of experts in capturing the views of amateurs in the particular context of video game reviews.

How players across gender and age experience Pok\xe9mon Go?

The purpose of this study is to provide insights into player experiences and motivations in Pokémon Go, a relatively new phenomenon of location-based augmented reality games. With the increasing usage and adoption of various forms of digital games worldwide, investigating the motivations for playing games has become crucial not only for researchers but for game developers, designers, and policy makers. Using an online survey (N = 1190), the study explores the motivational, usage, and privacy concerns variations among age and gender groups of Pokémon Go players. Most of the players, who are likely to be casual gamers, are persuaded toward the game due to nostalgic association and word of mouth. Females play Pokémon Go to fulfill physical exploration and enjoyment gratifications. On the other hand, males seek to accomplish social interactivity, achievement, coolness, and nostalgia gratifications. Compared to females, males are more concerned about the privacy aspects associated with the game. With regard to age, younger players display strong connotation with most of the studied gratifications and the intensity drops significantly with an increase in age. With the increasing use of online and mobile games worldwide among all cohorts of society, the study sets the way for a deeper analysis of motivation factors with respect to age and gender. Understanding motivations for play can provide researchers with the analytic tools to gain insight into the preferences for and effects of game play for different kinds of users.

모바일 소셜 캐주얼 게임 〈댄스빌〉의 협력적 공유 네트워킹 기반 플레이어 경험 디자인 연구

모바일 소셜 캐주얼 게임 〈댄스빌〉의 협력적 공유 네트워킹 기반 플레이어 경험 디자인 연구

Paying to play: an economic experiment examining children’s avatar preferences and their willingness to pay for them

PurposeThe purpose of this study is a formal experimental economics test of results found in a study designed and executed by a 12-year-old who was concerned about what she perceived to be bias in gaming applications (apps) that provided male avatar characters for no cost but required in-app purchases to access female characters. The present study was designed to test empirically whether children have a revealed preference for same-gendered characters and whether such preferences are dependent on the cost of the characters.Design/methodology/approachChildren from 6 to 16 years of age were recruited to participate in a framed field economics experiment in which they would earn actual money and be given opportunities to spend it on in-game avatars they could then use to continue to play. Additionally, a survey gathered data on participants’ stated preferences and experiences playing game apps on mobile phones.FindingsChildren do prefer to play a character of the same gender; however, they are more likely to remain the default character if choosing a different character costs money. When asked to say why they picked their character, children report most often that it is based on either the characters’ appearance or gender, followed by perceived character abilities, liking the character and the cost of a character. A vast majority (90 per cent) of children felt both male and female characters should be free.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was limited because the experiment simulated in-app purchases but could not offer the permanence of real-world in-app purchases. Players in the experiment could not “keep” the character if they chose to pay for it. The authors adjusted for this by making the cost to change character gender much lower than it would be in the game (25 cents in the study vs approximately $10 in the app). Future research could explore ways to make in-app purchases during the study permanent for players to test if the permanence of the purchase results in greater willingness to pay to switch character gender.Practical implicationsThis research has practical implications for video game designers. As both male and female players prefer to play with characters of the same gender, and having a cost to play a character reduces switching behavior, it is possible that having a cost for female characters reduces the popularity of the game with female players. This is especially relevant for endless running games as these games are preferred more by women than men. By making female characters free, default character and developers may increase the popularity of these games with female players.Originality/valueThis study adds to the body of literature about gender and video game preferences because prior studies relied solely on stated preferences about characters (using surveys and self-reported behaviors) and not on revealed preferences (observed behaviors). Additionally, this study examines character gender preferences in a casual game, while most prior studies have examine preferences in massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

A Threat Analysis for Virtual Reality Media

This research paper proposes an initial threat analysis of virtual reality (VR) for the media industry. It focuses on the use of VR for media consumption or media-related applications. Pure gaming is not within its scope. Nevertheless, this study tackles casual gaming applications related to movies or TV shows. After introducing a taxonomy of VR (360 VR, Theatrical VR, and Interactive VR) in the media industry, we determine all of the assets that may need protection. Indeed, many more assets than the media content may require adequate protection. We describe some specific threats using the Attack-Defense Tree (ADT) methodology. This threat analysis discloses a new attack coined Denial of Experience to induce cybersickness. How should the industry prepare? We propose some priorities in the definition of a proper defense. As an example, the first recommendation is to build a risk aversion table. Some defenses may benefit from a coordinated, standardized approach.

Ask Dr. Discovery: the impact of a casual mobile game on visitor engagement with science museum content

This study examines the impact of a mobile game app on science museum visitors’ level of engagement with exhibit content, compared to a non game-based version of the same app. Ask Dr. Discovery (Dr. D) is a question-asking app containing two versions: a Game Mode employing casual game mechanics and an Ask Mode providing a baseline version. We implemented both versions of Dr. D at two science museums located in the Southwestern United States with 1539 participants. In both conditions, participants could type or speak questions to receive vetted answers about museum content, but only Game Mode embedded question-asking within a simple game. Participants’ level of engagement was represented by the number of questions asked about exhibit content in Dr. D. Additionally, we explored the relationship between app engagement and participants’ self-reported level of interest in science. All participants completed pre- and post-questionnaires with questions related to science interest, impressions of the Dr. D app, and demographic information. Results in both museums indicated that users of Game Mode asked nearly twice as many questions on average as participants using Ask Mode. Science interest predicted engagement at one of two sites. Demographic variables, including gender, age, and race/ethnicity were not found to influence the rate of question asking in either mode. These results indicate that employing simple game mechanics in apps for museum visitors may lead to strong positive impacts on visitor engagement with museum content.

Automatic Identification of Product Usage Contexts from Online Customer Reviews

AbstractThere are three product design contexts that may significantly affect the design of a product and customer preferences towards product attributes, i.e. customer context, market context, and usage context factors. The conventional methods to gather product usage contexts may be costly and time consuming to conduct. As an alternative, this paper aims to automatically identify product usage contexts from publicly available online customer reviews. The proposed methodology consists of Preprocessing, Word Embedding, and Usage Context Clustering stages. The methodology is applied to identify usage contexts from laptop customer reviews, which results in 16 clusters of usage contexts. Furthermore, analyzing the review sentences explains the separation of “playing games” –which is more related to casual gaming, and “gaming rig” –which implies high computing power requirements. Finally, comparing customer review with manufacturer's product description may reveal a discrepancy to be investigated further by product designer, e.g. a customer suggests a laptop for basic use, although the manufacturer's description describes it for heavy use.

Investigating the relationship between learning style and game type in the game-based learning environment

The game-based learning, which uses computer games to improve performance and learning, is a new field which can be used as a powerful educational tool. To increase the effectiveness of educational games, new games fit the learning styles of each individual can be made to have a customized learning environment. Currently, playing computer games have become far more widespread among Iranian youth and teenagers who are mostly students. Accordingly, this study investigated the relationship between the Felder-Silverman learning styles model (FSLSM) and four types of games. To this end, the research data were collected from 121 students at the universities in Qom province. Then the results are analyzed using Pearson’s chi-squared test and Crosstab. Three of seven hypotheses (the relationship between visual learning style and simulation game, sequential learning style and puzzle game, sensing learning style and casual game) were confirmed which can be the guide to design games in the environment of game-based learning more effectively.

IMOVE: A Motion Tracking and Projection Framework for Social Interaction Applications

In public places such as malls, train stations, and airports, there is a constant flow of people either waiting or commuting. Even though people at these locations are surrounded by many other individuals, mostly there is little social interaction, which generally creates a gloomy atmosphere. Any applications promoting social interactions are a welcome addition. We present IMOVE, an interactive framework aimed at facilitating the development of such applications. It offers a combination of motion tracking and projection methods which makes it easier to create interactive experiences and games, tailored to motivate people to move around, explore, and, most importantly, interact with each other in a fun way. People moving around trigger events and effects, interacting with the applications using their body movements or even collaboratively working towards an outcome. IMOVE was validated by means of a variety of applications in a real scenario, the entrance hall of a busy public building: the classic Pong game, a collaborative and accessible casual game (Save the Turtles!), and a procedural visual art generator based on game mechanics (Light Trails). All applications have been successfully running for the past year. The IMOVE framework is freely available online and it has been shown to be particularly suited and accessible to novice game and interactive application developers for large public spaces.

Collaborative intelligence and gamification for on-line malaria species differentiation

BackgroundCurrent World Health Organization recommendations for the management of malaria include the need for a parasitological confirmation prior to triggering appropriate treatment. The use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria has contributed to a better infection recognition and a more targeted treatment. Nevertheless, low-density infections and parasites that fail to produce HRP2 can cause false-negative RDT results. Microscopy has traditionally been the methodology most commonly used to quantify malaria and characterize the infecting species, but the wider use of this technique remains challenging, as it requires trained personnel and processing capacity.ObjectiveIn this study, the feasibility of an on-line system for remote malaria species identification and differentiation has been investigated by crowdsourcing the analysis of digitalized infected thin blood smears by non-expert observers using a mobile app.MethodsAn on-line videogame in which players learned how to differentiate the young trophozoite stage of the five Plasmodium species has been designed. Images were digitalized with a smartphone camera adapted to the ocular of a conventional light microscope. Images from infected red blood cells were cropped and puzzled into an on-line game. During the game, players had to decide the malaria species (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium knowlesi) of the infected cells that were shown in the screen. After 2 months, each player’s decisions were analysed individually and collectively.ResultsOn-line volunteers playing the game made more than 500,000 assessments for species differentiation. Statistically, when the choice of several players was combined (n > 25), they were able to significantly discriminate Plasmodium species, reaching a level of accuracy of 99% for all species combinations, except for P. knowlesi (80%). Non-expert decisions on which Plasmodium species was shown in the screen were made in less than 3 s.ConclusionThese findings show that it is possible to train malaria-naïve non-experts to identify and differentiate malaria species in digitalized thin blood samples. Although the accuracy of a single player is not perfect, the combination of the responses of multiple casual gamers can achieve an accuracy that is within the range of the diagnostic accuracy made by a trained microscopist.

The cruel optimism of casual games: neocolonialism, neoliberalism, and the valorization of play

ABSTRACTCasual games disrupted the games industry, but not in ways commonly believed. What if we left behind the hardcore vs. casual games dichotomy to reveal that casual gameplay and casual game development have extended the neoliberal and neocolonial logic of the industry? Casual games, in terms of design and industry practices, remind us that there is nothing inherently liberating about play. Rather, the design and development practices of casual games should be understood as an extension and acceleration of neoliberal and neocolonial logics. Casual gameplay and casual game development pull us within processes of cruel optimism. These deeply political economic processes endanger free play and creativity and therefore are obstacles to the flourishing of gamers and game developers as free subjects. In this neoliberal and neocolonial game market, cruel optimism is enticing because casual gameplay and game development emerge as powerful actors and practices in a context where the state has globally failed in the distribution of hope.

Narrative-Verse: On Transmedia, Narrative And Digital Media Audiences

Current trends point at narrative as a way of better doing storytelling and as a medium in itself to accomplish brand awareness. Works of fiction are empowered by new narratives as they intersect one another through the release of new narrative films, novels, games and TV shows. In the background of today’s post-post-modern reaction to narratives lies the fact of post-modernity declaring the fall of the grand narratives. With no massive narrative to tie ourselves together, we stand vulnerable to narratives provided by films, TV shows, gaming and new novels targeting mass adoption. To better understand that phenomena, we will analyse the Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise as a case of study to search for how a story can evolve throughout the years and cross the boundaries of cinema to be present in multiple medias. The subject of consistency, gender studies, technology, story world, transmedia storytelling and decentralised information will be the subjects of our analysis. One thing we draw as a conclusion of the utmost importance is that the mainstream viewer or the casual gamer are no more the rule. These days we are seekers and searchers, not passive viewers.

GAME EDUKASI RPG SEAL BREAKER MENGGUNAKAN RPG MAKER MV BERBASIS ANDROID

Finding insights into the questions for learning exercises is not only found in schools but outside the school environment such as reading books in the library or by utilizing the sophistication of Smartphones. The majority of children are very willing to play games, based on data from Appbrain (2015) shows that the number of games on Google Play are Action Games totaling 17,853, Casual Games 51,458, Puzzle Games 59,283, Game Education only 14,180. By playing an educational game, children can easily remember and discuss problems. The method used is a system approach with Object Oriented that uses AOO (Object Oriented Analysis) and DOO (Object Oriented Design) which are visualized with UML (Unified Modeling Language) and the results obtained from this study are games that are able to combine RPG games by discussing the questions of the junior high school national exams.

Gamer emotions in laughter

Abstract This study is motivated by the assumption that today’s function-oriented game localisation approach has room for improvement by incorporating an affect-oriented approach. It draws on the concept of “affective framing” in a game with humour as “emotionally competent stimuli”. Laughter as emotion data were collected from German, Japanese and Irish participants playing in their native language relevant versions of the US-origin casual game Plants vs. Zombies. This small-scale empirical study, combined with gamer interviews and gameplay trajectory, reveal evidence of specific functions of gamer emotions across all three groups, most often as a relief during game play, facilitating the gamer’s ability to retain engagement by accessing the emotional function of humour. The data suggest that affective framing through humour that is made culturally relevant is deemed more important for the German group than the other groups. This group negatively perceived cultural stereotypes in the game, whereas the Irish group perceived cultural associations positively. The focus on user emotions brings the neglected affective dimension to the fore and towards affect-oriented game localisation as interdisciplinary research.

Baby with the Bathwater? Examining the Relationship between Video Game Use and Relationship Outcomes and the Moderating Effects of Attachment Behaviors among Married Casual Gamers.

We examined whether time together as a problem mediates the link between frequency of video game use and relational outcomes (relationship quality, relational aggression, physical aggression) among 431 married couples. We also examined the moderating effect of couple attachment behaviors on the association between time together as a problem and outcomes. There was no support for a direct or indirect relationship between gaming and outcomes; however, time together as a problem was consistently related to outcomes. Additionally, husband's and wife's attachment behaviors moderated the association between women's reports of time together as a problem and men's relational aggression. Clinical implications are discussed.