Simulation Game Research Articles

National differences in gambling-driven stock trading behavior: evidence from a simulated trading game

There are significant differences in real-life gambling behavior between Germany and Italy. Contemporary theories suggest that these differences in individual preferences would translate to differences in trading behavior. We elicited trading behavior from participants of both Italian and German language groups using a stylized hold-or-trade scenario distributed via a survey. Additionally, we collected data on their self-stated gambling preferences. Our findings confirm the existence of large and significant differences in gambling consumption, problem gambling, and trading behavior between the two nationalities. Furthermore, we observed that gambling preferences explain most of the national differences. This suggests that established factors of financial decision-making play a more prominent role in explaining national differences in trading behavior than any latent cultural factors.

Mod Installation as Reclaiming Representational Diversity: The Role of Aesthetic Agency in Stardew Valley

Media (e.g., film) are often designed around cisgender, heternormative logics and are not representative of the multiplicity of identities and identity expressions that exist in the world. Thus, media impedes the identity expression and performance of the communities who use them, as we do not see many parts of our identities represented or find that our identities are misrepresented. Video games, which are a genre of media, are especially problematic in how they perpetuate heteronormative normative logics. Unlike most media, however, video games give people agency over the aesthetics of game worlds--the characters and narratives--through the installation of mods. We conducted a content analysis coupled with a triangulation of mods through personal experience focused on the widely popular farming simulation game Stardew Valley. Drawing on a conceptual lens bringing together theories of identity and aesthetic agency, we highlight how the aesthetic agency afforded by mod installation provides opportunities for reclaiming representational diversity in game worlds along the following dimensions: sex and intimacy, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and body diversity. We discuss the implications of mod installation, exploring its potential relationship with identity work and identity play. We then propose design guidelines for achieving aesthetic alignment.

Storytelling Games for General Anxiety: Clinician Perspectives on Walking Simulator Games as Intervention

General anxiety is a common mental health condition across the world, with many barriers preventing people from accessing treatments. A growing body of evidence suggests that serious games offer appealing and effective solutions for anxiety. Despite their potential, an understanding of game design qualities and contextual game mechanics in game-based interventions are significantly under-explored, especially for general anxiety. Alternative and emerging game genres may offer new intervention approaches previously overlooked in digital mental health research. We use story-led exploration games, particularly the environmental storytelling walking simulator game genre, as an analytical template to understand new game design strategies and features that can potentially enable engaging and efficacious serious games as interventions for general anxiety. Using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, we summarize input from expert clinical participants who identified and evaluated several game design qualities towards developing walking simulators as potential serious game interventions.

A deep reinforcement learning framework for achieving super-human hazard perception in autonomous driving agents

Modeling driver behavior can significantly improve autonomous vehicles and intelligent driver assistance/training systems. Hazard perception (HP) is an essential driving skill for preventing driving accidents in potentially dangerous traffic situations. HP is not a Markov decision process, so modeling HP with reinforcement learning techniques is challenging. We introduce a framework for modeling HP scenarios using the soft actor-critic approach. Then, we use this framework to model HP in the emergence of a critical lateral hazard onto the road. The dual environments – the mirror environment for training and the target environment for usage – accelerate the learning process. The agent is employed in the target environment using an interpreter algorithm. The results show that the agent learns HP and outperforms the best human results by 2.6%. The training is implemented 40 times faster in the mirror environment. Evaluation tests show a driving experience similar to real-world scenarios rather than gaming simulations.

Corporate political action and R&D investments: complementary effects and the role of communication in overcoming ex-post transaction costs

Purpose This study aims to investigate the role of interfirm communication on the complementary effect between corporate political action (CPA) and research and development (R&D) investments under transaction costs. Design/methodology/approach A quasi-experiment study design was used, combining business game simulation and a public goods experiment with communication as a controlled variable. A fixed-effect regression analysis was performed on panel data collected from 72 students. Findings The findings indicate that collective CPA is positively and significantly associated with R&D investments, particularly when interfirm communication is present. Conversely, for non-communicating firms, the effect is limited to the relationship between individual CPA and R&D investment. Research limitations/implications Despite advancing the research on political ties and innovation, the study acknowledges limitations related to framing effects and institutional variability. Practical implications The complementary effects indicate that institutional arrangements (i.e. business associations) may foster interfirm communication and cooperation in CPA efforts, mitigating opportunistic behaviours and legitimising CPA strategy towards innovation. Social implications This study contributes to understanding how firms’ political and R&D decisions can positively impact innovation, despite the challenges of ex post transaction costs. Originality/value The positive effect of communication on political action and cooperation on firms’ innovation, even in weak institutional environments, is highlighted. An innovative methodological approach combining business games and economic experiments was used to examine participants’ decisions under transaction costs.

LuckyMera: a modular AI framework for building hybrid NetHack agents

In the last few decades we have witnessed a significant development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) thanks to the availability of a variety of testbeds, mostly based on simulated environments and video games. Among those, roguelike games offer a very good trade-off in terms of complexity of the environment and computational costs, which makes them perfectly suited to test AI agents generalization capabilities. In this work, we present LuckyMera, a flexible, modular, extensible and configurable AI framework built around NetHack, a popular terminal-based, single-player roguelike video game. This library is aimed at simplifying and speeding up the development of AI agents capable of successfully playing the game and offering a high-level interface for designing game strategies. LuckyMera comes with a set of off-the-shelf symbolic and neural modules (called "skills"): these modules can be either hard-coded behaviors, or neural Reinforcement Learning approaches, with the possibility of creating compositional hybrid solutions. Additionally, LuckyMera comes with a set of utility features to save its experiences in the form of trajectories for further analysis and to use them as datasets to train neural modules, with a direct interface to the NetHack Learning Environment and MiniHack. Through an empirical evaluation we validate our skills implementation and propose a strong baseline agent that can reach state-of-the-art performances in the complete NetHack game. LuckyMera is open-source and available at https://github.com/Pervasive-AI-Lab/LuckyMera.

Retraction Note: Application of optical imaging equipment based on deep neural network in basketball training game simulation

Retraction Note: Application of optical imaging equipment based on deep neural network in basketball training game simulation

Real-World Geopolitical Influences on In-Game Financial Behaviour

This paper explores how real-world geopolitics can influence financial decision-making in virtual environments. The study primarily focuses on trading dynamics in a pandemic simulation game. The players manage resources and trade with each other to save their population. We compared two groups: one playing with made-up country names (control) and another with real country names (test). The players were not permitted to communicate outside of the resources the game provides and were finally ranked based on the number of months survived and trade volume. Our findings reveal two distinct player archetypes, one focusing on maximising trade volume and a second focusing on resource conservation. Real country names compared to color-coded labels seem to delay the perception of competition and reduce overall trade volume, suggesting increased immersion and a more conservative approach towards resource management. Observations from gameplay footage reveal instances of potential bias, with players forming diplomatic ties based on national identities. The data collected suggests that real-world geopolitics can influence financial behaviour in virtual environments as hypothesised. It also explores virtual environments to study how political narratives and dynamics affect human decision-making. The findings offer practical insights for game developers regarding fostering player engagement, mitigating bias, and creating fair economies. While parallels with real-world resource trading and allocation during pandemics were noted, further analysis would be required to explore these connections.

Impact of Digital Game-based Learning Experiences on Reasoning Skills and Science Engagement

This research seeks to use games to promote scientific reasoning and inquiry skills among middle-school children. Particularly, it focuses on the Control of Variables Strategy (CVS), a fundamental component of scientific thinking which enables individuals to test hypotheses and make valid causal inferences based on evidence. The present study draws on and combines existing streams of research in the fields of science education, embodied cognition, and game-based learning to investigate the efficacy of an intervention using the Preparation for Future Learning paradigm in which students play an online text-based adventure simulation game about solving escape rooms in order to prime them for later formal instruction in CVS via a randomized-controlled trial, as well as whether structured or unstructured access to the game has a differential impact on immediate learning vs. retention after a delay. Students were given tests of scientific reasoning at baseline, immediately following the training phase, and a week thereafter. The impact of playing this game on motivation and engagement with science is also analyzed in this trial through the use of survey data. The study found significant effects of study condition on all measures, with students assigned to the game groups outperforming control students, and the unstructured play group showing the strongest performance in the post-study test while the structured play group performed the most poorly in the retention test. The unstructured play group also showed the highest level of intrinsic motivation, as well as higher self-determination and self-efficacy than the structured playing group in the science engagement survey.

Design Framework for VR Games in the Police Domain

The escalation in the number of conflicts poses various implications and consequences to society, demanding a comprehensive understanding from a law enforcement perspective. The surge in conflicts introduces significant challenges related to public safety, necessitating adaptive strategies for both conflict and crime prevention and resolution. Accordingly, effective policing must adapt to the evolving dynamics, employing a nuanced approach that addresses the root causes of conflicts and enhances community resilience to avoid or mitigate them and their broader societal impact. A pivotal role is this direction is played by the ongoing technological advancements that facilitate actions like enhancement of situational awareness, analyzing patterns and anticipating potential hotspots and activities, facts that sustain both proactive and reactive measures. In particular, technological advancements in Virtual Reality (VR) present a valuable avenue for addressing policing challenges, especially in relation to conflict resolution, mitigation, and prevention. Building VR simulations for training purposes offers a controlled yet realistic environment for officers to practice e.g., de-escalation strategies and decision-making under stress. These gaming simulations provide a platform to expose officers to diverse scenarios, fostering adaptability, encouraging communication and collaboration, and enhancing their ability to properly handle conflicts with precision and self-control. At the same time, VR systems can be developed for societal awareness and educational purposes, fostering better understanding and communication between law enforcement and the public. While a broad range of governmental, practitioner, and academic efforts exist aiming at building and incorporating VR solutions for various purposes in the police domain, specific areas that involve other societal forces and bystanders need more attention. It is then the aim of this article to capture existing design and evaluation principles as well as lessons learned from existing VR solutions in the police domain. This is done by proposing a design framework for responsible VR gaming solutions in the police domain following the Design Science Research methodology in a transdisciplinary approach.

A system dynamics gamification tool to enhance supply chain resilience in times of disruptions

AbstractIn recent years, significant disruptive events have stressed the global business environment and supply chains worldwide, and these events have become more disturbing and frequent. Consequently, organisations have been facing many troubles in different echelons of their supply chains, such as high inventory stockouts or unplanned supply and recovery costs, significantly affecting their performance and stability. Accordingly, strategists must acknowledge enterprise and supply chain resilience as a vital competence in organisational strategies and ploys to guide decision-makers when dealing with disruptive events. This work aims to help organisations develop a powerful approach for testing and improving a decision-making process to minimise stockouts, through a simulation game that considers essential supply chain components, such as suppliers, products, and disruptive events, coexisting in a dynamic system. Upon implementing the proposed game within an organisation, the main expected outcomes include: (i) enhanced decision-making capabilities; (ii) increased awareness and preparedness to address disruptive events; (iii) improved practical understanding of resilient supply chain management practices; (iv) cost-effective training and awareness-building; and (v) repetitive learning opportunities, thereby enhancing supply chain management and resilience. The game’s simplicity is crucial to ensure that this tool remains accessible and practical for its intended audience, as excessive complexity may potentially discourage its use.

Perception, Evolution, and the Explanatory Scope of Scientific Theories

According to the interface theory of perception, our perceptual systems have evolved to provide a species-specific interface to guide adaptive behaviour, and not to provide veridical representations of an observer-independent world. Results of simulations of evolutionary resource games, genetic algorithms, and multiple mathematical theorems have supported and fleshed out this claim in various ways. They indicate that the probability is zero that any perceptual system has been shaped by natural selection to represent the true structure of an observer-independent world. Bagwell (2023) thinks that this argument is self-defeating because it implies that organisms, resources, genes, etc. that are essential constituents of Darwin's theory do not provide an insight into the nature of observerindependent reality. Bagwell's argument relies on a false premise, however — namely, that the mathematical formulation of a scientific theory cannot dethrone its fundamental concepts. More broadly, his argument involves a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of scientific theories — of their explanatory scope and their necessary limits.

Effect of a simulation game on nursing students’ reflective thinking skills: a mixed methods study

BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the effect of a simulation game called “The Ward” on reflective thinking skills of senior nursing students.MethodsA convergent mixed methods parallel research design was conducted between February-April 2018. The sample for this study was a convenience sample (n = 23) of senior nursing students. Student Information Form, Reflective Thinking Scale and a structured interview form were used as data collection tools. During study, simulation game was played once a week for seven weeks. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean) were used for analyzing data, t test for dependent groups tests were applied to determine differences within group and qualitative data was analyzed with content analysis.ResultsAfter playing the simulation game, nursing students’ reflective thinking scores (pre-test = 39.70 ± 5.15; post-test = 67.39 ± 8.13) increased significantly (p < 0.05). It was found students noticed their shortcomings and mislearnings by comparing their existing knowledge in setting of teamwork and cooperation created by the game, and consequently students’ motivation increased or decreased. The teamwork and collaboration created with in the simulation game caused students to gain self-confidence, to expand their perspectives, to develop effective decision-making skills, to increase their motivation, to discover their own incomplete knowledge, skills or mislearnings.ConclusionsThese results support that the simulation games can be used to improve reflective thinking level of students. This finding shows that nursing education curriculum needs to be restructured using new methods such as simulation games aimed at improving students’ reflective thinking skills. In this direction nurse educators should be involved with policy making and policy makers to develop strategies to ensure that graduated nursing students should gain reflective thinking skills. In addition nurse executives should encourage using simulation and simulation games in service training to improve nurses’ reflective thinking skills and life long learning.

Features of the formation of professional competence of a future foreign language teacher through simulation games

The article emphasizes the importance of using the simulation-game method for the formation of professional competence of future foreign language teachers and describes its effective developmental impact. The principles and methods of the simulation game that contribute to the professional growth of students are considered. The authors of the article emphasize the necessity of professional development of future foreign language teachers and reveal the potential of simulation tasks. It is noted that learning through simulation game allows to achieve two goals at the same time. In addition, the authors note that the use of simulation games gives the learning process an interesting and practically oriented character, contributes to the development of students' universal competencies such as cooperation and critical thinking, which increases their competitiveness in the labor market. In the article the authors describe in detail the main stages of the simulation game method and offer a number of optimal linguistic and content tasks for the development of professional competencies. Based on the above, the authors conclude that it is necessary to introduce the simulation game as an effective method of teaching foreign languages in higher education institutions when training future teachers. The purpose of this article is to analyze the potential of using imitation tasks to improve the effectiveness of foreign language teaching. The main objective of the article is to describe the rules and principles of the method of imitation games, as well as to formulate the didactic foundations for the use of such games in the training of future foreign language teachers. On the basis of the studied theoretical sources and their own experience of using imitation games, the authors offer a set of tasks for teaching a foreign language that meets the requirements of language teaching methodology.

Effects of a Simulated Game and Doubleheader Inning on Peak Kinetics in Softball Pitching Across Pitch Types

Background: Softball pitchers frequently pitch at high volumes. Previous research has demonstrated changes in mechanics, range of motion, and perceived levels of fatigue and pain at high workloads. To date, little research has assessed changes in kinetics at high workloads across pitch types to understand the injury risk. Purpose: To examine changes in peak kinetics of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist of the pitching arm throughout a simulated game and doubleheader inning. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: A total of 19 high school softball pitchers (mean age, 15.1 ± 1.5 years; mean height, 1.6 ± 0.2 m; mean weight, 76.3 ± 16.9 kg) participated. Pitchers threw 4 innings of 25 randomly assigned pitches to mimic a game's high pitch count. Participants then rested for 30 minutes before subsequently proceeding to pitch the first inning of a doubleheader. Each pitcher threw a fastball, drop ball, curveball, and changeup. Peak shoulder, elbow, and wrist kinetics were compared across the first, last, and doubleheader innings and pitch types. Results: Compared with the first inning, significant decreases in kinetics were observed at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist in the last (P < .016) and doubleheader (P < .016) innings, particularly for shoulder and elbow compression force during the drop ball and curveball pitch types and wrist net force for all pitch types but the changeup. Significant decreases in elbow and wrist kinetics were observed during the changeup between the last and doubleheader innings (P < .016). Furthermore, differences in kinetics were observed between pitch types (P < .008); notably, the changeup had reduced kinetics compared with the fastball and breaking ball pitch types (drop ball, curveball) across innings. Conclusion: Across innings, attenuations in select joint kinetics of the pitching arm occurred that were specific to the pitch type. Across pitch types, peak kinetics was often greater during the fastball, while the changeup displayed the lowest peak kinetics. Clinical Relevance: The joints examined in this study are common sites of overuse injuries in pitchers. This work adds to previous findings on decrements in neuromuscular function as well as self-reported fatigue and pain with tournament-style pitching that may increase the injury risk. Collectively, these findings support developing a protocol combining functional testing and player-reported outcomes to aid sports specialists’ decisions for pitchers to continue to pitch or return to play, which may help prevent musculoskeletal injuries and time loss from sports participation.

The Impact of Collective Pre-game Organization in the Perceived Experience of Digital Management Simulations in Higher Education

This study investigates the impact of pre-game preparation on the perceptions and outcomes of participants in a digital simulation game. Conducted on 542 students from 28 management schools, the research explores how team organization and strategic planning in the early stages influence game experience and performance in a business simulation context. The findings reveal that effective pre-game preparation significantly enhances both the participants’ perception of the game and their performance outcomes. These results underline the importance of structured team organization and the strategic definition of roles before the game begins. This study also contributes to the literature on simulation games by highlighting the crucial role of pre-game activities, especially in team-based settings. In addition, it offers practical insights for educators on optimizing the use of simulation games by focusing on preparation and organization strategies that mimic real-world business environments. This research not only fills a gap in our understanding of the preparatory phase of game-based learning but also enhances our knowledge of how simulation games can be effectively integrated into management education.

VRodel - A virtual sledding simulator

Introduction &amp; Purpose Sledding is a low-cost and accessible recreational activity popular in alpine regions. However, the risk of injury is high, especially for beginners or tourists, according to the Österreichisches Kuratorium für Alpine Sicherheit (2021). Therefore, promoting sledding safety is important to minimize the number of accidents and fatalities in the sport. Sterr (2019) says, the major reason behind an accident is often the lack of skill in steering the sled. Hence, it would be ideal to acquire the skill to steer before going on a track. In many fields skill training is done in virtual reality. Realism in skill training is a major aspect in the virtual worlds according to Newman et al. (2022). Therefore, the goal of VRodel was to create a virtual environment for training that is as close as reasonably possible to reality. Methods In the first step, an environment had to be chosen that would be safe yet effective for training the skill of steering the sled. Next, the sledding track of Kühtai was transferred to a virtual model by means of drone based photogrammetry. The three-dimensional model was then cleaned, polished, and set into the virtual valley that surrounds the track. In a third step, a game was developed in the virtual world to create a virtual training experience. Input from professional sledders and comparisons to time splits of the real track were used to adapt the physics. The user steers the sled by moving their hands in space to reflect the pulling of the reins and leaning into curves. To increase immersion, the safety training uses gamification aspects. As a fourth step, the game was tested by four experts from Rodel Austria and 49 beta-testers, which gave feedback about the realism. Results The project resulted in a virtual reality safety training for the sport of sledding, that excels the current sledding simulation games in terms of appearance and realism. This was underlined by the feedback from the experts of the Austrian Luge Federation and the beta-testers that gave the simulation an average score of 4.98 out on a scale from 1 to 7. In Figure 1, a glimpse of the virtual world is visible. Discussion Le Noury et al. (2022) mention the potential of extended reality for training a skill in sports in their review. They also outlined that this field showed low efficacy on improving motor skills in the past and more research is needed. This project is addressing the needs of society for safer luging and at the same time uses an approach that needs more research according to Le Noury et al. (2022). Therefore, not only the project’s goals have been met, but also a contribution to the scientific progress in this field was made. Conclusion The immersive nature of the VRodel training program successfully engaged users, particularly children, through its gamified elements. Furthermore, this initiative not only enables sledding on a virtual track but also enables a study on the efficacy of virtual skill training in sledding.

The Looking Glass Framework: Using Virtual Reality and Video Game Simulations to Improve Clinical Decision-Making and Reduce Healthcare Disparities in African Americans

A central mission of a healthcare organization is to provide equal access and excellent health outcomes to all populations, regardless of race and ethnicity. However, in the everyday practice of healthcare, organizations have fallen short of this primary tenant. Healthcare disparities in the Black community are well-documented in the literature. Although the reasons are multi-faceted, racial bias contributes to healthcare disparities, and eliminating those disparities should be a chief focus in improving the health and well-being of every community. This paper discusses healthcare disparities in the Black community and the complex cycle that enables gaps to persist despite best efforts among healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the general public. It concludes with a presentation of the Looking Glass Framework; an innovative onboarding and continuing education program using virtual reality and computer-based educational modules to reduce healthcare disparities within clinics, hospitals, and health systems.

Virtual play and real connections: unpacking the impact of rice farming simulation video games

This study investigates how the rice farming simulation video game Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin affects interest in real-world agriculture and the inclination to start farming amidst Japan’s declining farming population. We surveyed 428 Japanese residents, including not only game players but also those who watch the game live or are merely aware of its existence. We also interviewed an individual who started rice farming after playing the game. The findings indicate that the game successfully stimulates greater interest in agriculture and somewhat motivates players to consider farming, more than just viewers or those who are aware of it. Moreover, individuals with real-life connections to agriculture, such as farming experience or professional connections, were optimistic about the transition from game to reality. The study suggests that rice farming simulation games can foster expectations of developing an interest in agriculture and potentially embarking on farming careers, demonstrating the game’s significant impact beyond entertainment.

Determinants of gamification effectiveness: perspectives of technology affordances and coping responses in the context of team-based gamified training

ABSTRACT Firms face significant challenges in effectively training employees in adopting complex information systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). Gamified training has emerged as a promising means to address these challenges. Despite this, prior research has paid little attention to the factors affecting the effective use of gamified training. This study aims to identify the determinants of the effective use of gamified training. Based on technology affordances, coping, and gamification literature, the study proposes that team-based gamification affordances (e.g. collaboration and competition affordances) affect coping responses (e.g. task-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance coping), leading to effective use. We utilized the ERP simulation game to empirically test the research model, employing a multi-study approach comprising two studies (Study 1 = 255 participants, Study 2 = 219 participants). Structural equation modelling was used for data analysis. Our results indicate that collaboration affordance significantly affects task-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance coping. However, competition affordance influenced only task-focused coping. We also found that task-focused and emotion-focused coping affected effective use. This study contributes to IS literature by highlighting gamification affordances and coping responses as important predictors of effective use in gamified training, leading organizations and IS scholars to design impactful and engaging gamified training programmes.