Game Mechanics Research Articles

INVESTIGATING ONLINE GAME ADDICTION: AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF DESIGN ELEMENTS THROUGH THE PLAYER ENGAGEMENT MODEL

The study investigates game addiction by using the design elements of Online video games through the player engagement model, The study explores the motive of the addicted behaviour of gamers and finding the association between game addiction and game design elements standardised by game creators. The study utilizes a quantitative methodology, and gathered data from 309 samples through questionnaires focusing on their engagement with game design elements and Game addiction was assessed using the Video Game Addiction Test. Statistical analyses reveal associations among variables, indicating that the design elements of online video games do not directly contribute to the development of video game addiction. Instead, it is evident that individuals with lower levels of addiction place a significant emphasis on video game design aspects such as immersion, game mechanics, motivation, and social interaction. The research suggests that understanding the impact of design elements on addiction in gaming contexts can inform gamers about how to mitigate game addiction.

Student Player Types in Higher Education—Trial and Clustering Analyses

In the context of the ongoing transformation in education, new learning methods, as well as new technologies, and therefore new forms of interactions are challenging higher education. This challenge can be addressed through ambient learning management systems that adapt to the student in the presentation and preparation of course materials. For educational games offered in such systems, this means that the game mechanics should be adapted to the student. To narrow down the sum of mechanics to the amount that is relevant for students, player types can be identified. This paper investigates the player types among students at the University of Lübeck. The characteristics of all player types of Marczewski’s Gamification User Types Hexad Framework are considered using a clustering method for the analysis. The result is three profiles with different characteristics of player types. For each of the profiles, mechanics are suggested which can be used for the respective profile. Thus, educational games can be more easily and automatically adapted to player type.

Research on financing countermeasures of online game SMEs based on the identification of intangible assets information.

As an important part of the cultural industry, small and medium-sized online game enterprises undertake the functions of technological innovation, employment absorption and cultural cultivation. However, the lack of credit ability restricts the financial development of such enterprises. To solve the financing problem of online small and medium-sized game enterprises, this paper firstly uses the information of intangible assets to identify their credit ability, and considers that the information of intangible assets is a problem worthy of attention in evaluating credit risk. Secondly, the intangible assets information disclosure index, the revenue sharing contract of credit synergy and the dynamic game mechanism are constructed to study the importance of the intangible assets index and the evolution of the dynamic game. Finally, the empirical study shows that the intangible assets of delisting and special treated online game small and medium-sized enterprises still have value, this type of enterprise and credit suppliers have the behavior of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. Therefore, credit synergy should be constructed and government regulation should be implemented.

Infusing Morabaraba game design to develop a cybersecurity awareness game (CyberMoraba)

Numerous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of Cybersecurity Awareness Games (CAGs) in enhancing the security posture of diverse organizations. As these organizations increasingly face the formidable challenge of cyberattacks, implementing serious CAGs to solve this issue has become a paramount concern. This article introduces an innovative approach to cybersecurity education by presenting a serious CAG. The game aims to effectively educate students about critical aspects of cybersecurity awareness engagingly and interactively. The study aimed to redefine cybersecurity awareness training by introducing an indigenous game design that intricately incorporates the traditional South African Morabaraba board game. While the effectiveness of non-indigenous games like "Capture The Flag (CTF)" in cybersecurity training is acknowledged, indigenous designs have been overlooked. This research creatively integrates Morabaraba's gameplay into cybersecurity training, adapting it into a competitive game where players adopt the roles of either defenders or attackers, with corresponding tokens/images symbolizing various cyber defense and attack strategies. Both the defenders and attackers in the game can elevate their awareness scores by strategically positioning defensive or attacking images on the game board. Subsequently, a judging entity assesses the players' moves and assigns scores based on the accuracy of the images placed. The game mirrors real-world scenarios, promoting strategic thinking and leveraging interactive gameplay for practical insights into cybersecurity awareness. Players demonstrate their cybersecurity knowledge through offensive and defensive strategies. A group of 40 students evaluated the game's effectiveness, highlighting its potential to create an engaging and competitive learning environment that imparts cybersecurity principles and practical application. The evaluation of the game mechanics demonstrated a remarkably positive outcome, with students expressing both enjoyment and an enhanced understanding of cybersecurity awareness.

The synergy of elimination and zero-determinant strategy on dynamic games

Groups often fall into the trap of mutual betrayal because of the free-riding behavior of individuals. To promote cooperation level of the group, a dynamic game mechanism with elimination is proposed in this paper. Then, we study the individual and synergistic effects of the elimination mechanism and zero-determinant strategy on the game evolution. To reduce the number of eliminated players, we analyze the main influencing factors of node's survival rate. It is found that the dynamic game mechanism can change the dilemma of mutual betrayal, however many players will be eliminated. The synergy of zero-determinant strategy and elimination can not only keep a high cooperation level, but also enable more individuals to survive in the games. Moreover, the survival rate of a node is directly related to its degree and its initial strategy. And the results are robust to game model and rule of elimination. This provides a feasible game mechanism for improving the cooperation level of the group and provides the optimal strategy implementation scheme for the individuals to realize the maximization of benefits.

Designing a Deck of Timeline Cards for Tabletops and Tabletop Simulator

This lesson demonstrates how to use nanDECK to design and publish your own deck of printed or digital playing cards, and use them to test a group's knowledge of historical events through a _Timeline_-like game mechanic. This lesson will also highlight best practices for handling digitized historical objects.

A Fusion of Chinese Five Elements and Steampunk in Enhancing the Gaming Experience

In the present era, due to the increasing influence of globalization, individuals from around the globe have the opportunity to select and engage with a greater variety of cultures. further, the theory of cultural fusion was proposed and further expanded upon during a period when video games were increasingly delving into the concept of cultural fusion. Nevertheless, the number of games that successfully blend Chinese and Western cultures is limited. Furthermore, the incorporation of traditional culture in game design tends to be simplistic in terms of visuals and gameplay. To address this, we have developed a game called Element Gears: Chronicles of Balance. This 2D survival adventure game combines traditional Chinese five-element philosophy with steampunk aesthetics, creating a new benchmark for thematic and cultural integration. Our game Gears integrates cultural elements and futuristic ideas into both the gameplay and narrative, rather than merely focusing on them. This fusion is not only visually pleasing, but also intricately integrated into the game mechanics, encompassing aspects such as resource allocation, manufacturing, and strategic survival problems within a dynamically evolving setting. The incorporation of cultural topics extends beyond surface-level depictions, offering players a more profound and engrossing educational and entertainment encounter. By comparing our Element Gears to similar games in the genre, this article highlights how its innovative approach to cultural fusion increases player engagement and creates a deeper and more meaningful gaming experience.

Gamification and Computational Thinking in Education: A systematic literature review

The rapid development of gamification and computational thinking seems to open up new educational horizons by providing new opportunities for students to acquire the basic digital skills needed for their cognitive development. Gamification, on the side, flourishes because it brings about high degree of participants’ engagement in an activity. Accordingly, on the other side, the growing scientific interest in computational thinking centers on the fact that it provides a fruitful field of dialogue in the research community for the development of critical and analytical thinking of students. Hence, this paper aims to synthesize knowledge about gamification and computational thinking for improving education for the benefit of students. Specifically, this paper describes: (a) the theoretical background of gamification in learning and education, (b) relevant studies in literature and their findings, and (c) specific gamified applications of STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics] which have been developed to this subject area. Four databases were searched, and 37 papers were finally selected for this review. The findings from the presented learning theories set the foundation on how students obtain knowledge, and the relevant studies in the field of gamification and computational thinking showed some first positive outcomes stemming some first research attempts which need further examination. Furthermore, it seems that with the right use of game mechanics and elements, well-designed applications of STEM gain students’ interest to learn through gameplay and motivate them to cultivate computational thinking and problem-solving skills

Improving Behavioral-Based Safety Training in Using Verbal Commands Through a Theory-Driven and Feedback-Based Nonimmersive Virtual Reality Game: Development and Usability Study.

The construction, chemical, aviation, medical, and health care industries have used serious games for safety training. To our knowledge, serious games have not been developed focusing on behavioral change to improve safety through the use of verbal commands and instilling players with heightened awareness of their spatial proximity to other people in their surroundings. We aimed to develop a theory-driven serious game for improving safety behavior using verbal commands and validate the implementation of the theoretical frameworks used for game development. The game developed, KitchenSpeak, was a first-person character (FPC) game where users respond to in-game prompts to use loud verbal commands when they are approaching another employee's blind spot. In addition to using the SERES framework in guiding the general game design and development, and the Reflection, Engagement, Choice, Information, Play, Exposition (RECIPE) framework to inform the design of the game mechanics, we also applied gestalt laws of perception for graphic design to guide the design of the game's user interface. We conducted 2 evaluative tests (alpha and beta) to collect end user and stakeholder feedback on the implementation of the theoretical frameworks, as well as to collect relevant information for full-scale implementation and a future validation study. The alpha and beta tests had 8 and 40 participants, respectively. The alpha test results revealed that the theoretical frameworks were adequately applied; however, suggestions were also made to modify and improve the game. The beta test results suggested further improvements for the game design and found no differences in the perception of ease of play between participants with and without previous FPC gaming experience (P=.47; Kruskal-Wallis). Results suggested that the game met its design and theoretical requirements, and it would be easily playable by all players regardless of their previous experience in FPC games. A theory-driven and evidence-based FPC game titled KitchenSpeak was developed to teach the use of kitchen-speak terms in commercial kitchens. Evaluative tests were conducted to validate the implementation of the theoretical frameworks. Our main contributions are creating and validating game-based training to improve behavioral-based safety in the workplace and the incorporation of gestalt laws of perception for graphic design in the game's user interface.

Unsur Naratif Pada Permainan Seluler “Selera Nusantara – Episode: Nasi Goreng”

“Selera Nusantara” is a mobile simulation game from Indonesia. The game not only offers cooking simulation challenges for the players but also provides information about the main characters who appear between game levels. The existence of story elements in the permainan seluler is the focus of this research. In this case, we chose “Selera Nusantara – Episode: Nasi Goreng” as the object of study. This research is about how the narrative aspect in the permainan seluler "Selera Nusantara – Episode: Nasi Goreng" is built. The arguments proposed by Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca in their book, Understanding Video Games (2020), are used as the theoretical framework of this research, especially the discussion about narrative. The results of this research show that the narrative aspect in "Selera Nusantara - Episode: Nasi Goreng" is constructed through a series of cutscenes which, if separated from the game mechanics and put together sequentially from level to level of the game, form a progressive plot identical with stories in short stories, novels, or film. Although integrated in the game, the plot does not affect the simulation game session. However, to be able to understand the complete series of stories that form the context of the game world (gamespace), players must go through each stage of the level. Thus, it can be concluded that the story fragments which become the background of "Selera Nusantara – Episode: Nasi Goreng" provide a narrative to the game, which makes it a form of ergodic literature.

How does escapism foster game experience and game use?

Online games represent a rapidly growing and competitive global market for technology firms. Games are viewed as places where people can temporarily escape from reality. However, it is unclear how game escapism fosters game experience and game use, thus indicating a research gap. This gap keeps decision-makers (i.e., firms and policy-makers) in the dark regarding how game escapism affects gameplay, thus hindering effective decision-making. To fill this gap, uses and gratification theory is applied to build a model for explaining the mechanism underlying the influence of game escapism and telepresence on game experience and game use. We collect 1347 online gamer responses with which to test the model. The results indicate that game escapism improves all game experiences, while only enjoyment and concentration increase game use. Moreover, telepresence strengthens the impact of game escapism on enjoyment, concentration, and fantasy. Our findings offer insights for decision-makers, enabling them to leverage game mechanisms to either provide or negate the impact of game escapism, thus changing game use.

Othering Older People's Housing: Gaming Ageing to Support Future-Planning.

The 'othering' of ageing is linked to an integrated process of ageism and hinders planning for the future for both individuals and practitioners delivering housing and health services. This paper aims to explore how creative interventions can help personalise, exchange knowledge and lead to system changes that tackle the 'othering' of ageing. The Designing Homes for Healthy Cognitive Ageing (DesHCA) project offers new and creative insights through an innovative methodology utilising 'serious games' with a co-produced tool called 'Our House' that provides insights into how to deliver housing for older people for ageing well in place. In a series of playtests with over 128 people throughout the UK, the findings show that serious games allow interaction, integration and understanding of how ageing affects people professionally and personally. The empirical evidence highlights that the game mechanisms allowed for a more in-depth and nuanced consideration of ageing in a safe and creative environment. These interactions and discussions enable individuals to personalise and project insights to combat the 'othering' of ageing. However, the solutions are restrained as overcoming the consequences of ageism is a societal challenge with multilayered solutions. The paper concludes that serious gaming encourages people to think differently about the concept of healthy ageing-both physically and cognitively-with the consideration of scalable and creative solutions to prepare for ageing in place.

Prospects for the development of educational computer games in the context of the theory of the "state of flow" by M. Csikszentmihalyi

The subject of the study concerns one of the most significant problems of computer gamification of education – the question of criteria for the development and evaluation of educational computer games, including optimization of their game mechanics, game structure and forms of integration of players into their space, taking into account their specifics, goals and main educational purpose. The concept of "game flow", which originated in the gaming industry under the influence of the theory of the "state of flow" by M. Csikszentmihalyi, represents an original interpretation of the criteria of internal motivation of human activity and, as the goal of game design, assumes the achievement of the highest immersiveness of the game and the creation of space for the construction of meanings. The concept of game flow is widely used in modern trends in the development of educational games: the use of innovative game mechanics that complement and enrich the traditional and most common model of PBL gamification and allow achieving the greatest human involvement in the process of playing and learning is gaining great promise in them. The article uses a comprehensive methodological approach, including a descriptive method applied to various concepts of learning gamification and motivation theories, as well as a comparative and hermeneutic analysis of research on the development of educational computer games. The scientific novelty of the research is due to the correlation of the concept of game flow and the theory of the state of flow by M. Csikszentmihalyi with the main tasks of educational games and trends in their development. The conclusions of the article state that the development of virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies, 3D visualization, and the improvement of computer graphics open up new prospects for the use of computer games in education, including in the humanities. Despite the fact that the issue of determining the prospects for the development of computer learning games is solved in modern pedagogy by studying the mechanisms of formation of internal motivation and involvement in learning, the theory of the "state of flow" by M. Csikszentmihalyi is of great interest in this sense. Optimization of the game mechanics of modern educational computer games is aimed at personalization, creating a space of free choice for the player and involves individual selection of the level of difficulty of tasks. These and other characteristics of game design can significantly improve the effectiveness of training.

Promoting Healthy Behaviors Through an RPG Videogame: An Elaboration Likelihood Model Based Approach

Serious games, due to their massiveness, attractiveness, and enjoyment, are widely used for education, promoting healthy behaviors, and for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STI) . Serious game design includes tailored narratives, game mechanics, and art for their purpose. Nevertheless, using theories of attitude change to create a videogame to promote healthy behavior is less common. Following contemporary theories on persuasion, we developed and tested an RPG videogame for mobile phones, in which participants had to think in favor of the use of condoms through a series of tasks within the game in order to promote positive attitudes and consonant behavioral intention (BI). Results show a positive correlation between thoughts, attitudes, and BI, and that attitudes can partially mediate (account for) the association between thoughts and BI. In this exploratory study, we showed that 1) it was possible to include an Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)-based approach into a videogame; 2) consistent with previous studies, attitudes partially mediated the association between thoughts and condom use (BI) in a videogame environment; and 3) applications of this strategy can be considered in the game design process to build new serious games for prevention in health care.

Serious educational games for children: A comprehensive framework

IntroductionSerious educational games are digital games designed to support teaching or learning objectives that have become popular among children. However, a set of principles is needed to develop a successful educational game. Therefore, this study aimed to provide a comprehensive and valid framework for designing children's serious educational games. MethodsThe conceptual framework is developed in two phases. First, a scoping review was conducted in PubMed, Ovid (APA PsycInfo), EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and gray literature on August 1, 2022. Papers in English that reported the serious educational games’ principles for children were included. Second, the extracted data from the previous step was reviewed and discussed by the research team to develop the initial framework. Then, it was distributed to 20 experts with relevant knowledge and experience in two rounds to validate and apply their comments within the framework. ResultsOf the 12916 papers identified, 15 were included in this study. In the proposed framework named CoDHP, the results were classified into four topics, including (a) content aspects, (b) design requirements, (c) highlighted attributes, and (d) children's preferences. Content aspects comprise four classes (goals and limits, child learning content, learning context, and a long-term program) with 16 principles. Design requirements contain 11 classes (stories and storylines, player characters, game mechanics, interactivity, game challenge, game rules, game help, entertaining games, user interface, accessibility, and setting) with 47 principles, of which 15 are highlighted. Regarding children's preferences for the game elements, various similarities and differences were extracted. For instance, both girls and boys prefer fun and popular games. Based on experts' comments, 21 supplementary principles were recommended to complete the content and design requirements. ConclusionGame designers or researchers can use the proposed framework as a formative guide to design successful serious games or evaluate children's digital games.

Side Quest Added: Video Game Mechanics and the Potential for Pseudoarchaeology

Side Quest Added: Video Game Mechanics and the Potential for Pseudoarchaeology

Immersive virtual reality for complex skills training: content analysis of experienced challenges

This study aimed to examine the challenges that adult participants experienced in immersive virtual reality (I-VR). Practitioners have indicated that some challenges persist from trainee to trainee and scholars have called for the design and development of virtual reality (VR) applications based on learning theories. Thus, we examined challenges immersed learners experienced during self-discovery of game mechanics and assembly task within an early-development I-VR program. We clarified the immersive learning phenomenon by studying the self-reported problem statements from 168 university students and staff. They used an HTC Vive Pro Eye device and a custom-built software. Through an iterative content analysis of post-survey and video-stimulated recall interviews, we retrieved 481 problem statements from the participants. As a result, we derived and detailed 89 challenges, 22 component features, 11 components, and 5 principal factors of immersive learning. The most cited components that the participants found challenging were the use of controllers and functions, reciprocal software interaction, spatial and navigational constraints, relevance realisation, and learner capabilities. Closer inspection of the quantified data revealed that the participants without digital gaming experience reported relatively more hardware-related problem statements. The findings regarding the constraints of immersive learning helped clarify the various actants involved in immersive learning. In this paper, we provide a design implication summary for VR application developers. Further research on theory-based development and design implications in various immersive training settings is needed.

ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ГЕЙМІФІКАЦІЇ В ПОПЕРЕДЖЕННІ ДИСЛЕКСІЇ У ДІТЕЙ СТАРШОГО ДОШКІЛЬНОГО ВІКУ

In this article, the use of gamification in the organization of preventive work with children prone to dyslexia is analyzed. The factor that causes dyslexia has been identified, emphasizing the need to promptly identify children at risk and intervene, in order to avoid negative psychosocial consequences during their education. The main achievements of scientists in this field have been summarized. The advantages of using individual elements of gamification for propaedeutic purposes in working with children prone to dyslexia are highlighted, and their description is provided. An algorithm for creating a game mechanism, criteria for selecting digital learning platforms, and developing games based on them are proposed. Considering the variety of available mobile applications and platforms that contribute to the implementation of propaedeutic and developmental goals in working with children with speech disorders, it is stated that they have some disadvantages. Therefore, the main approaches to developing custom digital games on gamified platforms, with the ability to modify their content and tasks, have been considered in such a way that they contribute to the implementation of the goals of corrective and developmental work with children prone to dyslexia. Several variants of such games are proposed as examples. The identified factors that can hinder the achievement of a positive effect of using digital games by a speech therapist in the classroom are discussed, and ways to solve them are explored. The perspective of using digital games in providing remote corrective and developmental assistance to children in conditions of distance learning is indicated. The article also emphasizes the need for speech therapists to possess a sufficient level of digital competence as a guarantee of methodologically correct creation and implementation of digital games into their work with children.

Look Behind You! Playing with Sexual Surveillance in You Must Be 18 or Older to Enter and how do you Do It?

In this article, I consider two indie videogames, You Must Be 18 or Older to Enter (Seemingly Pointless 2017) and how do you Do It? (Freeman et al. 2014), that share an interest in the affective impact of parental surveillance and discipline on childhood sexual exploration. Using close playing as my method, I argue that the videogames reveal the perils of surveillance and its pleasures. Drawing on assemblage theory, I demonstrate the contingency of videogames’ affective impact on players and the world and the—sometimes contradictory—potentials that surveillance produces as part of a sexual assemblage. Sometimes, using surveillance as a game mechanic amplifies sexual affect and pleasure and can thus be conceptualized as an example of “flirting” with surveillance. At other times, players orient themselves toward the videogames as the archetypical “parent”—finding pleasure in “catching” a videogame about sexual exploration and attempting to discipline it. Finally, drawing on Kathryn Bond Stockton (2004, 2009, 2017) and José Esteban Muñoz (2019), I argue that, by allowing players to relive childhood sexual exploration as adults, You Must Be 18 or Older to Enter and how do you Do It? provide players with the opportunity to become a playful child, to loop back through time and re-explore sexual discovery, and thus shape nuanced critiques of the way surveillance shapes sexual possibilities.

Application of game design pattern: Gradual generation of usable sub-mechanisms from core mechanism

Among the many commendable creations presented by game developers, the design of game mechanics generally shares common components. This observation can also be validated by using some less impressive works as counterexamples; however, there is currently a lack of comprehensive summarization of these systems. Through analysis, this paper extracts the game mechanic design patterns present in these successful games. The paper explores the practical application of a game design pattern that originates from a core game mechanism and progressively generates usable sub-mechanisms. This pattern involves selecting a specific core gameplay element and introducing auxiliary mechanisms to expand its dimensions. Through a systematic exploration of various combinations and interactions, this approach aims to create diverse sub-mechanisms that enrich gameplay and level design. The paper discusses the benefits and challenges of this design pattern and provides illustrative examples.