Horror Game Research Articles

Scarcity and Survival Horror: Trade as an Instrument of Terror in Pathologic

This paper questions the extent to which the relative scarcity of both gameplay options and in-game resources in survival horror video games can be read as a subversion of the metaphorical and idealised capitalist systems that underpin many forms of gameplay. While survival horror games do tend to offer an alternative to the usual rhythms of work, reward and empowering reinvestment found in many video games, the dystopian absence of common resources, gameplay and features (particularly that of an in-game economy) can just as easily be read as creating a nostalgic longing and appreciation for the norms of more conventional gameplay. Ice-Pick Lodge's Pathologic (2005) is considered as a rare and potentially subversive example of a survival horror game that creates an atmosphere of terror and uncertainty for the player through the fluctuations and predatory movements of its in-game economy, rather than through the absence of this feature.

Fear in virtual reality (VR): Fear elements, coping reactions, immediate and next-day fright responses toward a survival horror zombie virtual reality game

This study explores players’ fright reactions and coping strategies in an immersive virtual reality (VR) horror game. Based on Slater’s theory of virtual reality, two dimensions of fear elements in the VR game−the fear of place illusion (PI) and the plausibility illusion (PSI) −were identified by playing a virtual reality survival horror game with a sample of 145 students. Participants reported greater fear toward PSI elements than toward PI elements. Fear of PSI elements positively and strongly predicted disengagement coping strategies and overall fear. Among coping strategies, players mainly adopted approach strategies, followed by avoidance (disengagement and denial), and self-help strategies. A “self-talk” strategy, newly identified in this study, has been reported as an effective means to cope with mediated threat in VR games. Regarding individual differences, sensation seeking and neuroticism influenced participants’ coping strategies and fear. Additionally, males and females employed different coping strategies. Very few students experienced next-day fright, which consists mostly of cognitive reactions and VR-related reactions, such as the Tetris effect and the fear of being attacked from the back. Theoretical frameworks regarding fear elements and coping reactions are proposed to aid future research. Implications for academia, fear conditioning for training, and marketing campaigns are discussed.

Location-based game to enhance player’s experience in survival horror game

This paper aims to explore the possibility of implementing location-based game using the smartphone’s GPS to enhance the player’s experience. With the GPS technology, the player can play in a real world as well as in the virtual game world. We postulate this thus will enhance the player’s experience. To test the hypothesis, a horror game genre with location-based features was developed. The game was evaluated to thirty participants. The results demonstrate the game allowed the participants to explore a new place with fun. In addition, the participants claimed that the game allow them to enjoy a new experience in playing horror game. The participants described that playing the game was giving them more tension compare to playing a conventional horror game. Moreover, the participants claimed that they feel more familiar with the place they’ve explored during the game. Finally, some improvements could be done to improve the experience enhancement to the game. First, more variation in the storyline, quests and the enemy. As the game evaluated in this paper is served only as a prototype, the variation of the storyline, quests and the enemy (i.e. the ghost) is limited.

A study on the effect of hostile object on the player’s immersion in a horror game played using HMD

A study on the effect of hostile object on the player’s immersion in a horror game played using HMD

Game Art: Making 『Rabbit in Wonderland』 and Artistic Evaluation

Art genre is significantly affected by the environment, and evolution has created new environments that have widened the art domain. Media art, which currently draws the most attraction, is characterized as bidirectional, whereas traditional art is characterized as unidirectional. In media art, the audience and work communicate with each other, and work is completed through the communication process. In this paper, we investigate the case in which media art and games are combined. Using a Head-Mounted Display (HMD), which is recognized to be one of today’s most popular technologies, we manufactured the casual horror game art titled “Rabbit in Wonderland”.

Noise into play. Disonancias e indeterminación de lo sonoro en lo lúdico

Este artículo pretende plantear un estudio relacional entre el concepto de ruido sonoro y aspectos indeterministas de la lúdica interactiva experimental, centrándose en losSurvival Horror Games. Partiendo de la capacidad del sonido para desbordar la interface pantalla y conectar con el espacio real en el que se encuentra el jugador, se establece una conexión con el concepto de ética en los videojuegos desarrollado por Miguel Sicart. La propuesta atiende tanto a los aspectos experimentales de la producción sonora que se encuentran en el diseño del juego, y su relación con el campo del arte sonoro, como a las posibilidades de abrir el campo de lo político y la acción común desde de la experiencia de los jugadores, a partir de un movimiento semántico en el concepto de terror que puede transformar la experiencia del mismo en el espacio real.

게임 플레이어의 신체 측정 정보를 이용한 게임 캐릭터의 표현

게임 플레이어와 게임 세계 아바타 사이의 일체감 향상을 위하여 게임 플레이어의 신체 정보를 측정하고 이를 사용하여 게임 캐릭터의 외양 및 행동을 표현하는 기법을 제안한다. 신체 정보 측정을 위해서 하드웨어 모듈을 제작하여 체온 측정이 가능하도록 하였다. 실제 적용 실험을 위해서 지하철 공간을 무대로 한 일상생활 주제의 공포 게임을 제작하였다. 일상생활에서 자주 접하는 공간을 선택하여 일반인에게 익숙한 환경에 더 쉽게 적응하고 몰입할 수 있게 하였다. 게임 플레이어로부터 측정된 센서 데이터를 게임 공간의 캐릭터에 적용한 결과 플레이어의 신체 측정 데이터를 반영한 게임 구성이 효과적으로 수행됨을 확인하였다.

Vanishing scares: biofeedback modulation of affective player experiences in a procedural horror game

To understand the impact of emotionally driven games on player experience, we developed a procedural horror game (Vanish) capable of run-time level, asset, and event generation. Vanish was augmented to interpret players’ physiological data as a simplified emotional state, mapping it to a set of adaptation rules that modify the player experience. To explore the effects of adaptation mechanisms on player experience, we conducted a mixed-methods study on three different versions of the game, two of which integrated varying biofeedback mechanisms. Players’ affective experiences were objectively measured by analysing physiological data. Additionally, subjective experience was recorded through the use of the Game Experience Questionnaire. Our study confirmed that biofeedback functionality had a statistically significant effect on the ratings of player experience dimensions: immersion, tension, positive affect, and negative affect. Furthermore, participants reported noticeable differences in player experience, favouring the added depth present in the biofeedback-enabled iterations of the game. In the future, these conclusions will help to develop more immersive and engaging player experiences.

‘Don’t Look … Or It Takes You’: The Games of Horror Vacui

While some scholars claim that games are not primarily visual texts, the horror genre is obsessed with vision and practices of looking. The aesthetic concept of horror vacui describes aspects of this obsession. Horror vacui is the fear of empty space that results in the over-marking of visual space, excessive decoration that threatens to overwhelm what is being decorated, the stuffing of gaps and caesura with further representation. Shed of its standard aesthetic meaning, horror vacui could also be used to describe the fear operable in off-screen space, the monstrous unseen that lies outside the frame and constantly threatens to appear within it. Forced to move through this blind space, horror games create the conditions for excessive representation and practices of looking that erupt around the threat of the unrepresentable and invisible. In recent horror games this threat is mobilized by anxieties concerning online and networked culture.

An analysis of player affect transitions in survival horror games

The trend of multimodal interaction in interactive gaming has grown significantly as demonstrated for example by the wide acceptance of the Wii Remote and the Kinect as tools not just for commercial games but for game research as well. Furthermore, using the player’s affective state as an additional input for game manipulation has opened the realm of affective gaming. In this paper, we analyzed the affective states of players prior to and after witnessing a scary event in a survival horror game. Player affect data were collected through our own affect annotation tool that allows the player to report his affect labels while watching his recorded gameplay and facial expressions. The affect data were then used for training prediction models with the player’s brainwave and heart rate signals, as well as keyboard–mouse activities collected during gameplay. Our results show that (i) players are likely to get more fearful of a scary event when they are in the suspense state and that (ii) heart rate is a good candidate for detecting player affect. Using our results, game designers can maximize the fear level of the player by slowly building tension until the suspense state and showing a scary event after that. We believe that this approach can be applied to the analyses of different sets of emotions in other games as well.

Playing with sustainability: Using video games to simulate futures of scarcity

Many popular video games sustain compelling storylines that narrativize scarce resources, promote competitive and collaborative social interaction, and foreground survival goals — all necessary skills for making sense of a changed and changing global environment. In this article, we analyze representative commercial video games in four categories: civilization simulations, post–apocalypse first–person shooters, multiplayer survivor horror games, and historical recreations. We examine the ways their game mechanics and game scenarios represent social, economic and environmental interdependencies. We contrast these representations with future scenarios of gradually increasing scarcity of resources, climate change, and other human–environment interactions which can be influenced by transitioning to sustainable practices. Because good game mechanics can cultivate imaginative visions of situational potentials and solutions to problems, a key objective of the paper is to suggest game mechanics and scenarios that simulate and model sustainable practices. This agenda includes shifting away from growth as a game goal; strategizing with depletable resources; emphasizing scavenging versus combat for resource acquisition; and, developing more complex avenues for social interaction and collaboration among players. Incorporating more sustainability science concepts into commercial video games can offer a public outlet for exploring the complex interdependencies of a changing world.

호러어드벤처게임 ＜화이트데이＞의 순기능성에 관한 연구

우리 게임사에 큰 족적을 남기고 있는 호러어드벤처게임인 <화이트데이>는 흉측한 몬스터들과 음산한 분위기의 스테이지를 디자인하고 있는 잔혹한 호러가 아니라, 귀신 소리를 효과음으로 나타내는 청각적인 공포를 활용하여 한국적인 공포를 디자인해내고 있다. 본고는 <화이트데이>의 구성요소들을 통해 순기능적인 스토리텔링의 구조를 파악해 보는 것이 연구 목적이다. 연구 결과, <화이트데이>는 배경, 사건, 인물이 매우 탄탄한 시나리오를 지니고 있다는 사실을 파악할 수 있었다. 또한 모든 설계구조와 스토리텔링구조는 서구형 호러게임이 지닌 스플레터적인 호러를 모방하지 않고 순기능적인 요소를 강화시키고 있다는 사실을 확인하였다. 플레이어에게 미미크리와 일링크스가 내재된 놀이요소를 제공하여 인터랙티브한 재미성을 확대시켜주고 있는 <화이트데이>는 이 시대에 가장 필요성을 느끼는 순기능적인 게임의 표본이다. "White Day", a horror adventure game that has gone down in the history of the Korean gaming industry, is not a cruel horror game with hideous monsters and spooky mood, but a Korean-style horror game with auditory effects of ghastly sound. This paper aims at identifying the positive story-telling structure through the components of the game. This study found that the game is based on a well-organized scenario by the background, events and characters. In addition, its design and story-telling structure turned out to reinforce the positive effects of the game, by not imitating the western-style splatter games. As it provides players with playful components that bear mimicry and ilinx to maximize interactive fun, White Day is a prime example of positive games that are strongly needed in this era.

Modes of immersion and stress induced by commercial (off-the-shelf) 3D games

Developing a stress-management training (SMT) system and protocol for soldiers can help them cope better with stress experienced in theatre operations. Using 3D horror games in virtual reality (VR) can present an attractive simulation method for soldiers. This study was conducted to find out whether it is possible to stress soldiers moderately using VR and which technology is more efficient to do so. A total of 47 soldiers returning from Afghanistan played two 3D first-person shooter (FPS)/horror games (Killing Floor and Left 4 Dead) on three different types of immersive technologies (a 22-inch stereoscopic monitor, a 73-inch stereoscopic TV and a CAVE™). As a control and reference comparison of induced stress, participants were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a standardized stress-inducing procedure. Results were supporting of our work, devising an effective low-cost and high-buy-in approach to assist in teaching and practicing stress-management skills. Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed statistically significant increases in the soldiers’ respiration rates and heart rates while playing the 3D games and during the TSSTs. No significant interactions were found. Increases in physiological arousal among the soldiers were significant when comparing the baseline to the immersion and to the TSST, but not when comparing both stressors. Immersion in 3D games is proposed as a practical and cost-effective option to create a context that allows practicing SMT.

A Study on the Interface in Horror Game 'Dead Space2' - Focusing on the theory of Remediation by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin -

A Study on the Interface in Horror Game 'Dead Space2' - Focusing on the theory of Remediation by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin -

공포게임의 서사적 요소로서의 공간 분석

본 논문에서는 공포게임을 사용자에게 공포의 반응을 일으키는 것으로 최소의 목적을 달성하는 게임의 장르로 규정하고, 기존의 실험적 연구의 한계를 넘어 무엇이 사용자에게 공포의 반응을 일으키는 요소인지 연구하기 위해 서사 요소를 분석하였다. 서사 요소의 분석은 공포게임 안에 어떠한 문법이 작동하는가를 밝힘으로서 내용적 요소를 볼 수 있다는 점에 그 의의를 갖는다. 본 논문에서는 게임 이전에 공포라는 장르를 형성하게 한 고딕 호러 소설 장르로부터 공포의 요소들을 분리하여 이 서사적 요소들이 실제 공포게임에서 어떠한 방식으로 변용되어 나타나는가를 보았다. 이를 위해 코나미 사의 <사일런트 힐> 시리즈를 주요 대상으로 삼아, 게임적 특성인 공간과 서사요소가 어떻게 변용되는가를 분석하였다. 이 연구가 향후 공포게임이라는 특수한 장르의 게임뿐 아니라 게임 안에서의 공간과 서사 요소 간의 관계를 밝히는데 도움이 될 것으로 기대한다. In this paper, the horror game is defined as a game that is aimed at causing fear reactions to user. And this paper analyzed narrative elements for studying what causes fear reactions beyond the existing experimental study. This analysis is significant at the point of determining narrative principles in the horror game. So this paper has extracted horror elements from gothic horror novels that established as the 'horror' genre and has considered how these horror elements would be transformed actually in the horror game. So it analyzes how the space and narrative elements as the distinctive characteristics of game are transformed centrally in the case of the 'Silent hill' series(published by Konami Corporation). Furthermore this study will be expected to be a help for clarifying not only the horror game as a peculiar genre but also the relationship between the space and narrative elements in the game.

Uncanny behaviour in survival horror games

This study investigates the relationship between the perceived strangeness of a virtual character and the perception of human likeness for some attributes of motion and sound. Participants (N=100) were asked to rate thirteen video clips of twelve different virtual characters and one human. The results indicate that attributes of motion and sound do exaggerate the uncanny phenomenon and how frightening that character is perceived to be. Strong correlations were identified for the perceived strangeness of a character with how human-like a character's voice sounded, how human-like the facial expression appeared and how synchronized the character's sound was with lip movement; characters rated as the least synchronized were perceived to be the most frightening. Based on the results of this study, this article seeks to define an initial set of hypotheses for the fear-evoking aspects of character facial rendering and vocalization in survival horror games that can be used by game designers seeking to increase the fear factor in the genre, and that will form the basis of further experiments, which, it is hoped, will lead to a conceptual framework for the uncanny.