Strategy Video Games Research Articles

Systematic Literature Review: A Fun Organic Chemistry Learning Experience with Educational Games

This article examines organic chemistry educational games developed between 2017-2023. The purpose of this study is to find out the types of educational games that are most developed, organic chemistry materials that have been developed in the form of educational games, and the positive impact of educational games in studying organic chemistry. The method used in this study is a systematic literature review. The systematic literature review is carried out in three stages, namely the planning stage, the implementation stage, and the reporting stage. Based on the results of the study, 38 articles were obtained by the criteria and further analysis was carried out. The results of the analysis show that organic chemistry educational games are developed with various types of games both in digital and non-digital forms. The most developed organic chemistry educational games are strategy video games and card games. The most developed material in the form of educational games is the molecular structure of organic compounds which is shown to deepen students' understanding in organic chemistry courses.

The Illusion of Accuracy: Simulating the Cruades in <i>Ancestors legacy</i> (2018)

Ancestors Legacy is a 2018 real-time strategy video game set in the Middle Ages. The game was developed by the controversial Polish studio Destructive Creations, whose members have been accused of sympathizing and supporting far-right movements online. This ideological support can be seen in their video games, some of which have included the use of crusading medievalisms in line with the civilizational-conflict narrative often espoused by far-right movements: i.e. the idea that Christianity is embarked in a never-ending battle with Islam and other cultures, of which the crusades are just an episode. Nevertheless, Ancestors Legacy categorically condemns the crusades as unfair and hypocritical, a statement backed by a reasonably accurate recounting of the events. Upon closer inspection, however, this accuracy is superficial and molded by a larger ideological framework about the Middle Ages and the crusades. This article argues that the game occupies the dissonant space of condemning crusading but adopting it as an unavoidable part of the clash of civilizations that lasts until this day, hence justifying the player exercising the very violence it condemns. This is an example of what Adrienne Shaw has called the tyranny of realism: an obsession with accuracy in video games, based on hegemonic and audience-driven perceptions of the past that do not allow for a critical and emancipatory approximation to history.Banner image taken from the press kit for Ancestors Legacy (2018, Destructive Creations).

How Game Ecology Drives Player Choices in Strategy Video Games: An Environmental Determinism Perspective

Background Recent years have witnessed increasing attention on the study of game ecology, the virtual environments, and underlying mechanics within games. Yet, these studies often focus on the active role that players have in changing game ecology, while overlooking the reciprocal influence between game ecology and players. Methods This study investigates the potential impact of game ecology on player choices from an environmental determinism perspective—the development of humanity is shaped by the physical environment. This new perspective is substantiated by a case study of two strategy games, Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Humankind, using an immersive-participatory method to analyze their game mechanics. Results This study identifies four major forms of game mechanics that use game ecology to influence player choices: spatial constraints, movement modifiers, uncommon events, and dynamic indexes. Discussion This study discusses how the identified game mechanics reflect environmental determinism and contrast with the conventional ideology of cultural determinism. Additionally, environmental determinism in video games, derived from a broader social background, is constantly evolving into new forms. Conclusion This study introduces a new perspective of environmental determinism for analyzing the interaction between game ecology and players. This approach has the potential to offer valuable insights into guiding future game design and research endeavors.

Vernacular Geopolitics through Grand Strategy Video Games: Online Content on Ukraine in Europa Universalis IV as a Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War

Europa Universalis IV, (better known as EUIV), is a popular grand strategy PC game. Players choose a country to play as and start in the year 1444 with the option to plot new courses in history such as allowing players to form Ruthenia, the game’s version of Ukraine. In this article, I investigate how both Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian online content creators have been making content related to Ruthenia and Ukraine as a response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. I highlight how this content allows creators and viewers to voice their opinions on the war, build a sense of solidarity with the Ukrainian military, debate issues related to the war, and raise money for Ukrainians in need. Through close readings of this content, I offer an analysis of how this community uses the game to build a "vernacular geopolitics" in which information about and understandings of international relations and conflicts develop in non-elite settings.

Turing Completeness andSid Meier’s Civilization

We prove that three strategy video games from the <i>Sid Meier's Civilization</i> series: <i>Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth</i>, <i>Sid Meier's Civilization V</i>, and <i>Sid Meier's Civilization VI</i>, are Turing-complete. We achieve this by building three universal Turing machines--one for each game--using only the elements present in the games, and using their internal rules and mechanics as the transition function. We use these machines to prove the undecidability of these games under the unlimited turns, infinite map assumptions; and conclude by providing a sample execution of an algorithm--the three-state Busy Beaver--with one of our machines.

Motivations and use of video games in engineering students

The use of video games has increased exponentially worldwide, mainly among the youth population. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the consumption habits and motivations of engineering students to play video games. To this end, an instrument to measure the use of video games and a scale of motivations were administered to 633 students enrolled in different academic engineering programs at a Peruvian public university. It was found that 91.3% of students play video games, compared to 8.7% who have never played them; it was also found that their use is greater among male students (95%) than among female students (73.4%). Likewise, it was found that these students prefer strategy video games, and that they mostly play them for escape and entertainment, and for socioemotional activation. It is concluded that consumption habits and motivations are related, since the greater the consumption of video games, the greater the motivation is for young people to play them.

Research into the Relationship between Personality and Behavior in Video Games, Based on Mining Association Rules

Nowadays, people have started to spend more and more time using the Internet, which has a crucial impact on people’s lives. Individual personality type is often the main factor dictating the various behaviors that people carry out, and it dominates their activities when socializing, communicating, and making choices in the virtual world. This study is dedicated to uncovering how the six dimensions of personality traits relate to players’ in-game behavior. This research is divided into two studies. Study 1 uses the K-means method to classify players in “Clash of Kings”, an online strategy video game, according to their activities. Using apriori algorithm, this research analyzes the correlation between in-game behavior and personality. In Study 2, the correlations are validated. In conclusion, not all personality traits are related to in-game behaviors. Players with high extraversion demonstrate more killings and attacks in games. Conscientiousness is negatively related to deaths. Emotionality shows strong extremes. The highest or lowest emotionality scores are associated with killings and attacks, while players with moderate emotionality will behave irregularly. Honesty/humility, agreeableness, and openness to experience are not predictive of in-game behaviors. For game manufacturers, players’ personality traits can be inferred through their corresponding in-game behaviors, to use in order to carry out targeted promotions.

DOES PERCEIVED EFFICACY OF COGNITIVE TRAINING BIAS OUTCOMES?

Abstract Cognitive training has the potential to help older adults maintain or improve their cognitive abilities, but there has been debate regarding how susceptible cognitive outcomes in these studies are to placebo effects. Some previous research has found that expectations can shape performance on study outcomes, although this is not always a consistent finding. The degree to which perceived intervention efficacy can lead to changes in the performance of objective outcome measures typically assessed in these studies is unclear. The aim of the current study is to explore the effects of perceived effectiveness of cognitive training on actual improvements in a large sample of older adults. The current study utilized data from the Intervention Comparative Effectiveness for Adult Cognitive Training (ICE-ACT, NCT03141281) Trial. Two hundred and thirty older adults (Mean age = 72) were randomized into one of four training conditions: (1) a web-based brain game suite, Brain HQ, (2) a strategy video game, Rise of Nations, (3) Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) training, or (4) an active control condition of puzzle solving. Reasoning, memory, processing speed, and IADL performance were measured before and after the intervention. Perceived efficacy of training in those outcome domains were also measured. Bayesian ANOVA analysis showed strong evidence of group differences in perceived efficacy within all outcome domains across the training conditions whereas Bayesian regression showed moderate to strong evidence against influences of perceived efficacy on changes in performance. Discussion will focus on implications of those results on behavioral and cognitive intervention designs.

Association between real-time strategy video game learning outcomes and pre-training brain white matter structure: preliminary study

In recent years the association between video games, cognition, and the brain has been actively investigated. However, it is still unclear how individual predispositions, such as brain structure characteristics, play a role in the process of acquiring new skills, such as video games. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate whether acquisition of cognitive-motor skills from the real-time strategy video game (StarCraft II) is associated with pre-training measures of brain white matter integrity. Results show that higher white matter integrity in regions (anterior limb of internal capsule, cingulum/hippocampus) and tracts (inferior longitudinal fasciculus) related with motoric functions, set shifting and visual decision making was associated with better Star Craft II performance. The presented findings inline with previous results and suggest that structural brain predispositions of individuals are related to the video game skill acquisition. Our study highlights the importance of neuroimaging studies that focus on white matter in predicting the outcomes of intervention studies and has implications for understanding the neural basis of the skill learning process.

Exploring how players use emergent narrative in strategy games

This article explored how players were impacted by and used emergent narrative to make sense of their gameplay in the Total War strategy video game series. Two stages of qualitative research were undertaken: (i) a thematic analysis of 295 online forum posts; and (ii) 104 respondents to an online survey. The research followed a phenomenographic approach with analysis informed by undertaking the active story interpreter role. The thematic analysis found that 32 % of the posts contained emergent narratives of which 14 % were detailed, while a further 39 % of the posts expressed pleasure from reading these emergent narratives. Results from online survey suggested respondents developed emotional attachments to the generals and units they controlled in Total War video game, and that this emotional attachment increased their enjoyment of the gameplay (79 %). However, sometimes, due to these attachments, players allowed generals to ‘retire’ and idle in a settlement, which may have adversely impacted their strategic gameplay in a game genre that privileges long-term planning. Since players can derive pleasure in creating or reading other players’ emergent narratives, developers could further enhance players’ enjoyment of their strategy games by providing more resources and prompts to assist with their creation.

An Agile New Research Framework for Hybrid Human-AI Teaming: Trust, Transparency, and Transferability

We propose a new research framework by which the nascent discipline of human-AI teaming can be explored within experimental environments in preparation for transferal to real-world contexts. We examine the existing literature and unanswered research questions through the lens of an Agile approach to construct our proposed framework. Our framework aims to provide a structure for understanding the macro features of this research landscape, supporting holistic research into the acceptability of human-AI teaming to human team members and the affordances of AI team members. The framework has the potential to enhance decision-making and performance of hybrid human-AI teams. Further, our framework proposes the application of Agile methodology for research management and knowledge discovery. We propose a transferability pathway for hybrid teaming to be initially tested in a safe environment, such as a real-time strategy video game, with elements of lessons learned that can be transferred to real-world situations.

Understanding the Effects of Mixed Reality on Video Game Satisfaction, Enjoyment, and Performance

Background With the rising demand for the use and application of modern immersive technologies, recent studies have investigated the user experience of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for video game purposes. Despite AR's and VR's pervasiveness in the video game industry, research studies into the effects of mixed reality (MR) on video game experience are scarce. This study examined the impact of MR on video game satisfaction, enjoyment, and user performance of first-time users. Method Participants played the same strategy video game across two platforms, an MR headset and a mobile device. A short version of the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS-18) and the Enjoyment scale (ENJOY) were used to measure satisfaction and enjoyment. Results Results demonstrated that MR provided greater overall satisfaction, engrossment, creativity, and personal gratification. In addition, results revealed higher overall enjoyment, challenge/improvement, and engagement in the MR condition. Interestingly, participants performed better with the mobile version. No statistical differences were found between the conditions regarding the GUESS's usability, audio aesthetics, visual aesthetics, and the ENJOY's pleasure and competence. Conclusion The study provides insight into how MR influences satisfaction and enjoyment for video games. Playing a video game in mixed reality has the potential to enhance the user experience of game players despite the possibility of simulator sickness and worse performance than traditional mobile environments. Features of the gameplay that enhanced as well as diminished video game experience are discussed.

Relationships between Dota 2 expertise and decision-making ability.

Esports is an often time-consuming activity that has become increasingly popular with billions of players all over the world. The objective of this study was to investigate if there is a relationship between skill level in the strategy video game Dota 2, a game that places many demands on decision making to be successful, and decision making under ambiguity and experience as measured by performance in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a task known to have ecological validity. Two indicators of players’ performance in Dota 2, namely match-making rating (MMR) and Medal, were used as predictors of performance in the IGT in path models. Results showed that Medal was a significant predictor of performance in IGT, while MMR score was borderline significant. The cognitive reflection task, included in the models as an indicator of the ability to engage in conscious, analytical, rational, and logical thinking, was a significant predictor of performance in IGT, and was significantly and positively related to MMR. The findings from this study give insight into the cognitive demands related to performance in Dota 2. Although results suggest that strategy video gaming may be a factor that contributes to increased decision making abilities, a reversed relationship is also possible, whereby individuals who are better at decision making are also more likely to become successful in Dota-2. More studies, preferably longitudinal, are needed to replicate the findings of this study and to establish the directionality between factors.

Relative effectiveness of general versus specific cognitive training for aging adults.

In the present study, we examined three experimental cognitive interventions, two targeted at training general cognitive abilities and one targeted at training specific instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) abilities, along with one active control group to compare benefits of these interventions beyond expectation effects, in a group of older adults (N = 230). Those engaged in general training did so with either the web-based brain game suite BrainHQ or the strategy video game Rise of Nations, while those trained on IADL skills completed instructional programs on driving and fraud awareness. Active control participants completed sets of puzzles. Comparing baseline and postintervention data across conditions, none of the preregistered primary outcome measures demonstrated a significant interaction between session and intervention condition, indicating no differential benefits. Analysis of expectation effects showed differences between intervention groups consistent with the type of training. Those in the IADL training condition did demonstrate superior knowledge for specific trained information (driving and finances). Twelve months after training, significant interactions between session and intervention were present in the primary measure of fraud detection, as well as the secondary measures of the letter sets task and Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test. However, the specific source of these interactions was difficult to discern. At 1-year follow-up those in the IADL condition did not maintain superior knowledge of driving and finances gained through training, as was present immediately postintervention. Hence, the interventions, when compared to an active control condition, failed to show general or specific transfer in a meaningful or consistent way. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychophysiological, but Not Behavioral, Indicator of Working Memory Capacity Predicts Video Game Proficiency.

Visual working memory (VWM) is the ability to actively maintain visual information over short periods of time and is strongly related to global fluid intelligence and overall cognitive ability. In our study, we used two indices of visual working memory capacity: the behavioral estimate of capacity (K) and contralateral delay activity (CDA) in order to check whether training in a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) video game StarCraft II can influence the VWM capacity measured by the change detection task. We also asked a question whether individual differences in behavioral and psychophysiological indices of VWM can predict the effectiveness of video game training. Sixty-two participants (non-players) were recruited to the experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to either experimental (Variable environment), active control (Fixed environment), and passive control groups. Experimental and active control groups differed in the type of training received. Training consisted of 30 h of playing the StarCraft II game. Participants took part in two EEG sessions (pre- and post-training) during which they performed the VWM task. Our results showed that working memory capacity (K calculated according to Pashler’s formula) increases after training in both experimental groups, but not in a control group. We have also found a correlation between average visual working memory capacity (calculated as K) and mean CDA amplitude no matter which group we are looking at. And, last but not least, we have found that we can predict the amount of improvement in the RTS video game by looking at the psychophysiological indices (CDA amplitude) recorded at baseline (before training), but only in the experimental group. We think that the strength of the psychophysiological indicator of VWM capacity might be a marker of the future success in video game acquisition.

Exploring emergent co-creative narrative in a strategy video game brand

ABSTRACT This research examines the concept of emergent narrative, located in Game Studies, and brand co-creation, located in Brand Management to bring together both disciplines to produce new understandings about both concepts, video games and their players. Two stages of research were conducted. It was found that players were taking part in brand co-creation behaviours by creating emergent narratives, some of which were quite elaborate. Although these emergent narratives provided no gameplay advantages, creators and other players reading them online derived enjoyment from them which enhanced their consumption of the video game brand. By innovatively bringing together two synergistic disciplines this research extends knowledge about video game media branding demonstrating how examining video game brands using concepts from multiple disciplines can provide rich and useful insights.

Shooting Your Accuracy in the Foot? Examining the Short-Term Effect of Playing an Action or Strategy Video Game on Cognitive Control.

The current study examined the effects of brief video game exposure on cognitive control using event-related potentials (ERPs). Cognitive control was assessed by ERP components associated with the ability to detect (N2) and resolve (SP) conflict when the conflict was either expected or unexpected. After playing either an action or strategy video game, participants completed a counting Stroop task while ERPs were recorded. The proportion of congruent to incongruent trials was manipulated across blocks to create conditions where conflict was expected or unexpected. While visual inspection of the behavioral and neural data revealed interesting patterns by video game, none of those effects were statistically significant. This is consistent with some previous work and inconsistent with other published data, suggesting that there is still much to learn about the relationship between cognitive control and video game experience.

Applying Learning by Observation and Case-Based Reasoning to Improve Commercial RTS Game AI

This document summarises my research in the area of Real-Time Strategy (RTS) video game Artificial Intelligence (AI). The main objective of this research is to increase the quality of AI used in commercial RTS games, which has seen little improvement over the past decade. This objective will be addressed by investigating the use of a learning by observation, case-based reasoning agent, which can be applied to new RTS games with minimal development effort. To be successful, this agent must compare favourably with standard commercial RTS AI techniques: it must be easier to apply, have reasonable resource requirements, and produce a better player. Currently, a prototype implementation has been produced for the game StarCraft, and it has demonstrated the need for processing large sets of input data into a more concise form for use at run-time.

Hierarchical Adversarial Search Applied to Real-Time Strategy Games

Real-Time Strategy (RTS) video games have proven to be a very challenging application area for artificial intelligence research. Existing AI solutionsare limited by vast state and action spaces and real-time constraints. Most implementations efficiently tackle various tactical or strategic sub-problems, but there is no single algorithm fast enough to be successfully applied to big problem sets (such as a complete instance of the StarCraft RTS game). This paper presents a hierarchical adversarial search framework which more closely models the human way of thinking --- much like the chain of command employed by the military. Each level implements a different abstraction --- from deciding how to win the game at the top of the hierarchy to individual unit orders at the bottom. We apply a 3-layer version of our model to SparCraft ---a StarCraft combat simulator --- and show that it outperforms state of the art algorithms such as Alpha-Beta, UCT, and Portfolio Search in large combat scenarios featuring multiple bases and up to 72 mobile units per player under real-time constraints of 40 ms per search episode.

Hierarchical Portfolio Search: Prismata's Robust AI Architecture for Games with Large Search Spaces

Online strategy video games offer several unique challenges to the field of AI research. Due to their large state and action spaces, existing search algorithms have difficulties in making strategically strong decisions. Additionally, the nature of competitive on-line video games adds the requirement that game designers be able to tweak game properties regularly when strategic imbalances are found. This means that an AI system for a game like this needs to be robust to such changes and less reliant on expert knowledge. This paper makes two main contributions to advancing the state of the art for AI in modern strategy video games which have large state and action spaces. The first is a novel method for performing hierarchical search using a portfolio of algorithms to reduce the search space while maintaining strong action candidates. The second contribution is an overall AI architecture for strategy video games using this portfolio search method. The proposed methods are used as the AI system for Prismata, an online turn-based strategy game by Lunarch Studios. This system is evaluated using three experiments: on-line play vs.~human players, off-line AI tournaments to test the relative strengths of the AI bots, and a survey to determine user satisfaction of the system so far. Our result show that this system achieves a skill level in the top 25% of human players on the ranked ladder, can be modified quickly to create different difficulty settings, is robust to changes in game unit properties, and creates an overall AI experience which is user rated more enjoyable than those currently found in similar video games.