Game Mechanics

As serious games are emerging as a new educational paradigm, it is increasingly important to understand how to integrate educational content into the games, and what elements of the game make learning more effective. This research proposes to add to the work in the area by examining whether learning objectives delivered through the game narratives as text, or learning objectives delivered through game mechanics provide a more effective way of integrating educational content in a game. In order to investigate this question, we designed a study to evaluate two types of participants that were divided into two groups to take part in complementary versions of the game. Participants are asked to play a game in which learning objectives are delivered either through text or game mechanics. An evaluation was performed with 60 participants. The results show that for one of the learning objectives, the participants learn more when the educational content was integrated through the game mechanics and that the difference between the group that learns through text and the one that learned through the game mechanics is statistically significant. For the rest of the learning objectives covered, no statistically significant difference was obtained between the two ways of integrating the learning objectives.

This paper investigates the evolution of larp safety in the NordicAmerican larp community in the last decade, tracing the correlation between safety rhetorics (opinions, arguments, and policies) and mechanics (explicit rules regulating player interactions). It appears that up to around 2010 there was a general acceptance of risk, with a significant share of responsibility for risk identification and harm prevention put on the player. This correlates with mechanics such as safety words, which expected players in distress to actively signal their discomfort. Safety measures expected from the organisers consisted mainly in providing safe off-game spaces, emotional support, and intervention whenever something harmful happened. Around 2014 the safety debate put a larger share of responsibility on players initiating potentially troubling interactions. This correlates with the ‘OK check’ mechanics which requires communication between the initiator and the target of such interactions. Aroun...

This book is about the three identities of the videogame, the gamer, and Game Studies. I write that there are no definitive truths but rather discourses and constructions; ideas, actions, beliefs, and practices related to videogames are discourses that merge and shape our perception of videogames as an area of study of its own right. These discursive responses meet and clash creating what we call truths, which are temporary and negotiable.

This perspective is inspired by Foucauldian ideas and present few questions about videogame-related identities in and outside of academe. Does Game Studies have a conceptual core? What makes game studies difficult to be disciplined in academe? What do we learn from the scholarly and popular discourses on videogames that would help understand the identity questions related to games?

I go on to describe what makes the videogame identity according to game studies: aesthetics, fictions, meaning-making, performance, transformation, etc. and what makes it difficult for game studies being an open market of ideas and an academic "un-discipline". This leads me to the gamer's identity: an aficionado first, and a connoisseur of fictional worlds.

Background. The rapid development of technologies changes the nature and objectives of artistic and design activities, pushing them away from the craft tasks closer to the realization of the relationship between the object-user system, closer to mastering the methods of design-thinking, synergy of the humanities and mathematical approaches. Therefore, the actual training of designers-specialists involves the cultivation of syncretic thinking, which arises only as a result of the implementation of complex non-deterministic innovation tasks. In the article the author focuses on the development of board games, as an example of such a task.
Objectives. Is to analyze the market of original “insets” development and to demonstrate the necessity of introducing such types of tasks for senior-student students. So the few smaller tasks arised:
– to establish and to disclose the basic concepts and terms;
– to analyze the market of table games in Ukraine and in the world;
– to classify the stages and components of the development of board games;
– to confirm the necessity of implementation of this type of tasks for senior-student students.
Methods. Used at this research are common in scientific culture: analysis, synthesis and a conclusion based on structured materials. Classification of the stages and components of the development of board games was made.
Results. The key to the effectiveness of education abroad is the ability to work in a team. Specialists involved in UI / UX design, in addition to specialized skills, note the importance of so-called “soft skills”. In particular, such as team members ability to argue, critique, and debate – skills that, unfortunately, are not a priority for higher education in Ukraine. It’s virtually impossible to create an exciting game on your own. That is why the introduction of tasks, the work on which will promote the professional communication of designers – the priority task of modern design education. The development of a board game combines various types of design, and also takes into account their marketing. The development process is close to the design-thinking mechanisms. But if the application of DT is often revealed on important social and community projects, the stages of the development of a board game are easier to understand, the effectiveness of project iterations is tangible and easily verifiable. As noted, the core of creating a board game is the development of game mechanics, and this is an important step towards understanding the design of the interaction. Various game attributes also help to captivate game interaction: maps, cubes, playing fields, chips and tokens, tokens, tiles, tablets, miniatures, screens – the list is limited only by the imagination of the developer. Their graphic and 3D spatial design is not able to replace the satisfaction with well-thought-out and balanced game mechanics, but can allow it more complex to admire it. Students with advanced visual thinking will be more effectively implemented in aesthetic solutions. Effective design – imperceptible design. By the simplicity of any design-development – an industrial product, a subject environment, a mobile application, there are many hidden invisible for the work of an amateur. Works on simplification, cutting off superfluous thanks to testing on mockups and prototypes. A good design is the absence of unnecessary details. The quintessence of this approach is best represented in the development of the board game, and this is repeatedly confirmed by the developers.
Conclusions. The market of board games is developing and requires some interesting new products. The focus on creating a game without the prospect of localization in the global market is a task that is doomed to commercial failure. Only local games with excessive dominance of the “national” ideology, specificity or political situation are created only for grant money and in fact can not claim to be successful due to the mechanics of the game. Development of a board game – an actual and complex task for students-designers. This task is contained in the field of opportunities for implementation by senior students and even requires their mental efforts, combining the functionality of the design of the interaction and the integrity of the aesthetic decisions. Creating a quality design product is built on high empathy and numerous iterations to simplify and adapt the design. The process of creating an exciting board game develops empathy, syncretic approach and teamwork skills – the skills needed by the designer and which are the foundation of design thinking.

This research examines relationships regarding moral foundations and moral deci- sions in the Mass Effect video game series. The findings suggest that moral foundation predicts what type of moral decisions a player will make during play. This research reports an online survey (N=138) that asked participants the salience of their moral foundations, along with the moral path, either traditionally heroic (paragon) or traditionally antiheroic (renegade), they chose in their first time playing through the Mass Effect series. The results indicate that moral foundations predict the extent to which game path players choose, but only with regard to the harm/ care moral foundation. These findings are discussed in light of game design and the potential for game designers to use morality as a game mechanic beyond the harm foundation and into realms of more nuanced moral situations in game narratives.

Today's schools face major problems around student motivation and engagement. Gamification, or the incorporation of game elements into non-game settings, provides an opportunity to help schools solve these difficult problems. However, if gamification is to be of use to schools, we must better understand what gamification is, how it functions, and why it might be useful. This article addresses all three questions – what, how, and why bother? – while exploring both the potential benefits and pitfalls of gamification.

Videogames are evolving as a medium, so in order to reach all kinds of audiences, games with very different types of gameplay and metaphors are being made. One of this new type of titles are disempowering fantasies, in which the player experiences a metaphor that has as an objective to make him/her feel weak or vulnerable. In order to understand this new phenomenon, we will analyze Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook, 2016), a game that uses the empathy that the player has for his characters to create a powerful experience that resonates with the players.

This paper explores the notion of narrative game mechanics byapposing theories from the field of cognitive narratology with design theorieson game mechanics The paper aims to disclose how narrative game mechanicsinvite game agents, including the player, to perform actions that support theconstruction of engaging stories and fictional worlds in the embodied mind of the player The theoretical argument is supported by three case studies The paper discusses examples of games that employ mechanics and rules to createengaging story events, focusing on! building tension through spatial conflict,evo"ing empathy through characteri#ation and creating moral dilemmasthrough player choices.

Książka Miłosza Babeckiego jest przedsięwzięciem niezwykle potrzebnym. To publikacja pionierska, nie tylko w Polsce, ale także na tle światowych game studies. Autor postanowił ukierunkować swoją rozprawę i skupić się na szczególnym wariancie tzw. gier poważnych, serious games - na grach dostępnych w Internecie. Podjął problematykę związaną m.in. ze środowiskiem, w jakim gry te funkcjonują - konsumentów gier, ale jednocześnie ich twórców - a także z rolą portali i wortali internetowych w upowszechnianiu internetowych gier poważnych. Książka przynosi nie tylko próby sformułowania definicji, ale także zrozumienia procesu nadawania powagi grze internetowej. Czytelnik znajdzie tu wyczerpującą i wieloaspektową analizę mechaniki gier poważnych oraz sposobów ich odwoływania się do emocji graczy, a także uruchamiania przez nie procesów poznawczych. Gry poważne mogą być bowiem postrzegane jako miniaturowe "światy w pudełkach" odzwierciedlające zjawiska rozgrywające się w społecznym otoczeniu jednostki.
Z recenzji prof. dr. hab. Andrzeja Pitrusa

Game mechanics are the rules, processes, and data at the heart of a game. They define how play progresses, what happens when, and what conditions determine victory or defeat. Now two leading authorities in game design–Ernest Adams and Joris Dormans–are here to teach game designers and students alike the essentials of game mechanics. This in-depth resource teaches you to craft mechanics that generate challenging, enjoyable, and well-balanced gameplay. You'll discover at what stages to prototype, test, and implement ...

Gamification is to use game elements in a non-game context to increase engagement between human and computer, on the other hand, to encourage in-demand for good behaviors in learning. This research tried to increase student engagements in learning by conducted Gamification technique especially in difficult subjects such as Programming Language courses. The previous work was shown that students dropped, failed, or withdrew from the course at rates of between 35% and 50%. Therefore the main objective of this study is to increase student engagements in learning programming subject, and also to measure the impact of game elements on student's engagements. Finally, the findings have shown the score of game elements that have a good effect on student's engagement in the experiment group.

Currently, thus the interaction design and mechanical position themselves among the main elements in the structure of digital games and should be considered as a way to develop a better design, that facilitates the development of products with gameplay and interaction well connected. This research refers to the analysis of the relationship between digital games, interaction design and mechanical games. As a result of the analysis, we find a strong influence on how the interaction design relates to game mechanics through channels established by the interface design.

Video game play research and recent statistics reveal that 155 million players in America alone contribute to the 23 billion dollar industry; worldwide, it is a 71 billion dollar industry. Behavioral change theory has been intertwined with apps and games, building on players’ emotions with the game environment. The new, albeit limited, literature demonstrates the positive effect that electronic games have facilitating behavioral change. Medical research also correlates game use to improve patients’ health outcomes. This research project builds on the existing research to examine a conceptual prototype of a serious game with behavioral change knowledge in its design. The researcher takes a human centered design approach to ask, how can the game mechanics communicate to the player for behavior change?
This thesis research designed a conceptual prototype connecting habit formation with fantasy JRPG battle system for players to setup their own habit formation that would connect the virtual world with the real world. Testing of the conceptual prototype reveals general interest and a diverse range of applications. Further design and research is needed to fully complete this model within a complete video game. And findings support of the future development.

The Canadian/Brazilian production Red Foot Saga (RFS) is a narrative videogame about the cultural memory of Londrina city. Our goal is to examine the function of symbolic mediation through the videogame’s nonverbal language. The authors illustrate that symbolic mediation requires adaptation and recoloring.

Cette analyse s'intéresse à la place que possède le temps dans The Legend of Zelda : Majora's Mask (Nintendo, 2000). Elle est principalement basée sur la théorie du temps de Jesper Juul et des concepts temporels présentés par Guillaume Roux-Girard dans le cadre du cours.

What do stories in games have in common with political narratives?
This book identifies narrative strategies as mechanisms for meaning and manipulation in games and real life. It shows that the narrative mechanics so clearly identifiable in games are increasingly used (and abused) in politics and social life. They have »many faces«, displays and interfaces. They occur as texts, recipes, stories, dramas in three acts, movies, videos, tweets, journeys of heroes, but also as rewarding stories in games and as narratives in society – such as a career from rags to riches, the concept of modernity or market economy. Below their surface, however, narrative mechanics are a particular type of motivational design – of game mechanics.

The use of brain-computer interfaces for gaming-related purposes is usually limited to measuring brain signals with portable electroencephalographic equipment. It is only recently that game-related technological developments have experimented with the addition of brain stimulation through electricity and magnetism, the later being the most benign and scientifically supported. It then becomes relevant to think of design guidelines that could facilitate the creation of videogames that use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). What minimum standards and failsafes should be taken in account before even starting to design such a game? What guidelines could benefit the game development community?

In order to answer these questions, I will make a survey of current commercial technologies available to measure brain signals, as well as technologies that are used and adapted to stimulate the brain using transcranial magnetic stimulation. I will then showcase a couple of examples that use TMS as a game mechanic. After I establish a state of the art, I will cite research, studies and conventions aimed at creating minimum medical safety and ethical standards for said technologies. Finally, I will suggest a set of best practices and guidelines for the game development industry regarding brain mapping, exposure safety and ethical limitations.

The goal of this thesis is to use scientific research, ethical precedent and ergonomics to create design guidelines for any future videogames that could be using transcranial magnetic stimulation as a part of their game mechanics, so as to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience to the player.

This paper analyses the use of asymmetric gameplay on the videogame console Nintendo Wii U, using concepts of interaction design, interface design, playability, game mechanics and the console by itself. The interaction between player and console, and the interface elements can shape and limit the game mechanics, with direct influence on the playability. We analysed the asymmetric gameplay on the title Nintendo Land and as a result, we highlighted the main game mechanics and playability trends used. Through the analysis of them, some new possibilities of game mechanics using asymmetric gameplay, specifically on Wii U, became clear, and we could identify some incremental changes on game interface systems, proposed by Schell.

This paper is the author's personal side project and is of no affiliation to any institution or courses. The paper is a rookie attempt to deriving mathematical expressions of the well-known puzzle, the bridge and torch problem. The problem is about finding the shortest time needed for n people to cross a bridge at night. The catch is the bridge can only support at most two persons at a time, and the two persons will cross the bridge at the speed of the slower one. Moreover, a torch is needed for each and every crossing, and the torch has a finite time of burning. Thus, the puzzle is a problem to determine the possible shortest time from the choice of the two persons per crossing against the finite burning time of the torch. The result of this paper gives into fruition of a set of three equations--the vector form describing the mechanics of the logic solution, even-valued n function and odd-valued n function.

This article argues that the computer automation of perspective and rendering in Google Earth has far-reaching consequences for the relationships between representations of the earth, its ecology and cultural responses to climate change. Theorists Erwin Panofsky (1991) and William Ivins (1975) to Lev Manovich (1993) and Don Ihde (2009) have argued that the emergence of Renaissance perspective structured a new relationship between the image and the object: contributing to the initiation of industrialisation and science. Whilst Manovich describes the impacts of Renaissance perspective in terms of its effect upon scientific and industrial structures, Jean Louis Comolli has argued that its advent was both a cause and a consequence of a shift to a humanist social regime. This article argues that Google Earth and its corollaries now complicate the visual and discursive constitution of the cultural and ecological environment. The contemporary computer-generated ‘visual nominalism’ of Google Earth results in a photomapped representation of the earth that can elevate environmental awareness through visualised data sets at the same time as it reduces the earth to a product design–engineered object. As Comolli’s Machines of the Visible becomes Machinima of the Visible, this article asks whether public and scientific calls for a turn towards geoengineering can be viewed through a product design–engineered interface that reconstitutes the social machine as an engineer of the earth object itself.

The aim of this paper is to rethink games and game design within the theory of self-producing interaction systems. With this research, I seek to identify several dynamics of play and engagement elicited by games that, by extension, can serve as game design parameters. The research is oriented toward an analysis of football (soccer) and Pokémon GO within the context of Niklas Luhmann's (2002/2012) theoretical framework of autopoiesis (i.e., self-producing interaction systems). The theoretical discussion of play situations in the two games reveals five concentric interaction systems through which games motivate play and engagement. These game dynamics are continuing simultaneous communication, multiple observations, double expectations, system autonomy, and unexpectedness through system coupling. The study further shows that when a game succeeds in eliciting these dimensions, functional, continuous, and changing structures allow for the emergence of numerous behaviors and the production of new interaction systems.

This paper aims to expand existing knowledge on narrative game design. Specifically, the paper discusses the importance of game design patterns for the analysis of narrative game mechanics. By bringing together insights from cognitive narratology and game design theory, the paper creates a preliminary theoretical perspective for deconstructing the design of mechanic-driven narrative games. To support the theoretical argument, the paper discusses Papers , Please as case study.

Thesis for the Degree of Licentiate of Engineering. This thesis discusses the design of interactive entertaining artifacts such as computer games and computer augmented toys, games and objects. The aim has been to find and/or develop design tools – i.e. methods and approaches – that can be used when designing such artifacts in general, and when aiming for an emotional response or tempting challenge in particular. Another aim is to inspire game designers, interaction designers, product designers, artists and everyone else interested by describing actual projects where interactive entertainment artifacts have been created. Five tools are being presented, each with an accompanying case. They are:

Slow technology; an approach to create a challenging object by using ambiguity, thus promoting reflection. This is being exemplified by the Interactive Quilt, which is an enigmatic combination of a jukebox and a quilt.

Animal Expression Transfer; an approach that can be used to create emotional responses to an artifact by transferring animal traits onto an object, as in the case of the Iron Horse, a computer augmented bike making horse-sounds.

Game Mechanics for Computer Augmented Board Games; a set of building stones for computer augmented board games, suitable for increasing, decreasing or regulating the challenge in a game. They widen the design space of the traditional board game by enabling complex functionality that does not burden the user, but enrichens the game experience. The projects MultiMonsterMania, a collectible and interactive card game with the accompanying game The Hatchery exemplify this.

Game Design Patterns; a pattern language for games that can be used to discuss, analyze and design games of any kind, amongst them also computer augmented games. How this can be done is being demonstrated in the description of a workshop.

The Forces-Clashes-Remnants-model; a design model for iterative multidisciplinary game design. It is being exemplified by describing the design process of myTHeme, a computer augmented storytelling game for non-storytellers.”

Gamification, the idea that game mechanics can be integrated into assumed “non-game” circumstances has gained ascendance
amongst champions of marketing, behavior change and efficiency. Ironically, some of the most heated critique of gamification
has come from the broader community of “traditional” videogame developers. Connecting broadly to projects surrounding “big
data” and algorithmic surveillance, the project of gamification continues to expand and intensify. This paper examines the
complex relationship between game designers and the rise of arguments in support of gamification. I analyze the various actors
and interests mobilizing arguments, deconstructing their underlying assumptions about the relationship between games and social
phenomena. Turning to an analytic framework rooted in the Assemblage of Play (Taylor 2009) and emergent coercive forms of
(played) control (Taylor 2006), the essay critiques assumptions on either side of the debate on the role of games and play. The
strained connections between debates on gamification and broader interest in serious games offers an important moment to
explore algorithmic surveillance.

Rooted in the complexity of purposeful design, this paper embraces a phenomenological perspective of design as both a process and artifact. We use this perspective to interpret why the conceptualization and realization of design intentions can be difficult to achieve and why design is often perceived as a so called ‘wicked problem’. This paper revisits the concepts of game design patterns and game mechanics, arguing that refactoring these concepts is needed to clarify their relationships and motivations. We outline the separation of concerns between them and suggest that an additional contextualizing layer should be added to the discourse. Using this, we define and reflect upon what we refer to as the conceptual relationship model.

Rooted in the complexity of purposeful design, this paper embraces a phenomenological perspective of design as both a process and artifact. We use this perspective to interpret why the conceptualisation and realization of design intentions can be difficult to achieve and why design is often perceived as a so called ‘wicked problem’. This paper revisits the concepts of game design patterns and game mechanics, arguing that refactoring these concepts is needed to clarify their relationships and motivations. We outline the separation of concerns between them and suggest that an additional contextualizing layer should be added to the discourse. Using this, we define and reflect upon what we refer to as the conceptual relationship model.

This paper explores the notion of narrative game mechanics by apposing theories from the field of cognitive narratology with design theories on game mechanics. The paper aims to disclose how narrative game mechanics invite game agents, including the player, to perform actions that support the construction of engaging stories and fictional worlds in the embodied mind of the player. The theoretical argument is supported by three case studies. The paper discusses examples of games that employ mechanics and rules to create engaging story events, focusing on: building tension through spatial conflict, evoking empathy through characterization and creating moral dilemmas through player choices.

This paper investigates the evolution of larp safety in the Nordic-American larp community in the last decade, tracing the correlation between safety rhetorics (opinions, arguments, and policies) and mechanics (explicit rules regulating player interactions). It appears that up to around 2010 there was a general acceptance of risk, with a significant share of responsibility for risk identification and harm prevention put on the player. This correlates with mechanics such as safety words, which expected players in distress to actively signal their discomfort. Safety measures expected from the organisers consisted mainly in providing safe off-game spaces, emotional support, and intervention whenever something harmful happened. Around 2014 the safety debate put a larger share of responsibility on players initiating
potentially troubling interactions. This correlates with the ‘OK check’
mechanics which requires communication between the initiator and the
target of such interactions. Around 2016 the safety debate moved to the
position in which it requires organisers and participants to do their best
to prevent harm from ever happening. This finds its expression in the rapidly expanding toolkit of mechanics of consent and calibration, which clearly put responsibility for overstepping someone’s boundaries on the one who oversteps. To simplify, the first approach obliged players and organisers to taking care of those who signalled they needed it. The second approach required caution and care in testing someone’s boundaries. The last one states that boundaries are to be carefully identified and respected – not tested.

In this paper I will investigate whether the struggle of behavioral change can be enhanced with the entertaining and engaging benefits of video game playing. Can behavioral change decision making be applied to video game decision making and still be entertainment, but help people align their ideal self with actual self through instant feedback and other benefits of video games? To answer this question, I will first explore the complexities of decisions in video games and assess whether they overlap or are similar to behavioral change decision making. Then I will switch to looking at behavioral change decision making processes and assess if video game decision making mechanics can be overlaid. By looking at each in its own right and aligning the other, this will reduce missing opportunities for design. Each topic needs to strengthen the benefits of the other for a positive design outcome.

The aim of this paper is to describe the research, planning and development stages for the project entitled “Generic Interface for Developing Abstract Strategy Games”. The project consists in the development of a generic platform capable of creating any kind of abstract strategy game, and is essentially divided in three phases: research on related topics, design and specification and lastly the development of a working prototype. Through the analysis of similarities between game mechanics this project intends to define abstract ...

Gamification is to use game elements in a non-game context to increase engagement between human and computer, on the other hand, to encourage in-demand for good behaviors in learning. This research tried to increase student engagements in learning by conducted Gamification technique especially in difficult subjects such as Programming Language courses. The previous work was shown that students dropped, failed, or withdrew from the course at rates of between 35% and 50%. Therefore the main objective of this study is to increase student engagements in learning programming subject, and also to measure the impact of game elements on student’s engagements. Finally, the findings have shown the score of game elements that have a good effect on student’s engagement in the experiment group.

The aim of this paper is to rethink games and game design within the theory of self-producing interaction systems. With this research, I seek to identify several dynamics of play and engagement elicited by games that, by extension, can serve as game design parameters. The research is oriented toward an analysis of football (soccer) and Pokémon GO within the context of Niklas Luhmann's (2002/2012) theoretical framework of autopoiesis (i.e., self-producing interaction systems). The theoretical discussion of play situations in the two games reveals five concentric interaction systems through which games motivate play and engagement. These game dynamics are continuing simultaneous communication, multiple observations, double expectations, system autonomy, and unexpectedness through system coupling. The study further shows that when a game succeeds in eliciting these dimensions, functional, continuous, and changing structures allow for the emergence of numerous behaviors and the prod...

La saga Silent Hill en su conjunto, y de manera específica Silent Hill 4: The Room, supone un caso paradigmático de construcción de lo fantástico en los videojuegos. Sirviéndose de las convenciones características de este medio, y alterándolas oportunamente para obtener determinados golpes de efecto, es posible generar en el jugador un amplio abanico de sentimientos. Concretamente, la modificación de algunos parámetros del espacio de juego (ya sean audiovisuales o aquellos que afecten a las mecánicas lúdicas de ese universo) es uno de los recursos más eficaces a la hora de sumergir al jugador en la experiencia. En el caso de Silent Hill 4, diversas modificaciones en el espacio de juego (el apartamento del protagonista) revelan de qué manera lo fantástico y lo siniestro pueden converger en el medio videolúdico.

Lee, JJ & Hammer, J. (2011). Gamification in Education: What, How, Why Bother? Academic Exchange Quarterly, 15(2). ... Gamification in Education: What, How, Why Bother? ... Joey J. Lee, Teachers College Columbia University, NY Jessica Hammer, Teachers College ...

Abstract There is an eco-revolution going on, but not many people are joining it. Meeco intends to guide, encourage and commit people to live eco-friendlier lives in a more social and enjoyable way. It uses Location Based Services, Web Services and Game mechanics ...