Child-Designed Games—Experience Changes Teachers' Conceptions

The main purpose of this study was to explore if there were differences among the teachers’ playfulness, their perceptions of the students’ online gaming motivation, emotion, learning, and the teacher-student game-related relationship owing to teachers’ own experiences in online games. The participants were 723 teachers from the elementary schools, junior high schools, and senior (vocational) high schools in all areas of Taiwan. The surveys used in this study included the Inventory of Teacher Playfulness, the Inventory of Students’ Online Gaming Motivation, the Inventory of Students’ Online Gaming Positive and Negative Emotion, the Inventory of Students’ Online Gaming Learning, and the Inventory of Teacher-Student Game-related Relationship. The applied analysis methods were confirmatory factor analysis, t-test and one-way ANOVA. The main findings of this study were as follow: 1.In the dimension of “enjoyment of trying and satisfaction obtaining” among the teachers’ playfulness, teachers who have some online gaming experience were higher than those teachers who have little gaming experiences. 2.In the perceptions of students’ motivation in “role-playing” and “manipulation” among the students’ gaming motivation, non-player-teachers were higher than player-teachers 3.The teachers’ with different online gaming experiences showed no significant difference in the students’ gaming emotion, neither in a positive nor in a negative way. 4.In terms of students’ game-related learning, teachers with ordinary gaming experiences were higher in their perceptions of social relationship dimension than teachers without gaming experiences, teachers with little gaming experiences, and teachers with some gaming experiences 5.In terms of the online gaming relationship between teachers and students, player teachers was better than non-player teachers. Teachers with some gaming experiences, teachers with ordinary gaming experiences, and teachers with lots of gaming experiences were better than teachers without gaming experiences. Teachers with ordinary gaming experiences, and teachers with lots of gaming experiences were also better than teachers with some gaming experiences and teachers with little gaming experiences. 6.In terms of teachers’ demographic variables, there existed significant differences in the students’ negative gaming emotion, achievement and escapism of the students’ gaming motivation, satisfaction, social relationship, and organization management and creation of the students’ gaming learning, and the online gaming relationship between teachers and students. However, there’s no significant difference in teachers’ playfulness and the students’ positive gaming emotion. This study discussed the results based on above statistical findings, and proposed some suggestions for teachers and for future studies.

This book chapter describes an approach of evaluating user experience in video games by using heuristics. We provide a short overview of video games and explain the concept of user-centred design for games. Furthermore we describe the history of heuristics for video games and the role of user experience of games in general. Based on our previous work and experience we propose a revised framework consisting of two sets of heuristics (game play/game story, virtual interface) to detect the most critical issues in games. To assess its applicability to measure user experience factors we compare the results of expert evaluations of six current games with the user experience-based ratings of various game reviews. Our findings indicate a correlation between the extent to which our framework is satisfied and the game’s average rating.

In this paper, we present the development and validation of an instrument for measuring users’ gameful experience while using a service. Either intentionally or unintentionally, systems and services are becoming increasingly gamified and having a gameful experience is progressively important for the user’s overall experience of a service. Gamification refers to the transformation of technology to become more game-like, with the intention of evoking similar positive experiences and motivations that games do (the gameful experience) and affecting user behavior. In this study, we used a mixed-methods approach to develop an instrument for measuring the gameful experience. In a first qualitative study, we developed a model of the gameful experience using data from a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions posed to users of Zombies, Run!, Duolingo, and Nike+ Run Club. In a second study, we developed the instrument and evaluated its dimensionality and psychometric properties using data from users of Zombies, Run! (N = 371). Based on the results of this second study, we further developed the instrument in a third study using data from users of Duolingo (N = 507), in which we repeated the assessment of dimensionality and psychometric properties, this time including confirmation of the model. As a result of this work, we devised GAMEFULQUEST, an instrument that can be used to model and measure an individual user’s gameful experience in systems and services, which can be used for user-adapted gamification and for informing user-modeling research within a gamification context.

Prior research has highlighted opportunities for technology to better support the tabletop game experience in offline and online settings, but little work has focused on the social aspect of tabletop gaming. We investigated the social and collaborative aspects of tabletop gaming in the unique context of “social distancing” during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to shed light on the experience of remote tabletop gaming. With a multi-method qualitative approach (including digital ethnography and in-depth interviews), we empirically studied how people appropriate existing technologies and adapt their offline practices to play tabletop games remotely. We identify three themes that describe people's game and social experience during remote play: creating a shared tabletop environment (shared space), enabling a collective understanding (shared information and awareness), and facilitating a communal temporal experience (shared time). We reflect on challenges and design opportunities for a better experience in the age of remote collaboration.

Digital game experience is not a one-dimensional concept. Great variety exists in game genres and players, and game experiences will differ accordingly. To date, game experience is studied in a differentiated way, meaning that most studies focus on one specifi c game experience dimension. The objective of our study was twofold. First, we wanted to obtain a comprehensive picture of fi rst-hand experiences of playing digital games. We conducted six focus group interviews including different types of gamers with the aim of eliciting a wide array of lay-conceptualizations of game experience. Second, we aimed to develop a categorization of game experience dimensions. This was established by discussing and integrating theoretical and empirical fi ndings. Our categorization revealed nine dimensions: enjoyment, fl ow, imaginative immersion, sensory immersion, suspense, competence, tension, control and social presence. This categorization has relevance for both game scholars and game developers wanting to get to the heart of digital game experience.

Image-based rendering and reconstruction (IBR) approaches minimize time and costs to develop video-game assets, aiming to assist small game studios and indie game developers survive in the competitive video-game industry. To further investigate the interplay of IBR on developers’ efficiency, game performance, and players’ gaming experience we conducted two evaluation studies: a comparative, ecologically valid study with professional game developers who created games with and without an IBR-based game development pipeline, and a user study, based on eye-tracking and A/B testing, with gamers who played the developed games. The analysis of the results indicates that IBR tools provide a credible solution for creating low cost video game assets in short time, sacrificing game performance though. From a player’s perspective, we note that the IBR approach influenced players’ preference and gaming experience within contexts of varying levels of player’s visual intersections related to the IBR-created game assets.

Teacher gaming experience affects attitudes toward digital games and consequent instructional behaviors, yet the influences of gamer identity from the perspective of teacher-student relationships have received limited research attention. We recruited 683 junior high and elementary school teachers working in Miaoli County, Taiwan to investigate the influences of gaming experience and gamer identity on the ways they regulate student digital game play in terms of time (duration), location, game genre, and playing partners. A game experience questionnaire, gamer identity scale, and digital game discipline scale were used to collect data. Results indicate that respondents with more gaming experience or higher gamer identity scores were more likely to report hands-off attitudes regarding discipline, while teachers with less or no game experience held stricter disciplinary attitudes, especially in terms of game genre and playing partners. Our hope is that the findings support teacher training programs in their efforts to address teacher concerns and negative perceptions of digital games in classroom settings. Additional research is required to clarify how the connection between teacher gaming experience and identity affects classroom learning.

This article investigates how background music congruency (congruent music/incongruent music/no music) affects players’ gaming experiences using the framework of the Congruence-Association Model. Study 1 (N = 105) showed that compared to having no music or incongruent background music, having background music that is perceived to be congruent with the game content during gameplay resulted in higher levels of identification with the game character and transportation into the game, which then translated to greater gaming enjoyment. Study 2 (N = 73) extends the findings of Study 1 using a more interactively demanding video game. Results partially replicated Study 1 as having congruent background music during gameplay resulted in higher levels of transportation, enjoyment, and appreciation. The studies contribute to the lack of literature linking game music and gaming experience. Future studies should consider examining other cognitive and affective factors that impact the effect of music on the gaming experience. Implications for gaming interactivity and the gaming industry are also discussed.

In recent years, with the rapid development of intelligent technology, multisensory information fusion and interaction technologies have received extensive attention in the field of intelligent games. These technologies have brought richer user experience to intelligent game systems, however, their optimal application in game design and their impact on game experience still deserve in-depth study. This study aims to investigate the application and optimization of multisensory information fusion and interaction technologies in intelligent game systems to enhance users' game experience. By outlining the basic concepts of multisensory information fusion and interaction technology, this paper analyze its role in intelligent games and how to optimize the design of intelligent game systems to achieve better user engagement and game experience. The experimental design and data collection section elaborates the research methods and data sources to lay the foundation for the experimental results and analysis. Through multiple experiments, this paper analyze the impact of multisensory information fusion and interaction technologies on the intelligent game experience, and how to optimize these technologies to enhance user engagement and enjoyment of the game. The significance of this study is to promote the development of intelligent game systems, enrich the research in the field of multisensory interaction, and provide new theoretical and practical references for the intelligent game industry.

A virtual environment was designed and implemented in order to examine emotional responses while playing in a virtual reality. A game based design approach was used to create a convincing narrative and meaningful tasks that are simultaneously used to access the users' emotional state. Self-reported ratings on emotions and game experience were incorporated into a background story and conducted while playing. An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate the concept regarding game experience, level of immersion and persuasiveness of the environment. Additionally, differences in emotional state and game experience while playing using the head-mounted display versus using the monitor were assessed. The outcome of individually gathered qualitative data was analyzed. The environment proved suitable for detecting emotional states and game experience and was generally highly accepted by the players. Users reported a high level of presence while engaging with the environment and did not feel a break of immersion in the game as they rated their experience. Further applications, current limitations and possible improvements are discussed.

There is substantial evidence that incorporating interactive environments for game-based instruction has a significant potential to support the development of computational thinking and programming skills in primary education students. However, it is not clear whether a simulation game (SG) with different user interface elements, created via three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds and visual programming environments to project various problem-solving exercises in a simulated reality, can significantly influence students to think and practice "computationally" their solution plans into code. The current study aims to identify any possible added value of each instructional approach by measuring students’ game experience and learning performance. This quasi-experimental study involved ninety participants (n = 90) aged between 10 and 11 years that consisted of two comparison conditions. The experimental group (n = 45) received training using OpenSimulator in combination with Scratch4SL, whereas the control group (n = 45) was trained using Scratch. The findings indicate considerable differences in students’ game experience and satisfaction, but no statistically significant difference in their learning performance and knowledge gain was identified. This study provides several design implications for user interface and game elements to inform educational practitioners and instructors about the benefits that each approach can offer students for better knowledge acquisition and deeper disciplinary understanding.

Video games can be a valuable tool for surgery training. Individuals who interact or play video games tend to have a better visuospatial ability when compared to non-gamers. Numerous studies suggest that video game experience is associated with faster acquisition, greater sharpening, and longer retention of laparoscopic skills. Given the neurocognitive complexity of surgery skill, multimodal approaches are required to understand how video game playing enhances laparoscopy skill. Twenty-seven students with no laparoscopy experience and varying levels of video game experience performed standard laparoscopic training tasks. Their performance, subjective cognitive loading, and prefrontal cortical activity were recorded and analyzed. As a reference point to use in comparing the two novice groups, we also included data from 13 surgeons with varying levels of laparoscopy experience and no video game experience. Results indicated that video game experience was correlated with higher performance (R2 = 0.22, p <0.01) and lower cognitive load (R2 = 0.21, p <0.001), and the prefrontal cortical activation of students with gaming experience was relatively lower than those without gaming experience. In terms of these variables, gaming experience in novices tended to produce effects similar to those of laparoscopy experience in surgeons. Our results suggest that along the dimensions of performance, cognitive load, and brain activity, the effects of video gaming experience on novice laparoscopy trainees are similar to those of real-world laparoscopy experience on surgeons. We believe that the neural underpinnings of surgery skill and its links with gaming experience need to be investigated further using wearable functional brain imaging.

Recent research has attempted to identify methods to mitigate cybersickness and examine its aftereffects. In this direction, this paper examines the effects of cybersickness on cognitive, motor, and reading performance in VR. Also, this paper evaluates the mitigating effects of music on cybersickness, as well as the role of gender, and the computing, VR, and gaming experience of the user. This paper reports two studies. In the 1st study, 92 participants selected the music tracks considered most calming (low valence) or joyful (high valence) to be used in the 2nd study. In the 2nd study, 39 participants performed an assessment four times, once before the rides (baseline), and then once after each ride (3 rides). In each ride either Calming, or Joyful, or No Music was played. During each ride, linear and angular accelerations took place to induce cybersickness in the participants. In each assessment, while immersed in VR, the participants evaluated their cybersickness symptomatology and performed a verbal working memory task, a visuospatial working memory task, and a psychomotor task. While responding to the cybersickness questionnaire (3D UI), eye-tracking was conducted to measure reading time and pupillometry. The results showed that Joyful and Calming music substantially decreased the intensity of nausea-related symptoms. However, only Joyful music significantly decreased the overall cybersickness intensity. Importantly, cybersickness was found to decrease verbal working memory performance and pupil size. Also, it significantly decelerated psychomotor (reaction time) and reading abilities. Higher gaming experience was associated with lower cybersickness. When controlling for gaming experience, there were no significant differences between female and male participants in terms of cybersickness. The outcomes indicated the efficiency of music in mitigating cybersickness, the important role of gaming experience in cybersickness, and the significant effects of cybersickness on pupil size, cognition, psychomotor skills, and reading ability.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games typically feature rich and complex game environments to provide more engaging game-play experiences. The complexity of the underlying system in such games can however result in increased complexity of their interfaces, which may diminish player enjoyment—a major element of players’ game experience. Players may customise their in-game interfaces to deal with this type of complexity and hence improve their performance, but the challenges associated with manual interface customisation may prevent some players from effectively personalising their own game interface. In this paper we present an adaptive feedback system with a visual interface component, which dynamically provides the player with a list of predicted actions they are likely to take, in order to simplify the game interface and improve players’ game experience. We also report on the outcomes of a user evaluation of this system which demonstrate the potential value of adaptive user interfaces in game design.KeywordsAdaptive game interfacesvisual interface feedbackfeedback visualisationmassively multiplayer online gamesuser evaluation

BackgroundPoints represent one of the most widely used game mechanics in gamification. They have been used as a means to provide feedback to users. They visually show user performance and are used along with other game mechanics to produce synergy effects. However, using points without analyzing the application environment and targets adversely affects users.ObjectiveThis study aims to identify the problems that users encounter when points are applied improperly, to solve problems based on an analysis of previous studies and actual point use cases, and to develop a point design framework to deliver gameful experiences.MethodsThree problems were identified by analyzing previous studies. The first problem is points that only accumulate. The second is points that emphasize a user’s difference from other people. The third pertains to the reward distribution problem that occurs when points are used as rewards.ResultsWe developed a framework by deriving 3 criteria for applying points. The first criterion is based on the passive acquisition approach and the active use approach. The second criterion is used to classify points as “high/low” and “many/few” types. The third criterion is the classification of personal reward points and group reward points based on segmentation of the reward criteria. We developed 8 types of points based on the derived point design framework.ConclusionsWe expect that some of the problems that users experience when using points can be solved. Furthermore, we expect that some of the problems that arise when points are used as rewards, such as pointsification and the overjustification effect, can be solved. By solving such problems, we suggest a direction that enables a gameful experience for point users and improves the core value delivery through gameful experiences. We also suggest a gameful experience delivery method in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.