Visual aesthetics in video games and their effects on player motivation

Gamification brings the possibility of novel form and expression via visual aesthetics of interactive nature. Gamification can be seen as the communication form that results in active user engagement and participation through the visual aesthetics and the game-like experiences it accommodates. While current interactive designs expand a number of digital technologies genres, the use of gamification excels the process of taking audience as the subject matter and visually engage. Thus, the audience can react to the aesthetics the goal of behavioral change comes into play due to the application of game aesthetics, game design, and gamification elements. However, in doing so, most of the users are not always able to see the complete design in the user experience or interface that could be misleading or just involved around certain commercial purposes. We call it dark patterns; a modern tactic used by user experience designers and gamification designers to make the interface visually misleading to serve their own interests and not the users. It presents the two diverse perspectives of the use of visual aesthetics in games and gamification; one is positive and another is negative. This chapter highlights the visual aesthetics and related elements of these genres, associated principles, and notions on important implications for the gamification designers to be considered in their practices and future projects.

Video Games and the Future of Learning

Introduction The relationship between symptoms of attentiondefi cit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the playing of video games is not well understood. The American Medical Association and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have refl ected this ambi valence in recommendations and press releases [1,2]. Because video games are among the most popular pastimes of children and teenagers and ADHD is one of the most common childhood psychiatric diagnoses, pediatricians, family practice physicians, and child psychiatrists commonly encounter children with ADHD who play video games regularly. How are we to advise them and their families? Research historically has focused on the negative consequences of playing video games; however, recent studies are illuminating the possible benefi ts. It was argued in one publication that children with ADHD may be using video games as a form of self-medication [3]. Video games may boost self-esteem in a population of children who derive little of it from their schoolwork or family life [4]. Additional research has shown that for boys with ADHD, interactive games can improve classroom learning and social relationships [5]. Evidence indicates that the presence of a computer in the home of a preschool child can improve school readiness and cognitive development regardless of the frequency of access to or ownership of child electronic games or video games in the household, the socioeconomic status of the family, or the developmental stage of the child [6]. Lastly, some evidence suggests that action video games may briefl y improve certain cognitive functions [7]. The issue of the relationship between aggression and video game play is important but complicated by various studies suggesting that exposure to video game violence can increase, reduce, or have no infl uence on aggressive behavior. This relationship was examined in 13 studies published between 1984 and 1996. These different studies showed that playing video games can result in increased aggression, no aggression, or an increased calming effect [8]. A more recent review of the literature found an association between violent video games and short-term aggressive behavior; however, due to study limitations, the authors found it diffi cult to establish a causal effect between playing video games and long-term aggressive behaviors [9]. Some correlation seems to exist between the neurotransmission characteristics of people who play video games and people with ADHD, but this correlation also remains unclear. The dopamine hypothesis of ADHD implicates variants in dopamine receptor subtypes and dopamine transmission in the pathology of ADHD. Decreased dopamine release in the corticostriatal pathway has been observed in individuals with ADHD [10,11]. Some evidence indicates that video game play is associated with dopamine release and low-function D2-receptor polymorphism [12,13]. I believe that at the current state of research, it is premature to advise families to eliminate video games from the lives of children with ADHD, at least until the negative and potentially benefi cial effects of playing video games (colloquially known as gaming) are better characterized. The following is a summary of recent research fi ndings on the psychiatric and behavioral effects of video games on children with ADHD. I hope that this summary better prepares clinicians when they discuss video games with families. This commentary does not address ergonomic or physical problems associated with video games, a topic that has been reviewed elsewhere [14].

<p><b>Research problem – The average age of video game players is above 30 in many parts of the world, but the literature surrounding video games in public libraries often focuses on engaging children and teenagers. This suggests that there may be an underserved population of video game players in public libraries.</b></p> <p>In addition to this, successful video game ventures require organisers familiar with and knowledgeable about video games. It is unknown whether public library staff in general possess these qualities, or if they are engaged with video game services.</p> <p>This report aimed to investigate how public library staff in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) engage with video games and video game services.</p> <p>Methodology – Invitations to participate in an online questionnaire were sent to 20 public library systems and the NZ-Libs email list. Five organisations agreed to distribute the questionnaire to their staff. A sample size of 183 respondents was achieved. Questions were asked about video game experiences, perceptions, and library services.</p> <p>Results – NZ public library staff appear to engage with video games in a similar way to the general NZ population. In addition, there appears to be an overall positive perception of their place in public libraries (87% of respondents supported video games in public libraries).</p> <p>Video game players appear to think more positively about video games and be more aware of their impact on individuals compared to non-players. They also appear to be more confident in delivering related services and more likely to be running related events.</p> <p>Video game services in NZ public libraries seem to largely target younger age groups, mirroring the perceived main target audience for video games indicated by respondents. This revealed a potentially underserved population (video game players aged 46 – 84) for NZ public libraries that offer video game services.</p> <p>Implications – It appears that encouraging engagement with video games may improve staff confidence in delivering video game services, although further research is required to confirm this.</p> <p>In addition, there is a potentially underserved population of video game players aged 46 – 84, who account for nearly half of the 46 – 84 year old population. Evaluation of this potentially underserved population is an interesting topic for future research.</p>

Character design in video games plays a crucial role in shaping players’ emotional engagement and long-term attachment to the characters they control and interact with. Narrative-driven games, in particular, rely heavily on visual aesthetics, personality construction, and moral agency to create emotionally resonant experiences. Life is Strange is selected as a case study due to its strong emphasis on character-centered storytelling, where the main character is developed through complex personal traits, emotional vulnerability, and narrative events that evolve according to players’ moral choices. These elements allow players to experience fluctuating emotional states throughout the gameplay. This study adopts a qualitative research approach to examine how visual character design and narrative structures contribute to the formation of emotional attachment, focusing specifically on teenage players in Indonesia. Data were collected through visual content analysis of the game’s character design and in-depth interviews with players to explore their emotional responses and interpretative experiences. The findings indicate that effective character design not only enhances emotional immersion but also enables players to recognize, express, and reflect upon their own emotions by relating in-game decisions to real-life experiences. Moral decision-making mechanics further strengthen this connection by positioning players as active participants in the character’s emotional journey. The conclusions of this study provide valuable insights for game developers and character designers, particularly in understanding how visual storytelling and narrative coherence can be strategically employed to foster emotional resonance and meaningful player–character relationships in narrative-driven video games.

BackgroundThe design and use of serious video games for children have increased in recent years. To maximize the effects of these games, it is essential to understand the children’s experiences through playing. Previous studies identified that enjoyment and user experience satisfaction of the players are principal factors that can influence the success of serious video games and the learning of their players. However, research about the relationship between enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with learning in children 8 to 10 years old is sparse.ObjectiveWe examined the relationship of enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with the learning of children aged 8 to 10 years while playing a serious video game for health, FoodRateMaster. This serious video game teaches children about the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy foods and how to identify them in their environment.MethodsChildren aged 8 to 10 years were recruited from a primary school in Mexico. Participants completed 12 individual gaming sessions with FoodRateMaster in 6 weeks. A food knowledge questionnaire was administered before and after game play to assess the players’ food knowledge. In addition, after the gaming sessions, the children’s enjoyment and user experience satisfaction were evaluated using the EGameFlow questionnaire and the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) questionnaire.ResultsWe found significant positive associations for children’s (n=60) posttest knowledge with enjoyment (r58=0.36, P=.005) and user experience satisfaction (r58=0.27, P=.04). The children’s posttest knowledge scores were also positively correlated with challenge (r58=0.38, P=.003), knowledge improvement (r58=0.38, P=.003), and goal clarity (r58=0.29, P=.02) EGameFlow subscales and with narrative (r58=0.35, P=.006), creative freedom (r58=0.26, P=.04), and visual esthetics (r58=0.32, P=.01) GUESS subscales. Regression analysis indicated that the EGameFlow (F7,52=2.74, P=.02, R2=0.27) and the GUESS (F8,51=2.20, P=.04, R2=0.26) ratings significantly predicted the children’s posttest knowledge scores. EGameFlow challenge (β=0.40, t52=2.17, P=.04) and knowledge improvement (β=0.29, t52=2.06, P=.04) subscales significantly contributed to predicting children’s learning. None of the GUESS subscales significantly contributed to predicting children’s learning.ConclusionsThe findings of this study suggest that both enjoyment and user experience satisfaction for children aged 8 to 10 years were positively correlated with their learning and that were significant predictors of it. Challenge, knowledge improvement, narrative, creative freedom, and visual esthetics subscales correlated positively with children’s learning. In addition, challenge and knowledge improvement contributed to predicting their learning. These results are relevant to consider during the design stages of serious games developed for young children’s learning purposes.

Video games are playable journeys that occur through time. A major portion of this journey is experienced through the visuals. These visuals are commonly referred to as “graphics ”, a term appropriated from computer programming and coding. Such a term is used differently amongst artists and art historians, which results in a conflicting vocabulary to communicate the visual creation process of a world in a video game. Furthermore, academic research revolving around visual art in game studies is often an overlooked topic. This leaves game artists with insufficient means to fully express the weight of the visual creation process within video games. In light of such an oversight, this research will examine the game artist’s process of creating visual game worlds using an amalgamation of three topics, visual composition, visual perception and game design. It corresponds to the close relationship of the artist, game designer and player when it comes to the creation of a cohesive, consistent and convincing visual game world. Guiding this research is a framework consisting of Rudolf Arnheim’s perceptual theories on art and visual compositions, and concepts from notable game theorists, including Mark J. P. Wolf and Jesper Juul. In addition to this framework, a basic world structure combining space, visual entities, time, temporality, forces and motion, is introduced as a fundamental skeleton of a game world. With this skeleton, a set of preconceived standards including video game genres, themes, time periods and visual styles are used to analyse existing visual game world examples. The point of this analysis is to find prominent factors reflecting the visual methods utilised by artists to portray game worlds. It leads into a hypothetical example of how the game artist can use these theories, concepts and standards to create and arrange objects in a simulated environment to convey an overall narrative that enhances the story within the game world. This example is not a definitive model for the entire creation process. Instead, it is a demonstration that reflects the research topics (visual composition, visual perception and game design) within a game world environment. Beyond this research, further development on the discussion of the visual creation process within a game world is needed to refine approaches that are accessible and substantial for game artists.

Internet Gaming Addiction: Disorder or Moral Panic?

Research on players’ reasons for video gaming, their video game preferences, and the behavioural effects of video gaming on the players tends to study those issues separately. This study attempts to explore all those issues collectively with the aim of facilitating game designers to develop appealing educational games for university students without inflicting negative behavioural impacts on the students. Relevant data from 100 undergraduates were collected from an online survey. Cluster analysis of the eight major reasons for playing video games resulted in grouping the respondents into five clusters. The cluster that rated peer effect as the major reason for playing is male-dominated whereas the cluster that rated family influence as the major reason is female-dominated. A similar analysis of the respondents’ video game genre preferences reveals that the cluster favouring fighting and battle games is male-dominated, whereas the cluster favouring family entertainment games is female-dominated. Both genders enjoy playing challenging adventure-strategy games. Most respondents perceived that their cognitive functioning had improved through video gaming, but no conclusion can be drawn as to whether video gaming can improve their social and psychological functioning. Except for poor sleeping habits, most respondents had not experienced any significant negative effects from playing video games. No statistical evidence supports that playing violent video games would induce aggressive behaviours. As games that involve a high demand for players’ motor skills may not be a good choice for educational games and violent games may induce poor sleep quality, it is concluded that challenging adventure games and strategy games are suitable educational game genres for undergraduate students.

BackgroundPlaying video games, a form of sedentary behaviour, is associated with poor well-being and increased risk of morbidity due to chronic disease. However, the association between health behaviours and video gaming is poorly understood. The purpose of this population-based study was to reveal the differences in dietary habits and physical activity for adolescent men with high amount of video games on weekdays, as compared to their peers who play less often.MethodsSeven hundred ninety-six adolescent men (age: mean = 17.8, SD = 0.6) attended compulsory conscription for military service in 2013 and completed a questionnaire regarding the amount and frequency of their video gaming. They also participated in a medical examination and underwent physiological measurements. The participants who played video games more than 3 h/d on weekdays were compared with those who played 3h/d or less. The association between health behaviours and the amount of playing video gaming was analysed using multivariable logistic regression analysis.Results24.1% (n = 192) of the participants reported video gaming in excess of 3 h/d. This group had higher incidence of having low physical fitness, having poor eating habits, and being obese. No differences were found in smoking or alcohol drinking habits. Other factors, including low leisure-time physical activity (OR = 1.94; 95% CI, 1.29–2.91), low consumption of vegetables and fruits (OR = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.72–0.97), high consumption of sweetened soft drinks (OR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.06–1.55) and high amount of sitting time (OR = 1.40; 95% CI, 1.28–1.52), explained one-fourth of the difference.ConclusionIn this population-based study, adolescent men who played video games a lot on weekdays had lower physical fitness, were more often obese, and had poorer dietary habits, as compared to their peers who played less often. Because playing video games typically adds to a person’s total sedentary time, this activity may be associated with adverse health outcomes at a very young age— especially in combination with poor health behaviours. The results of this study can be utilized to promote health interventions targeted at adolescent men so as to raise their awareness of the disadvantages of excessive video gaming.

Since the early 2000s, the video game industry has seen extraordinary booms in product development and market growth, with the total number of video game players globally reaching 2.69 billion by the end of 2020. Despite the rapid growth of the industry, there is little recent data investigating the time adult video game players spend sedentary playing video games and the time they spent engaged in physical activity. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional, non-experimental survey study is to describe the frequency and duration of video game play and physical activity in adult video game players. Participants completed an online survey, evaluating their demographic and health history information, video game play, and physical activity behaviors. The study used data from a total of 221 participants (Males = 153, Females = 68). The mean age of the participants was 27.29 (SD 7.27) years. Of the 221 participants, 145 identified as casual players, 50 amateurs, 24 semi-professionals, and 2 professionals. The participants spent over five days per week and an average of 26.56 h per week playing video games. Personal computers were reported to have the longest duration of play of the four platforms investigated (17.59 h per week). The total amount of time participants spent engaged in cumulative moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was an average of 15.43 (SD 16.79) hours per week. The majority of this time was spent engaged in occupational physical activity (5.11 h per week). Participants spent 2.39 h per week engaged in leisure time MVPA. Our results indicate an increase in VG play compared to 2018, suggesting United States adult video game players may be more at risk for detrimental effects to their physical health. This could be attributed to the habits formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the influences from video genre game play mechanics, and the social aspects of playing video games with friends. Future research should focus on developing research methodologies that will objectively measure adult video game player frequencies and durations in video game play alongside extensive observation of different video gameplay mechanic genres and their relationships with physical activity.

Religion and video games: shooting aliens in cathedrals

Research on the effects of playing video games has been limited by a preoccupation with possible negative repercussions. Nevertheless, research has shown that video games can have positive effects on young players’ social lives. The existing body of research, however, has largely ignored the more computer-related aspects of video game play and its effects. This study provides empirical evidence to support theoretical arguments about the relationship between playing video games and computers. The type of scientific thinking encouraged by video games and the technological abilities needed to play video games is suggested to result in an increase in players’ confidence with computers and interest in computer science. These potential relationships are examined using data from over 1,000 undergraduate students to empirically assess the relationship between video game play and: 1) confidence with computers, and 2) interest in computer science. The results indicate that game play is statistically significant as a predictor of confidence and interest. In comparison to the other predictors in the model, the strength of the effect from playing video games is relatively very strong. The findings suggest that exposure to video games as a recreational technology help inform players’ abilities with non-recreational technology and build an interest in technology in general.

<p>Despite consumer growth, few studies have evaluated the cognitive effects of gaming using mobile devices. This study examined the association between video game play platform and cognitive performance. Furthermore, the differential effect of video game genre (action versus nonaction) was explored. Sixty undergraduate students completed a video game experience questionnaire, and we divided them into three groups: mobile video game players (MVGPs), console/computer video game players (CVGPs), and nonvideo game players (NVGPs). Participants completed a cognitive battery to assess executive function, and learning and memory. Controlling for sex and ethnicity, analyses showed that frequent video game play is associated with enhanced executive function, but not learning and memory. MVGPs were significantly more accurate on working memory performances than NVGPs. Both MVGPs and CVGPs were similarly associated with enhanced cognitive function, suggesting that platform does not significantly determine the benefits of frequent video game play. Video game platform was found to differentially associate with preference for action video game genre and motivation for gaming. Exploratory analyses show that sex significantly effects frequent video game play, platform and genre preference, and cognitive function. This study represents a novel exploration of the relationship between mobile video game play and cognition and adds support to the cognitive benefits of frequent video game play.</p> <p> </p>

This paper employs data from the “Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey – Higher School of Economics” (RLMS HSE) to examine the prevalence of video games and its impact on lifestyle and health in Russia. Our analysis spans the period from 2019 to 2022, offering a unique opportunity to assess the prevalence of video games just before, during, and after the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, at the height of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the highest level of video game engagement was recorded. While 27.8% of respondents over the age of 14 played video games in 2019, the proportion increased to 32% in 2021 and then dropped to 25.4% in 2022, below the pre‑pandemic level. The decline was attributed to a reduction in engagement among younger people (aged 14–24 years). In contrast, the proportion of respondents in older age groups who played video games increased consistently from 2019 to 2022. Nevertheless, in 2022, 60% of all gamers were between the ages of 14 and 39. Despite the overall decline in engagement level, gamers spent more time playing video games in 2022 than in 2019. The proportion of active gamers (those who play every day for several hours a day) increased from 17.2% in 2019 to 20.6% in 2022. The data indicated that young people, men, unmarried people, and residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg were more likely to play video games in general and to become active gamers. Those who played video games assessed their health more positively compared to those who did not play at all. This may be attributed to the fact that gamers on average were younger than the general population. However, an increase in time spent playing video games was associated with the decreasing level of self‑assessed health. Furthermore, a weak but statistically significant correlation was found between the time spent gaming and the incidence of mental health problems such as nervousness, aggression, and recurring depression. Those who spend several hours every day gaming were more likely to feel lonely than those who play video games less often. However, active gamers were as lonely as those who did not play at all. Active gamers were more likely to engage in variety of leisure activities, whereas those who play less frequently were more likely to socialize with friends and family in person, by phone, or online. Gamers reported higher levels of happiness than those who did not play video games, with the highest proportion of those who fell happy observed among active gamers.