Lecture 1 – Introduction
Serious games use game concepts and technologies for non-entertainment purposes,
such as health care, policy making, research, and education.
Serious games are games that use computer game and simulation approaches or the
technologies for, primarily, non-entertainment purposes.
Interdisciplinary field of study at the cutting edge of information sciences, (new) media,
intelligent systems, psychology, educational sciences, etc.
Translating the needs of stakeholders and academic knowledge into innovative game
concepts
For effective designs, we need to focus on analysis of games at an academic level
And… Integrate interdisciplinary scientific insight with novel game design &
technology
Kapp, Chapter 1: What is Gamification?
A game is a system in which players engage in an abstract challenge, defined by rules,
interactivity, and feedback, that results in a quantifiable outcome often eliciting an
emotional reaction
o A player gets caught up in playing a game because the instant feedback and
constant interaction are related to the challenge of the game, which is defined
by the rules, which all work within the system to provoke an emotional
reaction and, finally, result in a quantifiable outcome within an abstract
version of a larger system.
Gamification is using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage
people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems. In other words, they
are created through the gamification of traditional learning content.
Gamification is not the superficial addition of points, rewards, and badges to learning
experiences.
Gamification is growing; soon a gamified service for consumer goods marketing and
customer retention will become as important as Facebook, Twitter, or Amazon.
Global 2000 organizations are quickly putting gamification into place.
Gamification techniques can be applied to learning applications within any type of
industry, from the military to retail to computer services to manufacturing
organizations.
Learning professionals, educators, and faculty members have many of the skills,
knowledge, and abilities to take a leadership position in the gamification of learning and
instruction
Success factors for serious games to enhance learning: a systematic review
5 central serious game themes: backstory and production; realism; artificial
intelligence and adaptivity; interaction; and feedback and debriefing, all of which
require deliberate intertwining with pedagogical content to ensure successful learning.
practical guidelines game producers should include in productions
Playing audience hold the key to successful serious games. They want to have fun before
they value the subsequent learning-benefit serious games can offer them.
Serious games producers stealthily engage the player with the required learning
material. => games need to have replay value rather than be a once off learning
endeavour. captivate
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, High degree of realism and open-ended narrative they favour and admittedly learning
will be minimal. Design a game deemed worthy of repeated play. A narrative, which has
no distinct breaks between learning and playing while providing a fitting context for the
learning material must now take over gameplay motivation. This motivation drives
players to become adept at the skills required to progress in the game. Hence, the game-
task skills should mirror the intended learning impact. motivate
Flow theory suggests that as gameplay progresses, player abilities go up and that
challenges should always be on the edge of player ability. This suggests that game tasks
should become gradually more difficult in order for a player’s cycle of mastery to be
continuously challenged—as also prescribed by the constructivist learning theory.
Immediate in-game feedback, an intuitive game interface with minimalist control
mechanics and an uncomplicated heads-up display will prevent flow interference.
immerse
AI can polish off the aesthetic by establishing an emotional connection with the player
through personalized responses and gameplay modes maintained by progress-tracking
mechanisms. Utilizing progress-tracking reports of in-game learning activities and
possibly chat logging to further enhance the value of debriefing. emotional
connection
The success component of the production team, is the end user. Involving a
homogenous target player group from early in the design and play-testing phases will
ensure that the game will be enjoyed. Enjoyable games are played by choice; players will
be engaging with the learning material when they would otherwise have been doing
something fun.
Lecture 2 - Introduction & Understanding useful Game Elements
Typical goals of applied games/ gamification
Learning… (knowledge, procedures, skills, etc.)
o Creating awareness…
Influencing a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors. I.e.,
persuasion…
Hedonic entertainment vs eudaimonic entertainment
o Hedonic entertainment experiences are generally associated with positive
mood and arousal regulation (i.e., feeling delighted, joy).
In other words: the consumption of media for fun and pleasurable
reasons.
o Eudaimonic entertainment experiences tend to stimulate contemplation,
meaning, and connectedness.
Often mixed affective responses (e.g., being moved), a fulfilment of
intrinsic needs (e.g., competence or relatedness), and a cognitive
component where individuals are stimulated to think and reflect.
Kapp, Chapter 2: Understanding Game Elements
“What makes a game motivational, exciting, or irresistible?”
Why can some games be played over and over again?”
o Answering these questions makes us look at Game Elements and Game
Mechanics that create interest in playing a game
o Note: A single element (or few elements) rarely makes for an engaging,
immersive learning environment.
It is often the interrelation of the elements that makes a game engaging.
Abstractions of concepts and reality
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, o
Suppose you want to base a game on the complexities of running a rollercoaster
theme park, a major city, or a military assault.
o These game are rather common…
…and often work not because they include all complexities…
…but because they reduce the complexity.
o The player is involved in an abstraction of events, ideas, and reality.
o A game may be regarded as a dynamic model of reality in which the model
provides a representation of reality at a particular period of time (i.e., an
operating model).
Of course, the modelled reality may be hypothetical, imagined, or
fictional
Abstracted reality has a number of advantages…
o 1st: “It helps the player manage the conceptual space being experienced.” (helps
the player understand what is going on within the game), “It minimizes the
complexity.”
Monopoly / Chess: Makes it possible for players to engage with
the concepts of strategy and financial acquisition without having
to experience war, or being in a monopoly themselves.
It is now possible to manage the concepts easily within the abstracted
space
o 2nd Advantage: Cause and Effect can be more clearly identified
o 3rd Advantage: Allows us to remove everyday occurrences that would make
for uninteresting game play
Pause military campaign to get a haircut? Probably not very fun…
Get shot in a video game > Go to a hospital and remove bullets from
shoulder. Probably not very fun either…
o 4th Advantage: Reduces the time required to grasp the concepts
E.g., controlling a real Formula 1 racing car is actually very complicated,
but a racing game may allow you to focus less on all the controls, and
more on the driving experience / learning how to drive well
Goals
What is the difference between “Play” and a “Game” ?
Game scholars often say that a game is more goal directed
Jumping on a trampoline with friends Play
Whoever jumps highest wins Game
Goals add purpose, focus, and measurable outcome We can now measure how
well a player is doing!
Typically, in a game it is clear if you have achieved the goal (e.g., you win the Boss fight),
and
…often it is also clear how far from achieving the goal you are, via visual feedback,
o E.g., in Tetris it is clear at every moment if you are doing well or not
Even in a simple game like Tic-Tac-Toe one can directly see how well a player is doing.
Visually understanding how far you are from a goal provides incentive, feedback, and an
indication of progress.
o Often also a measurement against others, “Hey! I have a higher score than you!”
The goal of the game is the primary device for a player to determine the required effort
at a certain point in time (as well as for determining strategies, moves), and ultimately,
who wins.
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, Important: A goal often gives the player the freedom and autonomy to pursue,
ideally in a way that feels good to the player…
o This is good; it allows for creative thought and motivation for problem solving
But: “…a game’s goal is the death of play” Achieving the goal of the game means the
game is over. And: We need to make sure that a player has the skills necessary to
complete the game.
o Q: So how can we maintain motivation for players to achieve a goal that lies far
in the future?
Rules
At its core, a game is often just a set of defined rules (max players, how to score points)
In Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, four types are defined:
o Operational rules: How the game is played,
o Foundational rules: What is happening in the background (e.g., mathematics
affecting win probabilities),
o Behavioral rules: Etiquette or implied social rules that define what is fair play-
behavior,
o Instructional rules: The insight / knowledge / rules / behavior that you wish a
player to learn / internalize after a game has been played Typical for Applied
Games…
Conflict, competition or cooperation
Three typical game formats.
Conflict is when a challenge is provided by a meaningful opponent.
o E.g., defeat human opponent, defeat NPCs that thwart player progress
Competition is where opponents are “constrained from impeding each other and
instead devote the entirety of their attention to optimizing their own performance.”
o E.g., setting the fastest lap-time in a racing game, without interfering with the
opponents
Cooperation is working with others to achieve a mutually desirable outcome
o E.g., co-op mode in Portal 2
Often more than one format adopted within the same game
Time
Time can have many functions in game design:
o Time limit can serve are a motivator / raise stress levels,
o Similarly, time can be a resource that needs to be allocated within the game
world. E.g., what to prioritize: focus on gathering treasures, or invest in other
tasks / missions?
o Compressed time (or other forms of time manipulation) allows a game
designer to show the player the effects of their actions.
E.g., a few minutes of gameplay are whole months in the game
Civilization
Reward structures
Reward structures are not unique to gamification, but are often an integral part of
gaming.
Classic example is the Leaderboard, popular already in arcade halls
o Adds social dimension to what used to be a solitary endeavor (add Bragging
rights and social capital)
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