Academic literature on the topic 'Digital game design'

Researchers have found that digital gaming is beneficial for the cognitive,psychological, and physical health of the elderly people [1][6]. The percentage of theelderly people playing digital games is growing increasingly (and so do thedemographics) and thus the elderly generation form a potential base for a yetinexperienced game market. Nevertheless, the game industry seems to have ignoredthis important layer of the population as a special category of users [3]. Neither thehardware nor the software are designed with the elderlies’ age-related cognitive andphysical impairments.While there is a lot of research on the positive effects of digital games on the elderlies’well-being, the characteristics of the elderly gamers have rarely been explored [1]. Thepurpose of this study is to find out the elderly people’s perceptions and experiences ofplaying games and map the difficulties they experience. Based on the collected dataand facts, a number of important factors to be considered by the designers of gamesfor the elderly people are recommended.Almost 50 individuals between 65 and 90 years of age, living in their homes andenjoying a for their age normal health, have been interviewed by the author. The resultsreveal that a considerably high majority of the respondents show interest in playinggames. Meanwhile, they complain about the complexity of both hardware andsoftware in relation to their age-related cognitive and physical limitations. Most of theelderly individuals say that they need help with both playing games and using thedevices. An important conclusion from the findings of this research is that gamestargeting the elderly users should be designed beyond the general usability issues,considering the possibility of customizing the technologies to individual needs andrequirements, as the health and physical conditions of the elderly people vary greatly.The study concludes that for the elderly population to be motivated and benefit fromdigital games, developers producing the software and hardware, and designersengaged in the design of user interface, need to consider this population as a separatecategory of gamers and offer games meeting age-related needs and requirements.

The reflective game design theory outlined by Rilla Khaled (2018) argues for designing disruptive experiences to promote reflection within the player. We decided to design and produce a game based on her theory to then engage with Khaled’s theory critically. We define the act of making a game as a three-step process consisting of ideation (influenced by Khaled’s theory), articulation of the design based on a framework (SGDA Framework by Mitgutsch &amp; Alvarado, 2012), and finally the implementation of it (based on principles outlined by Swink, 2009 and Boyer, 2010). We make a theoretical argument for our design decisions, test the game in a user study, and then discuss the successes and shortcomings of our design. To conclude we tie our discoveries to the steps taken in the application of theory into practice. We discover that the best design intentions often cannot reach the player because their interaction with the game is hindered by un-polished implementation. We identify further gaps between theory and practice and are stating what designers should watch out for when making reflective games.<br>I Rilla Khaled´s (2018) teori Reflective game design theory, argumenterar hon för fördelen med att skapa omvälvande upplevelser i syfte att uppmana spelaren till reflektion. Vi beslöt oss för att designa och utveckla ett spel baserat på hennes teori, för att sedan undersöka och utvärdera teorin. Vi definierar spelutvecklande som en process i tre steg, bestående av ”ideation” (grundat ur Khaleds teori), artikulering av designen baserat på ett ramverk s.k. ”SGDA Framework” ( Mitgutsch &amp; Alvarado, 2012), och slutligen realisering (grundat på principer framtagna av Boyer, 2010 och Swink, 2009). Vi argumenterar för besluten som ligger bakom vår design, utför praktiska test av spelet i en användarstudie och diskuterar sedan framgångar samt eventuell tillkortakommanden med vår design. Slutsatsen består av en redogörelse för hur våra upptäckter står i förhållande till applikationen av teori till praktik. Vi upptäckte att genomtänkta och välmotiverade beslut inom spelutveckling inte alltid når spelaren, då interaktionen mellan spelare och spel hindras av tillkortakommanden i hur dessa beslut tillämpats. Vi identifierade ytterligare klyftor mellan teori och realisering, och konstaterar vad spelutvecklare bör vara uppmärksamma på under utveckling av s.k. ”reflective games”.

In this thesis, I define 'Playculture' as a primary portal through which 'everyday life' is experienced in the US and the UK. I then argue that online 'cultural structures' have begun, more and more frequently and for a variety of reasons, to take the form of games - games that are destabilised by female participants. 'Feminist' methods of various kinds, 'intervention disruption', and iterative game design are all modes and methodologies I have chosen to apply to the creation of the practical parts of the research. Examples discussed at length in these pages illustrate the tensions between everyday popular culture and interventionist working practices, highlighting a process informed by feminist scholarship of marginalised groups. I argue that specific and identifiable historical play patterns and larger technological developments have been linked to gaming practices. If play has become an integral part of everyday life, then the history of 'banal' play - especially domestic play -- takes on new importance. Paper playhouses of the 19th Century reinforced the notion that the house was implicitly known as a gendered space, and I interrogate gender and play and girls' subversive resistance in this space. I argue that it is both possible and useful to identify three main types of subversion in operation by women players: reskinning, un-playing, and re-writing. I use these types of subversion to design artist's computer games as practical work in [rootings] and [domestic], and in the design of a larger collaborative work RAPUNSEL. I conclude the thesis by utilising my selected methodologies for a final feminist intervention and subversion, through a case study of the design and creation of the practical work [six. circles], which demonstrates how one might rework game goals and creating artists' games as a form of social activism. I end with a summary of the significance of this body of research as well as a summary arguement outlining the potential contributions of this study to future researchers, scholars and practitioners.

First-person games often support the player’s gradual accretion of knowledge of the game’s rules during gameplay. They thus focus on challenging and developing performative skills, which in turn supports the player in attaining feelings of achievement and skills mastery. However, an alternative disruptive game design approach is proposed as an approach that encourages players to engage in higher-order thinking, in addition to performative challenges. This requires players to cognitively engage with the game at a deeper level. This stems from the player’s expectations of game rules and behaviours being disrupted, rather than supported, requiring players to learn and re-learn the game rules as they play. This disruptive approach to design aims to support players in satiating their needs for not only achievement and mastery at a performative level but also, their needs for problem-solving and creativity. Utilising a Research through Design methodology, a model of game space proposes different stages of a game’s creation, from conceptualisation through to the final player experience. The Ludic Action Model (LAM), developed from existing game studies and cognitive psychological theory, affords an understanding of how the player forms expectations in the game as played. A conceptual framework of game components is then constructed and mapped to the Ludic Action Model, providing a basis for understanding how different components of a game interact with and influence the player’s cognitive and motor processes. The Ludic Action Model and the conceptual framework of game components are used to construct the Disruptive Game Feature Design and Development (DisDev) model, created as a design tool for ‘disruptive’ games. The disruptive game design approach is then applied to the design, development, and publication of a commercial game, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (The Chinese Room, 2013). This application demonstrated the suitability of the design approach, and the proposed models, for establishing disruptive game features in the game as designed, developing those features in the game as created, to the final resolution in the game as published, which the player will then experience in the game as played. A phenomenological template analysis of online player discussions of the game shows that players tend to evaluate their personal game as played (i.e. their personal play experience) in relation to their a priori game as expected (i.e. the experience that they expected the game to provide). Players reported their play experiences in ways that suggested they had experienced cognitive engagement and higher-order thinking. However, player attitudes towards this type of play experience were highly polarised and seemingly dependent on the correspondence between actual and expected play experiences. The discussion also showed that different methods of disruption have a variable effect on the player experience depending on the primacy of the game feature being disrupted. Primary features are more effectively disrupted when the game’s responses to established player actions are subsequently altered. Secondary game features, only present in some sections, are most effectively disrupted when their initially contextualised behaviour is subsequently altered, or recontextualised. In addition, story-based feature disruption is most effected when the initial encoding stage is ambiguous, thus disrupting players’ attempts to form an initial understanding of them. However, these different methods of disruption may be most effective when used in conjunction with each other.

This paper shows the difference in User Experience between Physical and Digital tabletop games. The goal of the project is to get an understanding of how and why playing tabletop games differentiates depending on the platform. Seven tabletop games have been chosen from different genres with an official digital adaptation. We’ve measured four key factors, Usability, Aesthetics, Social Connectivity and Engagement. The key factors have been used to gather User Experience metrics that were used to compare the digital and physical versions of the tabletop games. The result from this thesis is that physical tabletop games have a higher rating than the digital versions in all key factors except in usability where the differences were miniscule. Games that rely on imperfect information offer a much higher social connectivity and engagement when it’s played around a table. Games relying on tile-placement offers a higher usability and engagement when played digitally due to the assistance provided by the game. Physical tabletop games are the preferred option of the two but the accessibility of the digital versions makes them remain relevant.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:23:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jaderson Aparecido de Souza.pdf: 44357388 bytes, checksum: 02173ac48fd79c1048c84e4e39f73038 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-29<br>This study addresses the issue of the production of games and its scope as objects of knowledge and learning. Part of the current discussion is about theoretical elements of the games from the ontologically pragmatic assumptions of the metaphilosophy and of the general ontology of the metaverses and games. Methodologically, the production of a game is conceived as the production of a cultural and cognitive object which is organized according to the principles of the narrative designs, three-dimentional environments and characters integrated in the current cultural movement of the digital natives. It is discussed the relation among the methodological assumptions of the approach of the new technologies, the narratology and playful and the current educational reflections that take the games as cognitive objects. It approaches the production contexts of a game, focusing the hypermedia research areas which show the games as cultural agents that promote the human creativity and freedom in the digital era, its relevance as playfulness sense producer and as horizons of knowledge production. It resumes the discussion of the use of games in the educational process confronting them with the entertainment issues and the scientific research that uses the new technologies. It locates and delineates the methodological parameters and conceptual limits for the production of a game which has concepts as objects. It proposes the normative structure of a game design document, its parameter and its development in a high fidelity digital phototype. It culminates in the perspective of the games complexities as digital and cultural objects that locates in the horizons among art, ethics and science, fundamental to the development of the postmodern culture<br>conhecimento e de aprendizagem. Parte da discussão atual acerca dos fundamentos teóricos dos games, a partir dos pressupostos ontopragmáticos da topofilosofia e da ontologia geral dos metaversos e games. Metodologicamente, concebe a produção de um game como a produção de um objeto cultural e cognitivo que se organiza segundo princípios do design de narrativas, ambientes tridimensionais e personagens, integrados no movimento cultural atual dos nativos digitais. Discute a relação entre os pressupostos metodológicos da abordagem das novas tecnologias, com o binômio narratologia-ludologia e com as atuais reflexões educacionais que tomam os games como objetos cognitivos. Aborda os contextos de produção de um game, enfocando as pesquisas da área hipermídia, que mostram os games como agentes culturais que promovem a criatividade e liberdade humanas na era digital, a sua pertinência como ludicidade produtora de sentidos e como horizonte de produção de conhecimento. Retoma o debate do uso dos games nos processos educativos confrontando-os com as questões do entretenimento e da pesquisa científica que utiliza as novas tecnologias. Situa e delineia os parâmetros metodológicos e limites conceituais para a produção de um game que tenha por objeto conceitos. Propõe a estrutura normativa de um game design document, sua parametrização e seu desenvolvimento em um protótipo digital de alta fidelidade. Culmina na perspectiva da complexidade dos games como objetos digitais e culturais que se situam no horizonte entre arte, ética e ciência, fundamentais para o desenvolvimento da cultura pós-moderna

<p> Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is rarely associated with video games. Software video games can be made using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and high level languages such as the Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Javascript, and jQuery; however, FPGA video games require the building of complex hardware. The goal of this project is to create an FPGA video game by combining UML and digital design. </p><p> There are advantages to starting from the hardware level such as having more control, thus giving more freedom to create design and functional specifications. The disadvantages include creating device drivers. By using the Rational Unified Process (RUP) as the development process, a Duck Hunt FPGA Game is created that proves how software video game development is different compared to FPGA game development.</p>

The rise of digital technology has transformed nearly every part of our daily lives, including the way we learn and memorize. Such transformations raise interesting questions for one of the most long-standing and demanding memorization tasks in the world: the memorization of the Islamic holy book, The Qur’an. For Muslims, The Qur’an is a timeless, sacred text, cradling within its covers many profound images, stories, and parables. Despite rigorous research in the fields of game design and memorization techniques, very little work has been done in combining these two areas of research to create a game-based memorization experience of The Quran. This thesis synthesizes game design elements with existing memorization techniques to foster a more engaging, enriching, and inspiring Qur’an memorization experience.