scholarly journals Probability disclosures are not enough: Reducing loot box reward complexity as a part of ethical video game design

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon Y. Xiao ◽  
Philip Warren Stirling Newall
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Digital Goods ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Video Game Design

Loot boxes in video games provide randomised rewards that bear structural similarities to gambling. Current loot box consumer protection measures, such as requiring probability disclosures, have been inspired by similar approaches in gambling. However, current loot box rewards are too complex for consumers to be meaningfully protected by probability disclosures alone. But as digital goods, loot boxes can be redesigned in more ethical ways. Four reductions to loot box reward complexity are proposed: capping the maximum number of loot boxes per game and potential rewards per loot box, equalising ‘winning’ probabilities across rewards, and implementing ‘exhaustible’ loot boxes.

scholarly journals Semi-automatic construction of video game design prototypes with MaruGen

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Italo Felipe Capasso-Ballesteros ◽  
Fernando De la Rosa-Rosero
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
L Systems ◽  
Role Based ◽  
Game Designer ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Expression Mechanism

Machinations Ruleset Generator (MaruGen) is a semi-automatic system for the generation of mechanics, rules, spaces (environments), and missions for video games. The objective of this system is to offer an expression mechanism for the video game designer role based on the definition of rules, and the ability to explore the concepts of progression and emergence in video games by using a formal, usable, and defined tool to design games with innovative and complex elements, and behaviors defined from combinations of basic elements. Based on the expressed designs and with the participation of programmers and video game artists, MaruGen allows the generation of agile video game prototypes in the Unity game engine. These prototypes can be analyzed by the entire workgroup to look for games with diverse complexities that make them attractive to their users. MaruGen is based on the expression of rules on elements of interest in video games and the rewriting mechanism using L-Systems for the generation of procedural content. MaruGen was evaluated in the construction of the Cubic Explorer video game and tested by gamers and video game developers during the Game Jam Ludum Dare 38.

Does Game Quality Reflect Heuristic Evaluation?

Gamification ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 1991-2004
Author(s):  
Björn Strååt ◽  
Fredrik Rutz ◽  
Magnus Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Design Issues ◽  
Evaluation Tools ◽  
Video Game Design

Usability evaluation tools in the form of heuristic lists can be very helpful in software development. In the field of video game design, researchers are continuously developing new heuristic tools aimed specifically at video game productions. However, through previous studies, the authors have found that even though these tools are frequent and common, design issues regularly appear in video games. This study examines whether video game heuristics are able to capture and evaluate softer values of video game interaction, based on the challenges, flow and immersion of gameplay. By conducting a heuristic evaluation on low scoring and high scoring games the authors manage to show which kind of design issues are most frequent in both high and low scoring games. As a further result of the study, two new heuristics are presented.

Designing Curricular Games

2018 ◽  
pp. 213-232
Author(s):  
Janna Jackson Kellinger
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Video Games ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
Teaching Video

Most teachers only dream of their students spending the amount of motivation, attention, passion, and critical thinking on their classes that some do playing video games. Many teachers have thought “How can I compete with that?” as they confiscate a hand-held gaming device from a student. However, more and more teachers are incorporating video games into their curriculum, instead of banning them. This chapter argues that it is not just video games that can transform teaching, video game techniques can as well. By using video game design principles such as game stories and quests, teachers can restructure their teaching so students do not just learn the curriculum, they experience it. This chapter explores the research on using game-based teaching and learning with the Next Generation including how game-based teaching can be used to achieve 21st century goals as outlined by business leaders within 21st century educational constraints.

Synechism in the Video Games Design

2015 ◽  
pp. 19-37
Author(s):  
Francisco V. Cipolla-Ficarra ◽  
Jacqueline Alma ◽  
Alejandra Quiroga
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Interactive Design ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
Software And Hardware

The authors present an analysis of the first set of elements belonging to the interactive design categories: layout (naturalness of metaphor) and content (storytelling), which make up synechism in video game design. In addition, they examine the evolution of the notion of the video game in relation to the advance of the software and hardware. Finally, the authors include in that analysis the changes in storytelling, due to the greater or lesser presence of the dynamic means and the static means of hypermedia communication.

scholarly journals Interfejsy intymności. Tendencje intymistyczne we współczesnych grach wideo

2021 ◽  
pp. 215-239
Author(s):  
Piotr Kubiński
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Final Conclusion ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Media Form

The article concentrates on a specific tendency that can be observed in some video games created in recent years. This trend is that more and more video games present an intimate perspective and focus on the individual experience of the protagonist. The author of the article approaches the phenomenon in question mainly from the interpretative and genological perspective, since video games are not a media form commonly identified with the expression of intimate, formative or identitycreating experiences. The author starts with an analysis of the reasons why video games and intimistic texts are commonly perceived as very distant genre forms. Then he analyzes those video games that represent the intimistic tendency: Bury me, my Love (The Pixel Hunt, 2017), A Normal Lost Phone (Accidental Queens, 2017) and Wanderlust: Travel Stories (Different Tales, 2019). The analysis leads to the following conclusions: what is common for all the three discussed games is i.a. a particularly important role of the text as the basic semiotic material in which the game is realized. Even though Interfejsy intymności this concentration on the word is not a necessary condition of intimistic poetics – it definitely helps introducing such a dimension into the work. What is more, two of the three discussed games use the strategy of remediating a smartphone. In both cases, the creators designed new interfaces modeled on the real ones and turned navigating on the phone screen into basic game mechanics. This, in turns, means that intimistic tendencies in video games stimulate reaching for new genre forms. This process of remediation is possible mainly because modern intimacy has shifted very clearly towards the digital, and smartphones have become its basic tool. This phenomenon, which the author of the article calls ‘intimacy 2.0’, is a result of the fact that: (a) contemporary culture is deeply anchored in the digital and its interfaces, and (b) the importance of smartphones in everyday communication and media consumption has been growing enormously in recent years. The final conclusion of the paper is as follows: all the discussed games use an intimate perspective to evoke empathy, which was not a typical video game design goal. This is especially interesting, given the fact, that all the analyzed games remain primarily commercial products that are driven by the laws of the market.

Employing Co-Design in the Video Game Design Process

2012 ◽  
pp. 1048-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
Game Design ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
Design Techniques

Innovative and engaging video games can be created if the target audience is included in the design process. Co-design is the process of working with your intended audience as colleagues in the design of technology. Co-design requires techniques that bring together designers in a way to create new technologies. New design techniques are developed to be used in real-world situations, but they require refinement through their own use. Video games offer technique designers an abundant source of material to design and refine techniques in real-world scenarios. This chapter discusses co-design, and the use of co-design techniques in the design of a serious video game to explore history, to help children be more environmentally minded, and a virtual world that reinforces positive social behavior.

Indie Rocks! Mapping Independent Video Game Design

2005 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
Design Production

Though many video games scholars and journalists tend to train their sights on ‘big gaming’, there is a vibrant and varied sector of independent game design, production and distribution. Indie gaming is not a unitary field and, as well as producing a diverse range of games, indie designers occupy a range of positions vis-à-vis mainstream video gaming. Therefore, while this article gives examples of this diversity, it is by no means an exhaustive account. Industry watchers and events are together suggesting that low-cost, independent modes of production will become increasingly important and prevalent in the immediate future. Scholars and practitioners alike will do well to understand the historical trajectories of indie design, and to keep pace with its present and future diversity.

Does Game Quality Reflect Heuristic Evaluation?

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Strååt ◽  
Fredrik Rutz ◽  
Magnus Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Design Issues ◽  
Evaluation Tools ◽  
Video Game Design

Usability evaluation tools in the form of heuristic lists can be very helpful in software development. In the field of video game design, researchers are continuously developing new heuristic tools aimed specifically at video game productions. However, through previous studies, the authors have found that even though these tools are frequent and common, design issues regularly appear in video games. This study examines whether video game heuristics are able to capture and evaluate softer values of video game interaction, based on the challenges, flow and immersion of gameplay. By conducting a heuristic evaluation on low scoring and high scoring games the authors manage to show which kind of design issues are most frequent in both high and low scoring games. As a further result of the study, two new heuristics are presented.

scholarly journals Design Principles for Serious Video Games in Mathematics Education: From Theory to Practice

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Chorianopoulos ◽  
Michail Giannakos
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Diverse Learning ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
Evaluation Of Learning ◽  
Serious Video Games

There is growing interest in the employment of serious video games in science education, but there are no clear design principles. After surveying previous work in serious video game design, we highlighted the following design principles: 1) engage the students with narrative (hero, story), 2) employ familiar gameplay mechanics from popular video games, 3) engage students into constructive trial and error game-play and 4) situate collaborative learning. As illustrated examples we designed two math video games targeted to primary education students. The gameplay of the math video games embeds addition operations in a seamless way, which has been inspired by that of classic platform games. In this way, the students are adding numbers as part of popular gameplay mechanics and as a means to reach the video game objective, rather than as an end in itself. The employment of well-defined principles in the design of math video games should facilitate the evaluation of learning effectiveness by researchers. Moreover, educators can deploy alternative versions of the games in order to engage students with diverse learning styles. For example, some students might be motived and benefited by narrative, while others by collaboration, because it is unlikely that one type of serious video game might fit all learning styles. The proposed principles are not meant to be an exhaustive list, but a starting point for extending the list and applying them in other cases of serious video games beyond mathematics and learning.

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