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This paper presents a gamification framework for higher education, especially for programming language courses to increase user motivation, pleasure and satisfaction so that learning objectives can be achieved. Although student and lecturer motivation, pleasure, and satisfaction tend to increase compared to conventional techniques, gamification is not a panacea. The success of its application depends on the skill of the lecturer in choosing a game mechanic to give a sense of playing to the learning process in a more interesting way. The technique is done by dividing the class into two parts where one class uses the conventional method and one class uses the gamification method and the results will be evaluated through the assessment results before using the gamification method and after using the gamification method. The framework in this paper adds to the existing framework activities, namely adding in the field of baseline analysis, learning materials and tools used in gamification, where previous papers from three activities have not been discussed in detail. The results obtained turned out that using the gamification technique of student learning outcomes on average 15 to 25 better than using conventional techniques.

Popularity of game creates opportunity to everyone in developing a game that can be used to address any specific problem in many areas. In BINUS University International, for education purposes, game is not only being used as a tool/media to learn something, but it can also be used to develop student understanding on how the game mechanic of the games works. By understanding the mechanic of the games, hopefully it can help them in developing a game designed that can be used to address problems in their environment.

with the increase of mobile device usage around the globe, face-to-face communication has degraded and complete prohibition is not realistic. The degradation is not to be prevented as it happens as a side effect of technology. However, balancing usage of mobile device and quality of face-to-face communication is possible. Thus, by approaching users through developing a party genre mobile game, which is not famous as a mobile game at the time, with local multiplayer focus and introducing the given game to users, it is expected that face-to-face communication can be encouraged, thus resulting in mobile party game to become a media for the encouragement. Sample mini game that is a part of party game is developed with the help of Unity game engine as a testing object in which user response is collected. As application testing take place, and target user response is collected, face-toface encouragement is proven and user response is positive towards the game. Sample game testing has effectively reintroduced the existence of nowadays rare party game in mobile platform along with encouraging face-to-face communication, shown by the enthusiasm and enjoyment that audience testers have experienced. In the end, with mobile party game can help by being a media to encourage face-to-face communication and prevent degradation of such communication, future developments of a complete party game in mobile platform is highly encouraged as overall face-to-face communication quality enhancement may be required in the future in order to mitigate degradation.

Cognitive-physical exercises can reduce the progression of dementia. However, traditional methods often induce problems (e.g., lack of motivation), whereas the success of recent virtual reality (VR) exergames such as Beat Saber may provide a playful, motivational, and immersive alternative. Yet, until now, it remains unclear which game mechanics, concepts, and designs work best for people with dementia, and how to implement exergames for and with this user group. In this paper, we adapted a human-centered design approach to address the specifics of developing VR exergames for people with dementia. This includes semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and contextual inquiries to better analyze the user requirements. Based on our analysis, we present Memory Journalist VR - a novel VR exergame specifically designed for people with dementia in a participatory design process. We report the qualitative evaluation based on the feedback gathered in five focus group sessions. Finally, we discuss the lessons learned, which provide important insights for the design of future VR exergames for people with dementia: (i) creating social gaming activities with a focus on shared aspects, (ii) support of an inverse game flow channel addressing decline and variance in cognitive-physical abilities, and (iii) ensuring a safe VR exergame experience.

Gamification has been recently growing in popularity among researchers investigating Information and Communication Technologies. Scholars have been trying to take advantage of this approach in the field of natural language processing (NLP), developing Games With A Purpose (GWAPs) for corpus annotation that have obtained encouraging results both in annotation quality and overall cost. However, GWAPs implement gamification in different ways and to different degrees. We propose a new framework to investigate the mechanics employed in the gamification process and their magnitude in terms of complexity. This framework is based on an analysis of some of the most important contributions in the field of NLP-related gamified applications and GWAP theory. Its primary purpose is to provide a first step towards classifying mechanics that mimic mainstream video games and may require skills that are not relevant to the annotation task, defined as orthogonal mechanics. In order to test our framework, we develop and evaluate Spacewords, a linguistic space game for synonymy annotation.

Algunos principios de intervencion educativa, como es el aprendizaje ludico, han ido virando hacia propuestas mas enriquecedoras como la gamificacion. Este termino, con auge en el campo educativo, profesional y empresarial, implica el uso de mecanicas propias de juegos en contextos habitualmente no ludicos. En este contexto, el objetivo del trabajo es analizar los efectos positivos que genera la aplicacion de tecnicas de gamificacion en las aulas educativas. El metodo ha sido una revision bibliografica de literatura de 39 articulos publicados en acceso abierto, de enero de 2015 a abril de 2020, en las bases de datos Web of Science (SSCI) y Scopus, mediante el sistema de validacion de pertinencia, inclusion y exclusion, calidad/validez de los estudios y descripcion de datos, segun los criterios de la Universidad de York (PRISMA). En el analisis se han buscado los codigos del discurso y las relaciones entre las variables estudiadas con el fin de conocer la relacion de las dinamicas que interactuan entre las mismas. Como inferencia de los resultados se evidencia el impacto positivo de la gamificacion en el proceso de ensenanza-aprendizaje, siendo la motivacion y el rendimiento academico los aspectos mas destacables.

Procedural content generation (PCG) is a method of content creation entirely or partially done by computers. PCG is popularly employed in game development to produce game content, such as maps and levels. Representative examples of games using PCG are Rogue (1998), which introduced the rogue­like genre, and No Man’s Sky (2016), which generated whole worlds with fauna and flora. PCG may generate final contents, ready to be added to a game, or intermediate contents, which might be polished by human designers or work as an input level sketch to be interpreted by a level translator. In this paper, we survey the current state of procedural dungeon generation (PDG) research, a PCG subarea, applied in the context of games. For each work we selected in this survey, we examined and compared how they created game features, what type of level structure and representation they propose, which content generation strategy they applied, and, finally, we classify them according to the taxonomy of procedural content generation proposed by Togelius et al. (2016). The most relevant findings of our survey are: (1) PDG for 3D levels has been little explored; (2) few works supported levels with barriers, a game mechanic which temporarily blocks the player progression, and; (3) mixed-initiative approaches, i.e., software that helps human designers by making suggestions to the levels being created, are little explored.

While gamification research is multidisciplinary and has grown in popularity during the last decade, it still requires further evidence and direction on which and how much various game mechanics impact on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes in digital and physical servicescape contexts. To shed light on this problem, a novel perspective on sensory marketing and gamification was chosen. This chapter has discussed and analyzed the similarities and differences between sensory marketing and gamification, as well as what theoretical perspectives and practices gamification can borrow from sensory marketing. Six issues have surfaced that require more research on this matter: (1) The interaction effects, (2) Weight and impact, (3) Congruency, (4) Complexity, (5) (sub)Conscious/(non)visible elements, and (6) The causal chain. This chapter explains and discusses these issues and offers future research avenues.

[ES] El proyecto expuesto a continuación muestra el procedimiento desarrollado para diseñar un videojuego de rol de criaturas coleccionables. El proceso se encuentra separado en dos fases, la investigación del género y el desarrollo del documento de diseño del juego. El trabajo tiene como objeto explicar qué características definen al género y qué aspectos del género no están siendo aprovechados por los principales referentes., [EN] The project presented below shows the procedure developed to design a role-playing video game about collectible creatures. The process is divided into two phases, the research of the genre and the development of the game design document. The purpose of the work is to explain what features define the genre and what aspects of the genre are not being exploited by the main exponents.

Deceptive design patterns, also called dark patterns, can be found all over the internet today. These designs are used by website operators to trick users into sharing their personal data or performing other actions that are mostly favorable to the operators. Since taking effect in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), strictly mandates website operators to inform EU website visitors of how their personal data will be processed. Although they put up cookie banners to disclose such information and ask user’s consent, many website operators have found ways to use deceptive designs, such as confusing design and language, to trick users into giving them their personal data, and pass them on to advertisers that use them to personalize ads and target users. In this thesis, I study different dark patterns on the internet and those in cookie banners and I delve into one of the proposed interventions against dark patterns in previous work, gamification. I hypothesize that it is possible to create a serious game to train online users to respond to dark patterns in cookie banners, so that they can retain most of their personal in- formation without disclosing it to advertisers. In particular, I have conceptualized and developed an online game with five levels that uses game mechanics like feedback, points, levels, badges and story to make the game educative, engaging and interactive. To evaluate the game, I created a survey and gathered the answers of 54 players and assessed aspects like game clarity of goals and rules, knowledge acquisition, perceived applicability and engagement. I conclude with the analysis of the results obtained, suggesting the gamification is an appropriate and effective tool for training users on how to interact with cookie banners in a way that maximizes their privacy.

Video game research is an ever-changing and dynamic area where sophisticated methods and algorithms are being developed. Procedural content generation (PCG), which aims to merge user-generated assets with algorithms to automate and improve video game content, has been the core of this sophistication. However, the outcomes are primarily reflected in game aesthetics, not in the game mechanics and gameplay. In this study, we introduce the “game scene as a canvas” concept where simple prototype game development pipelines, that can convert a 2D game-level image into a game development environment with ready-to-use colliders and artistically different styles that enhance the game aesthetics, are introduced. To do so, edge-based and color-based features of the input game level image are extracted using the Canny edge detector, Simple Linear Iterative Clustering, and Felzenszwalb segmentation. The Unity game engine is then used to generate colliders based on the provided edge and color features where the game level is style transferred with spatial control. Results of different neural style transfer algorithms are presented on benchmark games such as Super Mario and Kid Icarus. Results show that this study can become a promising tool to simplify 2D video game development, focusing on game mechanics and aesthetics.

This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of writing narrative-driven digital games to foster a sense of narrative immersion. It does so by focusing on the experience of four expert writers, whose careers have spanned the modern video game era, and whose games have won awards and acclaim and sold in the millions. In their interviews, these game-writing pioneers describe some of the reasons that players play games, and convey their own struggles in writing for this medium. They suggest that those who wish to write high-quality, narrative-driven digital games should be well-versed in how to exploit a range of narrative elements, some of which are unique to games, while others have been present since storytelling began. They also stress the importance of understanding the complex interplay between narrative elements and game mechanics. Their suggestions underpin the development of several recommendations for the would-be digital game writer who seeks to foster a sense of narrative immersion for the player.

Persuasive Technologies (PT) are computational methods, strategies, and design techniques, grounded in social psychology to change user attitudes/behaviours. PTs have been applied in diverse areas, such as eCommerce, health, workplace, vehicles, urban and ambient environments. A kind of PT that has become popular in eLearning is known under the name “Gamification” – introducing game mechanics (such as points, levels, badges, leaderboards) into non-game environments. We implemented three persuasive strategies in an online learning environment supporting a University class to encourage more active engagement of students in their online learning activities. The paper presents a controlled study that shows a positive effect of the persuasive intervention on student engagement, measured by the increase in their online activities. The study results also show that personalizing the persuasive strategies to the receptiveness of individual students amplifies their effect on engagement.

Games have existed since time immemorial and have proved to significantly change people's mentality and attitudes towards countless scenarios. Although games are ‘time wasters', we should acknowledge the one thing that games offer, constant testing, and learning a simple game engages the brain and proves that games are an asset in mental development. Thus, gamification can be used to provide a fun learning environment. In this article, the authors discuss how gamification has been implemented in various applications over the years, people's take on gamification and gamified apps from a survey and interview conducted, and thereafter design a student-oriented gamified study app, Gamesy, that makes use of game elements to improve performance in school and change/improve study habits in a game environment via progressive game design. With this, better performance may be realized in the tertiary education level.

The use of personal finance smartphone apps results in an improvement in various measures used to assess financial knowledge and skills, attitudes and motivations, and financially capable behaviors for those in low-income households. Those provided with smartphone apps demonstrated increased self-confidence in financial decision-making and financial literacy and improved their ability to delay self-gratification and their sense of being able to effect change. Financially capable behavior changes manifested in being better able to keep track of finances and manage unexpected bills. User engagement with finance apps could be improved by targeting users with a specific financial decision-making problem, personalizing the apps through push notifications to encourage ongoing user engagement, and incorporating game mechanics.

Java programming language is rated as the second most active language in the world based on GitHub active repository statistic. Meanwhile, many university students are found lack interest to learn Java. Many researches have shown the positive impact of gamification in many areas of life, include education and learning. The purpose of this study is to design and build an application to learn java programming language with gamification in mind. We use Octalysis Gamification Framework to design the usage of game mechanics in the application. The application was tested on second year students to learn Java for the first half semester and evaluated using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Model and get the result of 74.27% agree that the application is well accepted by the students. Index Terms—gamification; java programming language; octalysis gamification framework

Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt digs deep into the question of what it means to be oneself. An upcoming computer game version invites players to take on the role of Peer and thereby raises new questions about identity and identification. By recording dyads of students who play an early version of the game and analysing their interaction during gameplay, we examine how students collaboratively make meaning of the computer game. This study employs a sociocultural and dialogic approach to meaning making. In the analysis, we draw on Gee’s theory on multiple player identities and see the dyads playing together as two real-world selves negotiating on creating one virtual self through a co-authorship of situated meaning in what Gee calls the projective stance. To better understand their cooperation in this undertaking, we also apply Goffman’s term activity frames. The analysis shows how the dyads approach the game in different ways by establishing frames in which they interpret, impersonate or recreate Peer, in order to make meaning of their gameplay.

Software process improvement programs are partly founded on software measurement. However, despite their importance, it has been pointed out in the literature that many students are leaving the academic world without the necessary skills to conduct this kind of process. This can be understood by people’s attitudes to this process which is regarded as time-consuming and difficult to understand—factors that explain the lack of interest in it during a student’s academic life. In light of this, the application of serious games or gamification can show useful alternative ways of meeting this need, because the strategies they involve are well accepted by students and have a motivational and engaging effect on them. The objective of this work is to discover different approaches to the teaching of software measurement and software process improvement through gamification projects and serious games. This involves carrying out a systematic review of the literature, which is aimed at characterizing the state-of-the-art on the use of methods related to gamification and serious games in the abovementioned subjects. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify primary studies that address the use, planning, or evaluation of gamification, serious games, their features, and game mechanics in software engineering. We located 137 primary studies, published between 2000 and 2019. Although the use of serious games and gamification in software engineering is not recent, there still remains a large area to be explored, especially in software process improvement and software measurement. The study expands and advances the research on how serious games and gamification proposals can be used for teaching software measurement in the context of software process improvement programs by conducting a systematic review of the literature.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine consumer attitude toward gamification in the context of over-the-top (OTT) media service. The particular focus of this paper is on game mechanics from the mechanics-dynamics-aesthetics framework and its effects on consumer attitude toward both gamification and OTT media service provider brand. Design/methodology/approach A 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial experiment to examine the three core elements of game mechanics – components, controls and courses on consumer attitude, which was operationalized in eight vignettes with a sample size of 296. Findings It was found that the three elements in game mechanics demonstrated a multiplicative effect. The different combinations of elements in game mechanics would result in eliciting different consumer attitudes toward gamification and brand. Despite one combination that attained a high positive consumer attitude toward gamification in OTT, that same combination was not effective in creating a high positive attitude toward the OTT provider brand. The findings demonstrate the need for OTT providers to be clear of their gamification objectives before selecting the combination of game mechanics. Research limitations/implications This study adds to the body of knowledge on consumer attitude toward gamification, especially in the OTT market where there is still literature is limited. Practical implications OTT providers should determine their objectives for using gamification and design the game mechanics according to the optimal combination of elements – components, controls and courses. Originality/value According to the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to examine consumer attitude toward gamification and OTT provider based on game mechanics. It provides an understanding on the interaction of elements in game mechanics and shows that different element combinations can be used to meet different goals.

The paper discusses a formal didactic activity in a higher education context, which brought to the design, development, and testing of thirteen Location-Based Mobile Games (LBMGs) for the Bagatti Valsecchi House Museum. The activity involved BSc Design students in developing and testing interactive solutions aimed at reaching out to the "under 35" community of the museum with engaging and entertaining experiences. For this purpose, the stakeholder group of the museum experts was also involved in co-designing the solutions. On the one hand, this study focuses on the beneficial approach of involving Design students in the multiple roles of designer, player/visitor, and target audience. On the other hand, it looks at those aspects that may turn LBMGs into a means for engaging and entertaining museum visitors' experiences. We focus on four LBMGs (out of thirteen) that the museum selected to be tested with their younger community, highlighting those elements that emerged as particularly relevant for enhancing visitors' engagement and motivations. In this regard, three aspects stand out as the most impacting: (i) the benefits of a design approach based on the early involvement of both experts (the museum) and the target audience (students themselves); (ii) an intelligent orchestration of narratives and game mechanics, specifically designed to leverage the fascinating museum space, and (iii) the ability of such games to stimulate social engagement.

We present and explore the fruitfulness of “first-person cinematographic videogames,” a game model we have devised for the promotion of cultural, environmental, and territorial heritage. To support and foster the development of these type of games, we have developed a Web-based user-friendly authoring environment, extensively presented in the article. While employing standard first-person point-and-click game mechanics, the game model's distinctive feature is that the game environment is not based on a digital reconstruction (3D model) of the real-world settings but on cinematographic techniques combining videos and photos of existing places, integrating videoclips of mostly practical effects to obtain the interactivity typical of the first-person point-and-click adventure games. Our goal with such a game model is to mobilise mechanisms of engendering affection for real-world places when they become settings of the game world, arousing in the player forms of affection, attachment, and desire to visit them.

Recently, the market for consoles and mobile games is growing, and therefore to find a game engine that meets the demanding requirements of users is not an easy task. Technology platforms have become clear favorites of many developers. However, the market is volatile, and therefore the question of choosing a game engine will not lose its relevance in the near future and is the first, main, relevant and important subject of choice in this work. The relevance of this article is to write an original algorithm for 2D computer game, taking into account the latest intelligent technologies, which will be different from previous versions by its uniqueness: a new procedural generation, improved artificial intelligence of characters, original game mechanics, which necessitated the creation of a key to unlock levels. To work on this task, the open cross-platform LOVE2D engine and the Lua programming language a powerful, efficient and easy to learn language were substantiated. The reason for choosing the LOVE2D game engine is that its technology is unique in itself. Simple text was used in the development of the game algorithm. A significant number of issues were resolved in unique way from scratch while developing. Original positions of game mechanics are created such as unlocking the end of the level, the infinity of the game and focusing on the maximum "Score", increasing the size of each subsequent level, compared to the previous one, improved artificial intelligence of characters are the main differences from existing approaches used to create previous Super Mario Bros projects. The reason that makes this project more advanced and a little more random than the original game: it's a procedural level generation. Since the game is infinite it's really important to keep levels random and different. The obtained results made it possible to say that the work done is a new step forward in comparison with previous developments of algorithms for this 2D game. The original algorithm and code for 2D computer game, using the capabilities of modern information technologies, can be useful not only for creating mobile games, but also for solving virtual reality, augmented reality, TV presentation, visualization effects of the hologram. The project presented in the paper is made exclusively for the purpose of implementation in the educational process.

Od czasu pojawienia się pierwszych automatów do grania w Pong (1972) gry wideo uległy ogromnej ewolucji – od mało skomplikowanych produkcji opartych na prostych mechanizmach po wysokobudżetowe i skomplikowane rozgrywki. Wraz z technicznym rozwojem gier ich twórcy zaczęli także większą wagę przywiązywać do warstwy narracyjnej, przez co, badając recepcję graczy, zaczęto używać terminu „immersja”, zaczerpniętego z nauk psychologicznych i literaturoznawczych. Narracja w grach nie jest już tą samą narracją znaną z innych, tradycyjnych mediów. Tu odbiorca, wykorzystując skonstruowaną przez twórców mechanikę danej gry i dokonując (linearnych bądź alinearnych) wyborów, tworzy de facto własną opowieść. Bez jego zaangażowania w rozgrywkę niemożliwe jest pełne poznanie danej historii. Immersyjne elementy można zauważyć w wielu grach zaprojektowanych dla jednego użytkownika (gry typu single player), które w sposobienarracji coraz bardziej przypominają konstrukcje stricte filmowe, czego przykładem jest seria gier The Last of Us stworzona przez studio Naughty Dog. Akcja serii toczy się w postapokaliptycznych Stanach Zjednoczonych. Osobowość bohaterów, dialogi, złożoność wykreowanego świata oraz pewne, opisane w tym opracowaniu zabiegi fabularne spowodowały, że seria wzbudza silne emocje. Świadczą o tym oceny krytyków – The Last of Us i jej kontynuacja były wielokrotnie nominowane do tytułu gry roku, a ich średnia ocen według GameRankings i Metacritic plasuje je w czołówce najlepiej ocenianych gier wideo w historii. W artykule autor analizuje fabułę oraz najważniejsze elementy mechaniki serii, by pokazać drogę, jaką przeszły gry wideo od początku swojego istnienia do współczesnych form narracji. Odpowiada także na pytanie, co ostatecznie spowodowało, że seria The Last of Us stała się jedną z najlepiej sprzedających się nowych marek w dziejach konsoli PlayStation.

Serious games (SG) have been criticized for their lack of creativity. The ABCDE methodology, that aligns creativity models with the use of brainstorming tools is presented to promote the convergent-divergent thinking and foster creativity. It can be added to the conceptual stage of game design focusing on the creation of game mechanics. The ABCDE methodology was built in four research cycles that involved analysis, proposition, application (selection, workshop) and evaluation. Evaluation using the Creative Product Analysis Matrix tool compared the creativity perceptions of game mechanics generated with and without using ABCDE. The results show benefits in terms of time spent and people involved while using the ABCDE methodology for a given game project that achieved the same high level of creativity when comparted to another methodology. We conclude that ABCDE has potential to generate creative game mechanics and can be inserted as part of other game design methodologies, not just for SG.

Razvoj tehnologija virtualne stvarnosti i VR zaslona pruža sve veće i nove načine dobivanja podataka o korisniku. Putem uređaja HTC Vive Pro Eye, uz dodatne aplikacije i programske knjižnice, kao dio ovog rada se prate korisnikove oči tijekom korištenja VR zaslona. Razvijena je prototipna aplikacija u sustavu Unity koja simulira tri uobičajene mehanike u igrama: pucanje, uzimanje i postavljanje i sječenje. Uz to je napravljena dodatna četvrta igra koja kombinira pokrete ruku i fokusiranje očiju. Izrađena aplikacija sadrži četiri scene, pri čemu svaka scena predstavlja jednu igru. Dok korisnik igra te igre, aplikacija prati njegov fokus oka i bilježi treptaje, kao i gdje korisnik gleda. Svaka igra također prati određene metrike koje pomažu u analizi korisničke uspješnosti u izvođenju zadataka. Za dobivanje podataka je provedeno je testiranje s 15 korisnika koji igraju igre u aplikaciji, dok aplikacija bilježi podatke fokusiranja očiju i podatke o uspješnosti. Podaci su na kraju obrađeni i analizirani, uspoređujući broj i duljine treptaja kroz sve četiri igre, te analizirajući dodatno praćene metrike za pojedine igre. Rezultati upućuju na povezanost između vrste zadatka i korisnikovih treptaja, kao i između rezultata izvođenja zadataka i korisničke uspješnosti. Datoteka s rezultatima je predana kao dodatak radu. Development of virtual reality and head-mounted VR display technologies provides ever broader and new ways of obtaining data about the user. Through the HTC Vive Pro Eye VR headset, along with additional applications and program libraries, the user’s eyes can be tracked while they use the headset. A prototype application has been developed in Unity, which simulates three common game mechanics: shooting, pick and place, and slashing. In addition, a fourth game has been developed that combines hand movements and eye focus. The developed application contains four scenes, where each scene represents one game. While the user plays these games, the application tracks their eye focus and records blinks, as well as where the user is looking. Each game also tracks specific metrics that help deduce user success in performing tasks. To obtain data, user testing has been conducted with 15 users that play the games in the application, while the application records the eye focus data as well as user performance. The data has been processed and analyzed, comparing the number and length of blinks across all four games, as well as analyzing the additionally tracked metrics for each game. The results suggest a relationship between the type of task and user blinks, as well as a relationship between task performance results and user performance. The data file containing the results is submitted as an appendix to the thesis.

This study quantitatively measures the variation in language derived from a targeted set of digital game mechanics. Mechanics refer to the design elements of a game that make up the overall gameplay experience, determining player actions and the degree of language interaction. A corpus was compiled by extracting the language files from two popular commercial games, Fallout 4 and Skyrim, using modification software. The extracted language files were organized into three register categories following the register analysis framework detailed in Biber and Conrad (2019). The three categories include one spoken (dialogue trees) and two written registers (quest objectives and quest stages), which are common mechanics in many modern commercial games. Comparing results from three discriminant analyses, the findings indicate that statistical models cannot distinguish between the two games’ linguistic environments at the level of the game; however, when considering the linguistic environments at the level of game mechanics, the model has high precision in accurately identifying the texts’ game mechanic register categories. The results provide empirical evidence that digital game-based language learning (DGBLL) research designs could benefit from targeting specific design aspects and game mechanics rather than generalizing results at the level of genre or game title.

This PhD thesis explores gamification strategies concerning video games for crowdsourcing, in particular for linguistic annotation. First, a categorization of the current approaches is proposed. In doing so, a new framework is provided to analyse and understand different game design strategies and their impact on linguistic annotation tasks. Two artefacts are developed to test and validate the framework: Spacewords, a 2D space shooter game, and High School Superhero, a 3D role-playing game. In particular, research questions and hypotheses concerning so-called orthogonal mechanics are tested, which are defined by previous research as game mechanics that although being similar to those found in commercial games, can hinder the annotation process by adding a layer of challenge and unpredictability. The artefacts are employed for three tasks: synonymy, linguistic acceptability and abusive language annotation. It is found that some challenging game-like features slightly improves Precision measure in certain circumstances. Experiments also suggest that motivation to play may be improved by in-game resources or collectible elements. Finally, in High School Superhero a mismatch is observed between the judgements given by linguists and players. The approach adopted in this work is intended to pave the way to a more insightful use of gaming elements inspired by entertainment games in the context of games with a purpose for linguistic annotation.

Digital learning games are designed to foster both student learning and enjoyment. Given this goal, an interesting research topic is whether game mechanics that promote learning and those that promote enjoyment have different effects on students’ experience and learning performance. We explored these questions in Decimal Point, a digital learning game that teaches decimal numbers and operations to 5th and 6th graders, through a classroom study with 159 students and two versions of the game. One version encouraged playing and learning through an open learner model (OLM, N = 55), while one encouraged playing for enjoyment through an analogous open enjoyment model (OEM, N = 54). We compared these versions to a control version that is neutral with respect to learning and enjoyment (N = 50). While students learned in all three conditions, our results indicated no significant condition differences in learning outcomes, enjoyment, or engagement. However, the learning-oriented group engaged more in re-practicing, while the enjoyment-oriented group demonstrated more exploration of different mini-games. Further analyses of students’ interactions with the open learner and enjoyment models revealed that students who followed the learner model demonstrated better in-game learning and test performance, while following the enjoyment model did not impact learning outcomes. These findings indicate that emphasizing learning or enjoyment can lead to distinctive game play behaviors, and that open learner models can be helpful in a learning game context. In turn, our analyses have led to preliminary ideas about how to use AI to provide recommendations that are more aligned with students’ dynamic learning and enjoyment states and preferences.

Este artigo apresenta o processo de desenvolvimento e testagem de um protótipo de uma narrativa gamificada, que visa apoiar a aprendizagem de leitura de alunos com dislexia. Motivação, engajamento e aprendizagem foram os domínios medidos a partir das perspectivas dos participantes coletados por meio de escalas e entrevistas abertas. Os dados das entrevistas foram registrados em áudio após a testagem do recurso e, posteriormente, transcritos e analisados por meio da técnica análise de conteúdo. Quanto as escalas, estas foram aplicadas após a testagem. São apresentados o processo de design, destacando o framework e os princípios e estratégias de game utilizados. Os resultados principais mostram indicadores da contribuição dos elementos de jogo aplicados ao recurso para os domínios avaliados., Este artículo presenta el proceso de desarrollo y prueba de un prototipo de narrativa gamificada que tiene como objetivo apoyar el aprendizaje de la lectura de estudiantes con dislexia. La motivación, el compromiso y el aprendizaje fueron los dominios medidos desde las perspectivas de los participantes recogidas a través de escalas y entrevistas abiertas. Los datos de la entrevista fueron grabados en audio después de la prueba del recurso y, posteriormente, transcritos y analizados mediante la técnica de análisis de contenido. En cuanto a las escalas, estas se aplicaron después de la prueba. Son presentados el proceso de diseño, destacando el marco, y los principios y estrategias del juego utilizados. Los principales resultados muestran indicadores de la contribución de los elementos del juego aplicados al recurso para los dominios evaluados., This paper presents the development and testing process of a gamified storytelling tool aimed to support students with dyslexia. Motivation, engagement and learning were the domains measured from the students and teachers’ perspectives, considering their feedback gathered with scales and opened interviews. Interviews were registered in audio after testing of the prototype, transcribed and analysed using the content analysis technique, and scales were also applied after testing. The design process of the gamified prototype is presented, highlighting its framework, design principles and game strategies. The main findings show that the game design elements applied to the prototype contributed to the motivation and engagement of the students and also provide indications of learning outcomes.

Persistence is an important part of student success—both in and out of school. To enhance persistence, we first need to assess it accurately. Digital games can be used as vehicles for measuring and enhancing persistence. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of (a) game-level characteristics (i.e., game mechanics and conceptual difficulty), and (b) student-related characteristics (e.g., students’ incoming knowledge and gender) on persistence in a game called Physics Playground. The participants in this study were 137, eighth and ninth-grade students from a K-12 school in Florida. We used a Hierarchical Linear Modeling Approach (HLM) to analyze the data. The major findings are (1) the degree of difficulty relating to both the physics concepts and game mechanics of each game problem are significant predictors of persistence, with the former being more effective than the latter in predicting students’ persistence, and (2) the number of gold and silver trophies students attained in the game were the only significant student-level predictors of persistence. We conclude by discussing the findings, the implications, limitations, and future research related to this study.

Despite investigating digital gaming for commercial purposes, less scholarly attention exists on digital gaming for societal purposes such as sustainability (“serious games”). The current study investigates whether a serious game can enhance sustainability marketing outcomes, including knowledge, value-in-behavior, and behavioral intentions longitudinally (pre-gameplay to post-gameplay). Further, the study seeks to understand the influence of reward-based and meaningful game mechanics on these sustainability marketing outcomes. We recruited 387 participants for a week-long field study using a serious game which encourages household energy conservation. The findings show that the serious game significantly increased sustainability knowledge, value-in-behavior, and sustainable behavioral intention after one week. Reward-based game mechanics (badges and trophies) significantly influenced sustainability knowledge and indirectly influenced value-in-behavior via sustainability knowledge, whereas reward-based (points) and meaningful (educational messages) game mechanics had little impact. The results empirically support the conceptual model theorization—underpinned by a “do–learn–feel” behavioral learning approach—which possessed superior fit to a “do–feel–learn” rival model. This study provides novel insights regarding eliciting value-in-behavior longitudinally within serious games. Our multidimensional approach to assessing reward-based game mechanics extends prior studies and suggests that higher-tier rewards are more influential than lower-tiered rewards to achieve sustainability marketing outcomes. We further demonstrate that reward-based game mechanics outperform meaningful game mechanics at influencing desired outcomes, challenging existing gaming literature.

This study evaluates the effect of game mechanics by employing serious games and gamification for improving learning outcomes. This is done by considering the performances of the students in terms ...

This paper presents a framework for adapting game elements to the player’s affective state and the integration of the framework in a virtual reality environment for moral development. These game elements include gestural and facial expressions of avatars during dialogues with the player, background music, the score, game mechanics, aesthetics and learning. The framework BARGAIN (Behavioral Affective Rule-based Games Adaptation Interface) is an authoring tool for affective game design providing a visual interface based on finite state machine (FSM) technique to represent the affective rules as state transitions graph dependent on the player emotional state assessed using facial expression recognition system based on electroencephalography (EEG) data. We conducted a user study (n = 29) examining the effects of the resulting affective virtual reality game on players’ experience using the Game experience Questionnaire (GEQ) (IJsselsteijn et al. in The game experience questionnaire, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Eindhoven, 2013). The results show significant correlation between the GEQ dimensions and the player's facial expressions during his interaction with the Non-Player Characters (NPCs) within the VR game. These findings highlight that adapting games to user's emotions enhance the players’ experience.

This paper is in response to a manuscript entitled “Designing and integrating purposeful learning in game play: a systematic review” (1). Ke’s excellent review in this supplement highlights the ongoing need to apply more pedagogical rigor based on sound educational principles in the design and assessment of games. Ke calls for more robust implementation research about how to better apply learning integration in digital games to drive more meaningful learning effectiveness. The article demonstrates the rich methods and opportunities that researchers have used to map out better approaches to measuring and improving the complex arena of learning by game mechanics and game world design. Nearly all children and teens and many adults play video games daily and so it is important to understand how games can help improve learning outcomes. Further research is needed on the design and research of learning integration using continuous design improvement methods in advancing testable theories of game-based learning-play improvement. Maximizing learning effectiveness requires the gameplay to make sense to the learner and act as a catalyst for gradually growing insights and learning accountability by the learner.