Internal game balancing is one of the major components that affect player experience, as it is responsible for a large share of development time, the majority of game update patches and long-term player satisfaction. This makes tools and methodologies of assessing and advancing game balance a valuable endeavor for industry and academia. During the past decades, scientific research produced numerous outputs to inform and enhance game balancing, yet most of them only adhere to a single dimension of balance: fixed (end-game) scenarios. However, games are usually experienced throughout a continuous spectrum of ever-changing constellations, which should be reflected. Using simulation, game-playing AI, visual analytics and informative metrics, we introduce a methodology and implementation of Progression Balancing, incorporating multi-dimensional game aspects. For the sake of exposition and ecological validity, we applied it in one of the most successful recent games (Baldur's Gate 3), and evaluated its efficacy with help of its player community.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713162
Environmental storytelling is a design technique commonly used to convey narrative through assemblages of content in video games. To date there has been limited empirical work investigating how and on what basis players form interpretations about game environments. We report on a study in which participants (N=202) played a game about exploring a procedurally generated ruined village and were then surveyed on their interpretations. We draw on methods and theory from archaeology - a field that specialises in the interpretation of material remains - to support a grounded theory analysis of the survey responses, from which we form the theory of an archaeological gameworld mental model. Our study draws a novel link between affordance theory, archaeological knowledge production and game systems, and contributes new theoretical concepts that can be applied to procedurally generated and handcrafted methods in game design, narrative design and game preservation.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3714036
Good sleep hygiene is essential for quality sleep. This study investigates user preferences for the timing of interactions with features in smartwatch-based sleep hygiene games. Findings reveal that interactions during sleep are generally undesirable, with Sleep Health Points being the only exception. We also identified a misconception that games must involve active play, overlooking the potential of passive and idle game mechanics. Participants preferred engaging with planning and behavior-triggering features before the associated behavior, while reflection and reinforcement features, like reports and rewards, were favored post-behavior. The perceived dual functionality of certain features suggests that preferred interaction timing depends on users' perceptions of the features’ roles. Users' schedules and situational context, especially evening availability, also influenced their preferences. This study highlights the importance of aligning feature timing with user routines and perceptions, and advocates for game designs that blend active and passive elements to boost engagement and promote sleep hygiene.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713591
User-generated game (UGG) platforms like Roblox are enormously popular among children but are increasingly scrutinized for safety risks, such as gambling-like gameplay features and disturbing game themes such as slavery and Nazi roleplay. Researchers have started to examine harms in UGGs, but little attention has been paid to how game creators themselves consider child safety in their game making practices. To answer this question, we conducted an interview study with 20 Roblox creators with varied degrees of success. We found that our interviewees observed several types of risks to child players’ safety in their games, such as child-specific deceptive design, gambling-like gameplay, sexual abuse, and scamming. They further reasoned about major causes of these safety risks, such as Roblox’s profit-driven monetization model, and leaving the burden of moderation to individual game creators. We discuss implications for platform governance on UGG platforms as well as policymaking.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713170
While normative – "good" – game design and user experiences have been established, we look to games that challenge those notions. Intentional frustration and failure can be worthwhile. Through a reflexive thematic analysis of 31 games we identify how intentionally non-normative design choices lead to meaningful experiences. Working within the established Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics (MDA) Game Design Framework, we lay out themes to design Shitty User Experiences (SUX). We contribute SUX MDA themes for designers and researchers to counter the status quo and identify new forms of play and interaction.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713246
Biofeedback provides a unique opportunity to intensify tabletop gameplay. It permits new play styles through digital integration while keeping the tactile appeal of physical components. However, integrating biofeedback systems, like heart rate (HR), into game design needs to be better understood in the literature and still needs to be explored in practice. To bridge this gap, we employed a Research through Design (RtD) approach. This included (1) gathering insights from enthusiast board game designers (𝑛 = 10), (2) conducting two participatory design workshops (𝑛 = 20), (3) prototyping game mechanics with experts (𝑛 = 5), and (4) developing the game prototype artifact One Pulse: Treasure Hunter’s.We identify practical design implementation for incorporating biofeedback, particularly related to heart rate, into tabletop games. Thus, we contribute to the field by presenting design trade-offs for incorporating HR into board games, offering valuable insights for HCI researchers and game designers.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713543
This paper presents a scoping review on motivational game elements examined in game-based interventions for children’s learning in school context in ACM Digital Library and Scopus, with a total of 119 articles reviewed. The aim of the review is to (1) reveal the current state of the art, (2) identify the types of interventions, the game elements, and investigate the core drives of the interventions, (3) examine the empirical findings on the link between motivation and game elements, and (4) define a future research agenda. The results of the scoping review show that interventions that utilize gamification for children are increasingly gaining attention, mostly involve game elements that address the drive for development and accomplishment, the studies mostly target children between 7 to 13 years and the educational domain. The results further show a wide range of game elements in relation to the core drives, and a need for more diverse studies.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3714247