Via a systematic review of the literature on learning games, this article presents a systematic discussion on the design of intrinsic integration of domain-specific learning in game mechanics and ...game world design. A total of 69 articles ultimately met the inclusion criteria and were coded for the literature synthesis. Exemplary learning games cited in the articles reviewed and developed by credible institutions were also analyzed. The cumulative findings and propositions of the game-based learning-play integration have been extracted and synthesized into five salient themes to clarify what, how, where, and when learning and content are embedded in and activated by gameplay. These themes highlight: (a) the types of game-based learning action—prior-knowledge activation and novel-knowledge acquisition, (b) the modes in which learning actions are integrated in game actions—representation, simulation, and contextualization, (c) the blended learning spaces contrived by game mechanics and the game world, (d) the occurrence of meta-reflective and iterative learning moments during game play, and (e) the multifaceted in-game learning support (or scaffolding). Future directions for the design and research of learning integration in digital games are then proposed.
► Five games were conducted over three and a half years. ► Trust in the faith game was strongly correlated with behavior in all the other games. ► Expectations of other players’ pro-social choices ...were correlated with game behavior in the other games. ► Participants used the same two dimensions in evaluating the game situation across all games.
We observed the behaviors of the same people across five games – two prisoner’s dilemma games, a trust game (in which the subject took on the role of both truster and trustee), a dictator game, and a faith game – any pair of which was separated by an interval of several months to reduce potential carry-over effects, and found strong consistency in behaviors among these games. We also found consistency between the expectations of other players’ behaviors and the player’s own behavior across games. We further found that the consistent behavioral pro-sociality observed across different games was related to the general measures of pro-social value orientation and perceiving the game situations. These findings suggest that individual and cultural differences in game behaviors can reflect both the ways in which people perceive game situations and their general social preferences.
We introduce a model of sender-receiver stopping games, in which the sender observes the current state, and sends a message to the receiver to either stop the game, or to continue. The receiver, only ...seeing the message, then decides to stop the game, or to continue. The payoff to each player is a function of the state when the receiver quits, with higher states leading to better payoffs.
We prove existence and uniqueness of responsive Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium (PBE) when players are sufficiently patient. The responsive PBE has a simple structure, with a threshold strategy for the sender, and the receiver obediently following the recommendations of the sender. Hence, the sender alone plays the decisive role, and therefore always obtains the best possible payoff for himself.
The author of this hugely informative study explores the question of what happens when players practise and negotiate computer code, various ideologies, and the game itself by modding (modifying a ...game) in the context of The Sims, the bestselling computer game of all time.
Sihvonen examines the technical and material specificities of The Sims mods, as well as their cultural context. Viewed as a manifestation of participatory culture, modding makes PC games ultimately malleable: players reconfigure the game by creating new content, altering the code and changing the behaviours of the game engine. Using a semiotic framework, Sihvonen suggests a signification process that includes representation, interpretation, investigation and experimentation with the game system and rules.
From its historical roots in the shoot’em up games, the author bares the fascinating evolution and dynamics of modding, where gender stereotypes, the thrills of hacking and living the Sims’ American Dream intersect with the aesthetic and operational dimensions of modding.
The use of educational games and gamification in teaching has been a global trend in educational research, and this reprint focuses on research related to the use of game-based learning or ...gamification in teaching. This reprint contains empirical studies and systematic reviews regarding the use of games in teaching, spanning many subject areas. It includes various gamification mechanisms, escape room educational games, the evaluation of various digital educational games, and other topics.
Music in video games is often a sophisticated, complex composition that serves to engage the player, set the pace of play, and aid interactivity. Composers of video game music must master an array of ...specialized skills not taught in the conservatory, including the creation of linear loops, music chunks for horizontal resequencing, and compositional fragments for use within a generative framework. InA Composer's Guide to Game Music, Winifred Phillips -- herself an award-winning composer of video game music -- provides a comprehensive, practical guide that leads an aspiring video game composer from acquiring the necessary creative skills to understanding the function of music in games to finding work in the field. Musicians and composers may be drawn to game music composition because the game industry is a multibillion-dollar, employment-generating economic powerhouse, but, Phillips writes, the most important qualification for a musician who wants to become a game music composer is a love of video games. Phillips offers detailed coverage of essential topics, including musicianship and composition experience; immersion; musical themes; music and game genres; workflow; working with a development team; linear music; interactive music, both rendered and generative; audio technology, from mixers and preamps to software; and running a business.A Composer's Guide to Game Musicoffers indispensable guidance for musicians and composers who want to deploy their creativity in a dynamic and growing industry, protect their musical identities while working in a highly technical field, and create great music within the constraints of a new medium.
The serious games community is moving toward research focusing on direct comparisons between learning outcomes of serious games and those of more traditional training methods. Such comparisons are ...difficult, however, due to the lack of a consistent taxonomy of game attributes for serious games. Without a clear understanding of what truly constitutes a game, scientific inquiry will continue to reveal inconsistent findings, making it hard to provide practitioners with guidance as to the most important attribute(s) for desired training outcomes. This article presents a game attribute taxonomy derived from a comprehensive literature review and subsequent card sorts performed by subject matter experts (SMEs). The categories of serious game attributes that emerged represent the shared mental models of game SMEs and serve to provide a comprehensive collection of game attributes. In order to guide future serious games research, the existing literature base is organized around the framework of this taxonomy.
This article concentrates on the game-based optimal event-triggered control problem for a class of multi-input nonlinear continuous-time systems. The main objective is to improve the system ...performance. Furthermore, the optimal event-triggered conditions are derived to maximize the intersampling intervals. To simultaneously consider the optimality of control signals and event-triggered conditions, a novel two-layer game framework with redefined cost functions is developed. In the first layer, the continuous control and the threshold of the event-triggered condition are regarded as two players of the zero-sum differential game due to contrary benefits. In the second layer, event-based players game with others to reach the Nash-saddle equilibrium point in the framework of graphical game is studied. Furthermore, to tackle the issue that the analytical solution of Hamilton-Jacobian-Isaac equation is intractable to be obtained, an adaptive dynamic programming-based scheme using critic-only neural networks is considered following by a zeno-free behavior proof. Finally, a simulation example is displayed to validate the theoretical results.
Despite increasing scientific interest in explaining how gamification supports positive affect and motivation, behavior change and learning, there is still a lack of an overview of the current ...theoretical understanding of the psychological mechanisms of gamification. Previous research has adopted several different angles and remains fragmented. Taking both an observational and explanatory perspective, we examined the theoretical foundations used in research on gamification, serious games and game-based learning through a systematic literature review and then discussed the commonalities of their core assumptions. The overview shows that scientists have used a variety of 118 different theories. Most of them share explicitly formulated or conceptual connections. From their interrelations, we derived basic principles that help explain how gamification works: Gamification can illustrate goals and their relevance, nudge users through guided paths, give users immediate feedback, reinforce good performance and simplify content to manageable tasks. Gamification mechanics can allow users to pursue individual goals and choose between different progress paths, while the system can adapt complexity to the user's abilities. Social gamification elements may enable social comparison and connect users to support each other and work towards a common goal.
•We performed a systematic meta-review of theoretical foundations in gamification, serious games and GBL research.•We identified 118 theories in the areas of motivation and affect, behavior, and learning used to explain gamification.•Self-determination theory, flow theory, experiential learning theory and constructivist learning theory are most popular.•The theories can be connected and interrelated in a theoretical landscape.•We derived ten theoretical principles that help explain how gamification works.
Dangerous games Laycock, Joseph P
2015., 20150212, 2015, 2015-02-12
eBook
The 1980s saw the peak of a moral panic over fantasy role-playing games such asDungeons and Dragons.A coalition of moral entrepreneurs that included representatives from the Christian Right, the ...field of psychology, and law enforcement claimed that these games were not only psychologically dangerous but an occult religion masquerading as a game.Dangerous Gamesexplores both the history and the sociological significance of this panic.Fantasy role-playing games do share several functions in common with religion. However, religion-as a socially constructed world of shared meaning-can also be compared to a fantasy role-playing game. In fact, the claims of the moral entrepreneurs, in which they presented themselves as heroes battling a dark conspiracy, often resembled the very games of imagination they condemned as evil. By attacking the imagination, they preserved the taken-for-granted status of their own socially constructed reality. Interpreted in this way, the panic over fantasy-role playing games yields new insights about how humans play and together construct and maintain meaningful worlds.Laycock's clear and accessible writing ensures thatDangerous Gameswill be required reading for those with an interest in religion, popular culture, and social behavior, both in the classroom and beyond.
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