In this paper we use an existing history learning game with an active audience as a research platform for exploring how humor and “snarkiness” in the dialog script affect students' progression and attitudes about the game. We conducted a 2x2 randomized experiment with 11,804 anonymous 3rd-6th grade students. Using one-way ANOVA and Kruskall-Wallis tests, we find that changes to the script produced measurable results in the self-reported perceived humor of the game and the likeability of the player character. Different scripts did not produce significant differences in player completion of the game, or how much of the game was played. Perceived humor and enjoyment of the game and its main character contributed significantly to progress in the game, as did self-perceived reading skill.
This piece will explore the ethics of my use of the digitization of the board game Can’t Stop, first to maintain engagement at work and then later to produce a state of psychomachia (“conflict of the soul”) in order to work. These two uses combine to showcase examples of playing when one is only supposed to be working, and working when one is only supposed to be playing. It is designed to answer the following question: When the two are combined - the ludological and the non-ludological - in a manner not transparent to others, is this behavior unethical?
Spiritfarer is a cozy resource and relationship management game focused on caring for passengers and helping them to address their unfinished business before ultimately guiding them to the afterlife. The game features repeated learning opportunities for practicing the grieving process in a safer game-based environment as well as requiring players to learn the unique needs of each other character that make them human. This Well Played session will demonstrate critical game design elements that align with the embedded opportunities for learning.
Monumental Consequence is a single-session, live action game for classrooms, team building, and social gatherings that asks players if art is ever worth dying for. Players take on the role of villagers in the fictional town of La Ville where an army has just taken possession of their centuries old church. The villagers must come together to decide whether they risk the lives of their friends and family by attacking the church to save the precious art inside or whether they simply bomb the church and sacrifice the art to save lives. The game blends card mechanics with live action roleplaying to create a vibrant conversation about the cultural value of art and antiquities along with a seamless introduction to classroom roleplaying. This Well Played session will take participants through the entire game with an opportunity for dialogue afterward about the game’s themes, mechanics, and supporting materials.
In early 2022, the City College of New York (CCNY) and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment announced a new public pathway to careers in the gaming industries and related fields. This presentation explores some highlights from the 2021 study undertaken for Science and Arts Engagement New York (SAENY), a not for profit, and CCNY to learn from high school-aged youth the role games play in their lives, families and communities. It highlights key lessons learned about youth and games while sharing techniques developed to surface examples of youth agency within gaming ecosystems.
Cities and states throughout the United States impose fines for minor offenses at every stage of the criminal justice system. Without any means of escape from a system designed to punish poverty, millions of Americans lose their jobs, homes, and even their children. Two of the major roadblocks to change on addressing the criminalization of poverty are a lack of awareness and a lack of empathy. In order to educate audiences who are less likely to be exposed to or directly impacted by such unfair practices, a team of game designers and legal experts collaborated on Poor Not Guilty: Fines and Fees Challenges, in which players perspective-take with the goal to increase their awareness of unjust monetary penalties and reduce bias towards those who are living in poverty by experiencing the detrimental impact of criminalizing petty offenses.
This paper is part of a project on Norwegian gamer-parents and how they domesticate digital games for their families (GAME). Here we explore how gamer-parents, that is, those who were gamers before becoming parents negotiate and position themselves. In this paper we explore the hybrid identity of two seemingly opposing identity categories, namely, gamer and parent. Gamer-parents can be said to have a double role, as they are doing parenting, however they also both position themselves- and are positioned by non-gaming parents as gamers. How do gamer-parents negotiate and position themselves in the tension between fun screentime and ideals of responsibility?
Learning a new language is an asset for which the benefits have been well documented. However, our educational institutions struggle to provide the opportunities that enable our students to achieve meaningful levels of fluency and proficiency. Mistoria is an initial proposed design solution that leverages the affordances of Second Language Acquisition Theory, Games for Learning, and Learning Analytics to realize a compelling and effective means of learning another language.
Members within and outside game design and game studies communities have critiqued the lack of diversity in the fields. Encouraging school-age children and youth from diverse backgrounds is one approach to addressing this concern. New Mexico State University’s (NMSU) Learning Games Lab has developed a Toolkit that enhances children and youth’s interests in being game developers, knowledge and skill in reviewing games and digital media, and engagement in the game design process. By using teaching and learning principles based in Universal Design for Learning, culturally responsive education, and media literacy, the Learning Games Lab creates learning experiences that cultivate a sense of belonging in game communities and foster critical thinking and creativity for children and youth of diverse backgrounds.
To support business, health professions, and social work students develop certain habits of mind, including incorporating data in their arguments, identifying agendas that may be behind seemingly objective arguments, and considering ethical quantitative communication, we developed a role-playing game built around a budget crisis at a rural health clinic. In the game, students take on roles described in character sheets, each with their own victory conditions. Characters are grouped in teams, or “factions,” with faction-level victory conditions. As a class, the students must solve the budget crisis by finding appropriate cuts to make. In their factions, students develop arguments to make cuts that support their victory conditions. They present their arguments to the class, and students vote on budget proposals. The game is used to introduce a quantitative reasoning course that was designed by an interdisciplinary team for students in service-oriented majors.
