Designing serious games Fabiano Dalpiaz and Joske Houtkamp f.dalpiaz@uu.nl 1
Outline Lecture contents 1. Basics about game design 2. Designing serious games 3. Serious game design patterns 4. Formal elements 5. Dramatic elements 2
Basics of game design What does a game designer do? Envision how a game will work during play Objectives Rules Procedures Dramatic elements The orchestration of these elements should deliver the immersive experience of the game i.e., the whole is more than the sum of the parts 3
Basics of game design The designer as an advocate for the player Look at the game through the player s eyes Often ignored principle Essential to create solid gameplay Graphics, story line, features are secondary Be objective Hard to do after some time spent on the game To cope with this, use playtesters 4
Basics of game design The design process Principle: involve the player in the design process Proposed by Tracy Fullerton in her book Other design processes exist Look at the literature! 5
Basics of game design Playtesting: starting physical Irrespective of your (team s) skills, a game design is never good enough prior to testing How to do that? Via prototypes Not only digital prototypes Physical prototypes are the starting point First-person shooter prototype Card-based prototype of battleship 6
Basics of game design Playtesting: going digital The final game will be a digital game Once the physical prototype has been refined, go digital The task is to map the ideas so far and the mechanisms / rules of the physical prototype into a videogame But a prototype is not a complete game! Focus on some areas Focus areas (not all need to be covered) 7
Basics of game design What is exactly a game design? Many theories exist Some approaches propose a (finite) set of game elements E.g., Tracy Fullerton s formal and dramatic elements Formal = rules, objectives, procedures, resources, Dramatic = challenge, premise, play, Some works do not provide such a list but focus on the adoption of multiple perspective to look at a game E.g., Jesse Schell s book of lenses 8
Outline Lecture contents 1. Basics about game design 2. Designing serious games 3. Serious game design patterns 4. Formal elements 5. Dramatic elements 9
Designing serious games How to? All the principles from game design apply A serious game is still a game! We will cover this part later The issue is how to encode the non-entertainment purpose into the game What is the purpose? It depends on the type of game Educational game Contents are learned Advergame persuasion, brand recall Exergame fitness Pain relief game distraction from painful surgery Awareness game knowledge is obtained about 10
Designing serious games Focus on educational games here Where to start from? Understand the intended learning outcomes Intended, by the instructor Outcomes, to indicate the expected result 11
Designing serious games Learning outcomes, Bloom s taxonomy Learning outcome = a statement of a learning objective contains a verb (an action) and an object (usually a noun) The verb generally refers to [actions associated with] the intended cognitive process The object generally describes the knowledge students are expected to acquire or construct Examples: Students will be able to exemplify all the game genres Students will be able to recognize if a software system is a game 12
Designing serious games Learning outcomes, Bloom s revised taxonomy Two dimensions: knowledge and cognitive process 13
Designing serious games Learning outcomes, the Knowledge Dimension What type of knowledge is being imparted? Not all knowledge is the same 14
Designing serious games Learning outcomes, the Cognitive Process Dimension 15
Designing serious games Learning outcomes, exemplified Consider an educational game that teaches about renewable energy Think of the differences in terms of serious game design To list the X main types of renewable energy sources To recognize if a power plant uses renewable energy To illustrate renewable energy sources with practical examples To criticize and compare different renewable energy sources To construct a combination of renewable energy sources for a given sample scenario 16
Designing serious games Learning outcomes vs. game objectives/goals Learning outcomes are not game objectives The challenge is to translate learning outcomes into game objectives Corollary: we also need to translate the learning process into the game mechanics A direct mapping may exist To recognize if a power plant uses renewable energy could be mapped to a mission in the game But sometimes direct mappings would be inadequate To repeat the X main types of renewable energy sources would make the game quite boring! 17
Designing serious games Learning outcomes in existing serious games SimcityEDU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nhihuw12e4 What are the intended learning outcomes? How are they mapped to game objectives and mechanics? 18
Outline Lecture contents 1. Basics about game design 2. Designing serious games 3. Serious game design patterns 4. Formal elements 5. Dramatic elements 19
Serious game design patterns Key idea Best practices to design the mechanics of serious games Based on the analysis of 20 serious games about basic life support training [Huynh-Kim-Bang et al., 2010] How is a pattern defined? Context: when does the pattern apply? Problem: what is the problem to be solved? Force: what is the rationale behind the pattern? Solution: what does the pattern consist of? 20
Serious game design patterns Instructive gameplay Context: define possible game designs for action phases Problem: how to exploit interaction that is conductive to learning? Force: not all types of interaction are instructional, and not all types of knowledge can be assimilated with interaction Solution: use modes of interaction adapted to the type of knowledge to be acquired a) [low budget] Questions and answers b) [memorize] Pavlonian interaction (repetitive tasks with stimulus) c) [more abstract concepts] In-situ interaction (detailed narrative, emotional context) d) [awareness] Build/modify a microworld e) [discovering viewpoints] Social pedagogical interaction f) Serious varied gameplay (mixing a-e) 21
Serious game design patterns Instructive gameplay, examples [low budget] Questions and answers [awareness] Build/modify a microworld [discovering viewpoints] Social pedagogical interaction 22
Serious game design patterns Time for action / time for thought Context: high-level knowledge has to be included Problem: how to teach high-level knowledge? Force: cognitive overload may prevent learners/players from concentrating on game interactions while being engrossed in high-level thinking Solution: use intensive action phases for practice and training, and create less intensive phases for thought and reflection 23
Serious game design patterns Reified knowledge Context: - Problem: how to help users become more aware of their acquired knowledge? Force: - Solution: represent items of knowledge or competencies (skills) with virtual objects to be collected 24
Serious game design patterns Museum Context: - Problem: how to make players discover knowledge that is not related to the game objectives? Force: some items of knowledge cannot be easily inserted into the game without breaking the rhythm Solution: exhibit this knowledge in virtual places consistent with the game world, e.g., an exhibition place (a museum). The museum has to evoke the atmosphere and prolong the environment of the game world; it shall not be perceived as a totally separate location 25
Serious game design patterns Fun reward Context: - Problem: how to provide players with incentives to help them advance in the game? Force: - Solution: entice players with the promise of rewards. The latter would bring some form of satisfaction or pleasure. BTW, fun/enjoyment can be caused by many things to which people are more or less sensitive 26
Outline Lecture contents 1. Basics about game design 2. Designing serious games 3. Serious game design patterns 4. Formal elements 5. Dramatic elements 27
Formal elements What are formal elements? These are the elements that play an essential structure in traditional (non-video) games Players Objectives Procedures Rules Resources Conflict Outcome This is just one classification 28
Formal elements Players Invitation to play How to make a person become a player? Create an engaging invitation Number of players Should be very clear, as it is a key determinant for success E.g., think of a single-player-only version of World of Warcraft Tetris is mainly single player though Roles of players Not all the players adopt the same role! 29
Formal elements Player interaction patterns 30
Formal elements Objectives Objectives give players something to strive for They define what players have to accomplish Within the rules of the game They should be Challenging But achievable Different players may be assigned different objectives Objectives can be self-determined! 31
Formal elements Procedures The methods of play through which players achieve their objectives Questions to consider Who can use the procedure? What exactly does the player do? Where and when? How to access the procedure? Types of procedure, depending on the game progress Starting action Progression action Special actions Resolving actions 32
Formal elements Rules Rules define game objects and allowable actions by the players How are rule learnt? How are rules enforced? What type of rule works best? Think in relation to the players Too many rules confuse players Good communication is key 33
Formal elements Resources Assets that can be used to accomplish certain goals Just like in real world Virtual (usually) Should be appropriate for the game genre Potions wouldn t make much sense in Fruit Ninja Resources shall have Utility: why having useless resources? Scarcity: if infinite, no challenge for the player 34
Formal elements Conflict Conflicts emerge when players try to accomplish the goals within the rules and boundaries Conflict can be designed E.g., to inhibit easy solutions Create sense of competition or play How to create conflict? Obstacles Opponents (AI bots or other players) Dilemmas 35
Formal elements Outcome Must be uncertain to hold the players attention Not all games have a definite outcome though Think of massive multiplayer online role-playing games... or of simulation games The outcome depends on the interaction pattern Single player vs. game: win or lose, or score Player vs. player: win or lose 36
Outline Lecture contents 1. Basics about game design 2. Designing serious games 3. Serious game design patterns 4. Formal elements 5. Dramatic elements 37
Dramatic elements Definition Dramatic elements engage the players emotionally Give a context to gameplay Integrate the formal elements into a meaningful experience Challenge and play are in all games Other techniques are only in certain games Premise Character Story 38
Dramatic elements Challenge A non-challenging game is hardly going to be successful Challenge is individual A child who is learning to count may find a math educational game for kids challenging but not an adult Challenge is dynamic The same obstacle may be challenging at the beginning of the game, but unchallenging later on The theory of flow [Csikszentmihalyi] Challenge requires skill! 39
Dramatic elements Play Play can be seen as the freedom of movement within a more rigid structure Emergent experience Personal expression Types of play [Salen and Zimmerman] 40
Dramatic elements Premise Establishes the action of the game within a setting or metaphor Without premise, many games would be too abstract The player would consider the game anonymous Simple (yet effective) premise: Space Invaders defending your planet from aliens 41
Dramatic elements Character The agents through whose actions a drama is told How to devise the right characters? Psychological: the character as a mirror for the audience s fears and desires Representative for a segment of people Historic Protagonist vs. other characters Vs. 42
Dramatic elements Story The story should be uncertain However, traditional storytelling methods are hard to apply In a movie, the director resolves the uncertainty in the story In a game, the player has to resolve this uncertainty Backstory (extended premise) Vs. Branching story 43
Dramatic elements The dramatic arc All the dramatic elements mentioned above are important But the most important is conflict We have seen the notion of formal conflict before Dramatic conflict Create an antagonist Increase narrative tension Face the antagonist at the end of the game 44
Summary How to design serious games? 1. Define the intended learning outcomes 2. Map the ILOs to game objectives 3. Map the learning activities to game mechanics that combine fun and learning For example, consider formal and dramatic elements 4. Playtest and refine! 45
References This material is partially based on the book by Tracy Fullerton entitled Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, 3 rd edition Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1990. Salen, Katie, and Zimmerman, Eric. The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2006. Bartle, Richard. Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players who Suit MUDS. April 1996. http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm. 46
References Huynh-Kim-Bang, B., Labat, L-M. & Wisdom, J. (2011). Design Patterns in Serious Games: A Blue Print for Combining Fun and Learning. Winn, Brian. "The design, play, and experience framework." Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education 3 (2008): 1010-1024. Mitgutsch, Konstantin, and Narda Alvarado. "Purposeful by design?: a serious game design assessment framework." Proceedings of the International Conference on the foundations of digital games. ACM, 2012. Van Staalduinen, Jan-Paul, and Sara de Freitas. "A Game- Based Learning Framework: Linking Game Design and Learning." Learning to play: exploring the future of education with video games 53 (2011): 29. 47