This dissertation investigates whether video games are able to affect players' attitudes and information behaviour towards depicted historical topics in games over the short- and long-term. We collected data from a sample of 148 young adults. As far as we know, there is currently no study of such a scale focused on historical games. We used, as an intervention tool, a modification of the serious game Czechoslovakia 38-89: Borderlands that deals with the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans from the former Czechoslovakia after WWII. The game is based on historical research providing players with multiple perspectives on the depicted topics. Our control group played a similar game, but where the narrative was unrelated to any depicted historical event from Czechoslovakia 38-89: Borderlands. In the empirical part of the study, we measured explicit and implicit attitude change and information behaviour change towards the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans. Results showed more negative pretest-posttest explicit attitude changes towards the expulsion on a general level (d = -0.34; p = .022) and a specific level (d = -0.53; p = .001) in the experimental group compared to the control group. Over the long-term, group differences in attitude change remained significant for the specific level (d = -0.44; p = .014),...

This dissertation considers digital games and simulations as complex systems of information representation and explores their specific aspects influencing the process of knowledge acquisition. It focuses on process of mental model creation, information behavior and situational emotional and cognitive engagement. The methodological approach is grounded in variety of disciplines including information science, educational science, new media studies and computer science. The main method used is educational experiment. The use of digital game-based and non-digital game-based educational intervention is compared to similar program based on traditional schooling methods and classic lectures. The experiment outcomes are divided into four large segments exploring influence of digital games on process of mental models creation, motivation for future information behavior, situational emotional experience and social interaction.

The diploma project Move is a simple 3D digital game in the genre typology of platform games, specifically of an atmospheric-meditative nature, with elements of a walking simulator from a third-person perspective shooter (TPS). Its interactive content is based on topics such as portraits, wandering, meditation, painting and personal mythology. Through the author's stylization of the theme and graphic processing, my goal is to create a playable prototype of a digital game containing interactive elements, with a controllable character named Mo and the atmospheric environment of the levels through which the player passes. Using the medium of digital games, I would like to point out the possibilities of communication means, that it offers within the art world.

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[pt] A complexidade inerente ao desenvolvimento de um jogo digital demanda a formação de equipes interdisciplinares. Para atingir os resultados esperados nessa tarefa, os profissionais envolvidos criam diversos protótipos durante o processo de design, cada um testando um ou mais aspectos do objeto final. Um dos componentes mais importantes a ser avaliado em um game é a mecânica do jogo, porque é principalmente dela que emerge o desafio numa partida. Para que o designer possa avaliá-la adequadamente nos seus diversos estágios de desenvolvimento é preciso que tais protótipos sejam funcionais, o que usualmente se define como protótipos de teste. Diversos tipos de protótipos podem cumprir esta função, desde os mais rudimentares até os digitais de alta fidelidade. Sendo a mecânica do jogo um dos primeiros elementos a serem elaborados em um projeto de design de games, tanto protótipos de papel, quanto os protótipos digitais de baixa fidelidade podem ser utilizados logo no início do processo. No entanto, os estudantes de design nem sempre possuem a capacitação técnica adequada ou mesmo um conhecimento elementar em programação computacional para construir protótipos digitais. Uma alternativa, portanto, é construir protótipos a partir de materiais mais rudimentares, um procedimento que, para este fim, é menos usual na indústria de jogos do que a criação de protótipos digitais. Por meio de um experimento com alunos do curso de Design de Games, esta pesquisa teve por objetivo investigar se a mecânica de jogos de diferentes gêneros pode ser criada e avaliada por meio de protótipos analógicos mais simples, mas que não usam programação computacional. Paralelamente, a pesquisa ainda nos permitiu indagar se, na construção destes protótipos, o aluno de design de games trabalharia apenas intelectualmente na concepção projetual ou se também exerceria, de alguma forma, uma atividade produtiva. Notou-se que, por serem protótipos rápidos, os protótipos analógicos são adaptativos e permitem mudanças instantâneas, possibilitando que os estudantes exercitem a prática do design por meio de um processo iterativo de geração de ideias, construção de protótipos, testes avaliativos e recriações. Deste modo, concluiu-se que tais protótipos não são somente instrumentos de concepção, mas também de produção, propiciando a prática essencial do design, que é fundamentalmente inventiva e experimental. A contribuição deste trabalho é fornecer uma nova alternativa de aprendizagem da prática projetual a estudantes de design de games, já que os resultados da pesquisa demonstraram que tais protótipos – que possuem semelhanças físicas com alguns jogos simples, como os de tabuleiro – também podem ser utilizados para criar e desenvolver games mais complexos. / [en] The intrinsic complexity of the process of developing a digital game turns the formation of multidisciplinary teams inevitable. To meet the planned aims, during the design process the professionals involved create a variety of prototypes, each one testing one or more aspects of the final object. One of the more important components to be evaluated in a game is its mechanics due its key-role in making a match really challenging. In order to be make its mechanics properly appraisable by the designer in the different stages of development, it is necessary that the prototypes were functional, in other words, were reliable prototypes of test. There are many kinds of prototypes capable of fulfilling this condition, ranging from the most rudimentary to the high fidelity digital ones. Since the game s mechanics is one of the first elements to be elaborated in a game design project, either paper prototypes as well as the low fidelity digital prototypes can be used from the very beginning of the design process. Besides that, the students of design frequently do not possess the necessary technical knowledge on computational programming to allow them constructing digital prototypes, even if the necessary knowledge is elementary. An alternative, therefore, is building prototypes from rudimentary materials, which is, however, a less usual proceeding in the game industry that the creation of digital prototypes. The aim of the present research, through an experiment among the students of the discipline of Games Design, was to investigate if the mechanics of different genres of games could be created and evaluated by simpler analogical prototypes, without using computational programming. At the same time, this work has allowed us to inquire if, during the construction of theses prototypes, the game design students work only intellectually on the project conception or if, somehow, they also practice a productive activity. We have found out that, for being quick prototypes, they are very adaptable and permit instant changes, turning possible for the students to practice the design process through an interactive process of generating ideas, prototypes building, evaluative tests and recreations. The conclusion we achieve thus is that theses prototypes not only are conception instruments but also production ones, promoting the essential practice of design, which is basically inventive and experimental. The contribution of the present study is to offer a learning alternative on the project practice for game design students, once the results of the research demonstrated that the prototypes – which present physical similarities to some simple games, as the board games – can also be used in the creation and development of more complex games.

People often have very little knowledge about the impact of unsustainable human population growth on the environment and social well-being especially in developing countries. Therefore, an efficient method should be explored in order to educate, and if possible, to convince the members of the public to realize the environmental and social problems caused by the unsustainable population growth. Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) has been highlighted by some studies as an innovative tool for learning enhancement. While only a handful of studies have scientifically evaluated the impact of DGBL on knowledge outcomes, the approach is an attractive tool to increase knowledge and motivate engagement with environmental issues surrounding population growth because of its potential to improve learners’ motivation and engagement thereby compared to traditional learning approaches. Therefore, the three primary research questions for this study are: 1) "Can a single-player digital game be an appropriate and attractive learning application for the players to gain insight about the relationship between the growing human population and the environmental issues?" 2) "How can we design environmental games for the players to gain insights about the relationship between the growing human population and the environmental issues via playing a game?" and 3) "What are the obstacles preventing the players from adapting environmental knowledge obtained from the learning mediums into the real-life?" To inform the development of an efficacious DGBL game to impact learning outcomes, critical reviews of environmental issues related to population growth as well as critical reviews of commercial and serious environmental games in terms of their educational and motivational values were undertaken in this study. The results of these critical reviews informed the development of a Guideline for Environmental Games (or GEG). The GEG was developed by combining the engaging game technology with environmental learning and persuasion theories. The GEG was then used to inform the development of a prototype game called THE GROWTH; a single-player, quiz-based, city-management game targeting young adolescents and adults. Multiple evaluation methods of the game were used to answer the three key research questions mentioned earlier. These methods included: 1) The Randomized Controlled Trial approach (RCT) where the participants were systematically divided into the experimental and the control group respectively and their knowledge scores (quantitative data) compared and analyzed, 2) The participants’ abilities to recall and describe the environmental and well-being issues were collected and analyzed qualitatively using The Content Analysis method (CA) and, 3) The participants’ overall feedback on the learning mediums was collected and analyzed to evaluate the motivational values of THE GROWTH itself. To this end, THE GROWTH was evaluated with 82 Thai-nationality participants (70 males and 12 females). The results showed that participants assigned to play THE GROWTH demonstrated greater environmental and social-well-being knowledge related to population growth (F(1,40) = 43.86, p = .006) compared to the control group participants assigned to a non-interactive reading activity (consistent with material presented in THE GROWTH). Furthermore, participants who played THE GROWTH recalled on average more content presented in the game when compared to participants who were presented with similar content in the reading material (t (59) = 3.35, p = .001). In terms of level of engagement, the study suggested that participants assigned to the game were more engaging with their learning medium on average when compared to participants assigned to the non-interactive reading activity. This is evidenced by the longer time participants spent on the task, the activity observed from participants’ recorded gameplay, and their positive responses in the survey. The semi-structured interviews used in this study highlighted the participants’ attitudes towards the environmental, social, and technological issues. Although the participants’ perceived behavioural intention towards the environmental commitments were not statistically differed between the two study group, their responses still provide some evidences that leaps may occur from the learning mediums to the real-world context. Furthermore, these responses can be valuable evidences for the policy makers and for the future development of environmental serious games. Overall, the results suggested that digital environmental games such as THE GROWTH might be an effective and motivational tool in promote the learning about sustainable population size, the environment, and the social well-being. The game’s ability to convince the participants to change towards sustainable lifestyles, however, might be subjected to the future research and other real-world circumstances such as the governmental and public supports. In summary, the research in this thesis makes the following contributions to knowledge: • The Guideline for Environmental Games (GEG) contributes to knowledge about making theoretically-based environmental games. It has particular significance because the guideline was validated by demonstrating learning improvements in a systematic randomized controlled trial. • The use of Multi-Strategy Study Design where multiple systematic evaluation methods were used in conjunction to provide conclusive findings about the efficacy of DGBL to impact outcomes. • THE GROWTH itself is a contribution to applied research as an example of an effective DGBL learning tool.