This research explores games as cultural heritage. The purpose of this study is to contribute with knowledge about how games as cultural heritage is made. The study seeks answers to which principal museum practices that are being carried out in the work with games as cultural heritage and what constitutes them. Furthermore this study explains how these practices influences the making of games as cultural heritage. The analysis has been carried out on Play Beyond Play, a game exhibition made at Tekniska museet in Stockholm 2018, where practices is being understood and analyzed from a practice theory perspective with the use of games as boundary objects. The empiric data was collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews with people working with the content of the exhibition and an place-based observation of the exhibition itself. The concept of ”anchoring practices” has been used as an analythic method to find and sort which principal practices that were carried out. The analysis resulted in six principal practices in the work of knowledge and mediation of games as techinchal development, the role of playablity, the matter of thinking ctitically, the effect of practical limitations and possibilities, the implementation and use of research, and the certification of games as cultural heritage. These practices influence the making of games as cultural heritage by defining games, how knowledge about games should be carried out and why games is important as cultural heritage through the location, role and area of focus at Tekniska museet. The study contributes with explanations and reinforces the connection between practices and the use of objects to create and mediate knowledge about games, where the knowledge carried out is affected by the context where it is being created through a longer period of time. This is a two years master’s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies.

This bachelor thesis goal is to explore how paganism has expressed itself within the world of digitalgames through three different examples. It builds onto already existing research around videogames and history use as well as my own term paper that touched upon this subject. This thesis willbe done using academic literature concerning digital games, history use and paganism from Russiaas well as Japan.

The theme of this bachelor thesis was Queer Games. We discussed how queerness is applied in video games for queer people. We made some observations on how LGBTQ characters were represented within a few games that had representations of Queer experiences. We explored the topic of Queer Mechanics as presented by game creator Avery Mcdaldno (2014) and we researched discussions about Queerness in games by a select number of scholars. Namely, Bonnie Ruberg (Campus Gotland GAME, 2017), Naomi Clark (2017, Chapter 1) and Edmond. Y. Chang (2017, Chapter 2). We explained why we used Gay Memes as our anchoring topic for our Queer Game design and then we went through the methods and design process that we had while developing our Queer Game. These methods included Innovation By Boundary Shifting (Löwgren and Stolterman, 2004), Design Pillars (Max Pears, 2017) and The Crystal Clear method (New Line Technologies, 2018). Then, we broke down the design process starting with how we came up with the game concept, what design pillars we used and the programs and tools we used in the development of the game. We also explained the relation between our design process and the information we learned from the previously mentioned scholars and creators. At the end of this bachelor thesis, we discussed the effectiveness of the chosen methods, the results we found through research which included questioning the role of empathy and fun in games, putting less focus on superficial forms of representation and creating game mechanics that are queer. We described the finished video game we made and we introduced our ideas for future research on Queer Game Design. / Temat för detta kandidatarbetet var Queer Spel. Vi diskuterade hur queerhet appliceras i digitala spel för HBTQ personer. Vi gjorde några observeringar kring hur HBTQ karaktärer representerades inom några spel som innehöll representationer av queer upplevelser. Vi undersökte ämnet “Queer Mechanics” som presenterades av spelskaparen Avery Mcdaldno (2014) och undersökte diskussioner från vissa forskare om Queerhet i Spel. Nämligen, Bonnie Ruberg (Campus Gotland GAME, 2017), Naomi Clark (2017, Kapitel 1) and Edmond. Y. Chang (2017, Kapitel 2). Vi förklarade varför vi använde “Gay Memes” som vår huvudämne för vår Queer-Spelgestaltning och sedan tydliggjorde våra metoder och designprocess som vi hade under utvecklingen av vår Queer-Spelgestaltning. Dessa metoder inkluderade Innovation By Boundary Shifting (Löwgren and Stolterman, 2004), Design Pillars (Max Pears, 2017) och The Crystal Clear method (New Line Technologies, 2018). Sedan bröt vi ner designprocessen till sina olika steg från hur vi kom fram till spelkonceptet till vilka “Design Pillars” vi använde och vilka datorprogram och verktyg vi använde för att utveckla spelgestaltningen. Vi förklarade också relationen mellan designprocessen och informationen vi lärde oss från de sistnämnda forskare och spelskapare. I slutet av detta kandidatarbetet diskuterade vi hur bra de valda metoderna fungerade och resultaten vi hittade genom vår undersökning. Dessa inkluderade att ifrågasätta rollen av empati och vikten av att ha roligt i spel, att lägga mindre fokus på ytliga former av representation och att skapa spelmekanik som är Queer. Vi beskrev den färdiga spelgestaltningen som vi skapade och introducerade våra egna idéer för framtida undersökningar om Queer Speldesign. / <p>Arbetets resultat ledde till ett digitalt spel som kan laddas ner via denna länken https://ahmad-al-shehabi.itch.io/boyles-queer-quest-for-tea </p>

Detta kandidatarbete lyfter fram virtual reality som ett medium med potential för både lärande och underhållande syften. Begrepp som serious games, gamification, och edutainment undersöks för att ta reda på vad som gör vissa spel lärorika, vad som motiverar användaren till att vilja fortsätta spela ett spel, samt hur dessa egenskaper kan kombineras. För att utforska dessa områden har en gestaltning designats i form av en interaktiv miljö som kan upplevas med hjälp av ett VR-headset såsom Oculus Quest (2019) eller Oculus Rift (2014). I denna miljö får spelaren en unik möjlighet att lära sig om cirkulär ekonomi på ett inlevelserikt och interaktivt sätt. Förhoppningen är även att spelaren kan använda sig av denna nyvunna kunskap i verkligheten för att bidra till det framtida välmåendet av vår planet. / This bachelor thesis aims to highlight virtual reality as a medium with potential within both educating and entertaining purposes. Exploration of concepts such as serious games, gamification, and edutainment is conducted to discover what makes certain games educational, what motivates the user to keep playing a game, as well as how these characteristics could be combined. To explore these areas, an interactive environment in virtual reality is designed, and meant to be used with VR-headsets such as Oculus Quest (2016) or Oculus Rift (2014). This environment allows the player to learn about circular economy in an immersive and interactive way. The hope is that the player can use this knowledge in real-life to contribute to the future wellbeing of the planet.

In this study we look at character choices in digital games, what causes them and more specifically how big of an impact the character’s clothing has on this choice, and how this differs between genders. Further, we also look at differences in how partially nude characters are perceived versus fully clothed characters, as well as how all of this affects the player's user experience. With this in mind, we also want to know how game designers can use this knowledge in character choices to design for a good user experience. To answer these questions, we conducted qualitative interviews as well as a survey. Based on the results we concluded that the clothing has quite a low impact on the player’s character choice, but that they prefer to play as a fully clothed character if they get to choose. Instead, the character’s abilities are mostly what drives the choice. Furthermore, a partially nude character is most often seen as unrealistic, annoying, and/or uncomfortable for the player. This is especially true for female characters. In order to design for a good user experience in character choices, the game designer should include as many female as male characters, as this benefit both men and women. This is because women tend to play as female characters, whereas men to a greater extent plays with both male and female characters. Beyond this it is also a good idea for the colours of characters to be customizable to tailor to players specific needs, such as colour-blindness.

This quantitative study examined male and female characters in digital games between the years 2015–2020 and a total of 120 games were analyzed where 2108 characters were observed. Quantitative content analysis was used to analyze the characters. The analysis indicates that female characters (n=448) are underrepresented compared to male characters (n=1660). The female characters are significantly more portrayed with sexually revealing clothing, nudity, sexual verbal expressions, sexual behavior and inappropriate clothing for the task they were expected to perform in the narrative than the male characters. The male characters are more often portrayed with unrealistic body proportions than the female characters and overall the male characters are portrayed stereotypically muscular as previous research has shown. The results are compared with previous research and this study observes more female characters in 20 digital games released in 2020 than is noticed in 60 games from 2003. Furthermore, more characters with unrealistic body proportions are found in games from 2020 (n=39) than in games from 2003 (n=24). / Denna kvantitativa studie undersökte manliga och kvinnliga karaktärer i digitala spel mellan åren 2015–2020, totalt analyserades 120 spel där 2108 karaktärer observerades. Karaktärerna i studien analyserades genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys. Analyserna visar att kvinnliga karaktärer (n=448) är underrepresenterade jämfört med manliga karaktärer (n=1660). Kvinnliga karaktärer porträtteras oftare med sexuellt avslöjande kläder, nakenhet, sexuellt verbala yttringar, sexuellt beteende och opassande kläder till uppgiften de förväntades utföra i narrativet än de manliga karaktärerna. De manliga karaktärerna porträtteras oftare med orealistiska kroppsproportioner än de kvinnliga karaktärerna och övergripande porträtteras de manliga karaktärerna stereotypiskt muskulösa likt tidigare forskning visat. Resultaten jämförs med tidigare forskning och denna studie observerar fler kvinnliga karaktärer i 20 digitala spel släppta år 2020 än vad som uppmärksammas i 60 spel år 2003. Vidare påträffas fler karaktärer med orealistiska kroppsproportioner i spel från år 2020 (n=39) än i spel från år 2003 (n=24).

I detta kandidatarbete undersöker vi hur med hjälp av virtuell verklighet (VR) kan gestalta en fabriksmiljö och upplevelse som ökar säkerhetstänket för nyanställda på Volvo i Olofström. Undersökningen utgår ifrån vårt samarbete med Volvo och deras egen fabrik som är i fokus där de har velat ha en säkerhetsutbildning inom VR för deras nyanställda och gångtrafikanter i fabriken. Med hjälp av designperspektivet digital didaktisk design har vi kunnat ställa i centrum på lärandet i görandet, att planera och skapa aktiviteter för någon så att användaren i fråga kan tillägna sig nya kunskaper. Frågeställningen inom denna undersökning är “Hur kan man skapa en fabriksmiljö inom VR som främjar lärande.” Med hjälp av metoderna vi valde för designprocessen kunde vi gestalta en fabrik som simulerar deras och även främja lärandet för säkerhetstänket som var en viktig del att komma till insikt om. Resultatet på undersökningen är att vi skapade en VR-prototyp med hjälp utav spelmotorn Unity. I denna VR-prototyp tar användaren igenom sig en livlig och hektisk fabriksmiljö som speglar det vi själva har fått uppleva genom våra observationer när vi var på besök hos Volvo i Olofström. Genom våra undersökningar inom VR säkerhet har vi upphöjt vår förståelse om vilka möjligheter VR har inom lärandet och att förmedla information. Dem viktiga punkterna för oss var att öka säkerhetstänket hos användaren genom att placera dem i scenarion där deverkligen får uppleva hur det verkligen är att vara inom en livlig fabrik och vad som förväntas av dem. Nyckelord: Virtuell verklighet (VR), säkerhetsträning, fabriksmiljö, Volvo / In this bachelor thesis, we investigate how, with the help of virtual reality (VR), we can create a factory environment and experience that increases the safety thinking for new employees at Volvo in Olofström. The survey is based on our collaboration with Volvo and their own factory, which is in focus where they have wanted a safety training in VR for their new employees and pedestrians in the factory. With the help of the design perspective digital didactic design, we have been able to put the focus on learning in practice, to plan and create activities for someone so that the user in question can acquire new knowledge. The question in this study is "How to create a factory environment within VR that promotes learning." With the help of the methods we chose for the design process, we were able to design a factory that simulates theirs and also promote learning for safety thinking, which was an important part to gain insight into.  The result of our research is that we have created a prototype with the help of the game engine Unity through this process that takes the user through a lively and hectic factory environment that reflects what we ourselves have experienced through our observations when we visited Volvo in Olofström. Through our research in VR security, we have raised our understanding of what opportunities VR has in learning and to convey information. The important points for us were to increase the security thinking of the user by placing them in scenarios where they really get to experience what it really is like to be in a lively factory and what is expected of them Keywords: Virtual reality (VR), safety training, factory environment, Volvo

Den här uppsatsen handlar om hur pussel och skr äck kan kombineras i ett och sammadigitala spel. Hur man som utvecklare kan f å en j ämn balans mellan skr äcken och pusslensom presenteras f ör spelaren i spelet. Den typ av skr äck som den h ar uppsatsen har fokuspå är genren 'Survival-Horror' och anv änder sig av den typ av skr äck som i digital spelkategoriserats som 'Survival-Horror'-spel.Den här uppsatsen visar en analys av 'Survival-Horror', samlar information om pusseloch skr äck f or att utforma en hypotes hur dessa kan kombineras. F ör att kontrolleraom hypotesen st ämmer utf ördes en intervju innan pussel- och skr äckmomenten implementeradesi ett digitalt spel. Efter implementationerna genomf ördes det speltester i tv åomg ångar f ör att analysera resultatet mellan de tv å omg ångarna.

An objective of this study is to investigate what current research states regarding how violent, sexist, and racist norms in video games affects the player over time. Another objective is to investigate in what way the current longitudinal research takes different aspects of game design and the player’s context into consideration. This was done by conducting a systematic literature review. The findings suggest that current longitudinal research has focused on violent norms in video games, and that a few or no longitudinal studies have investigated how sexist and racist norms affect the player. The findings also suggest a connection between playing violent video games and aggression. However, the cause for this effect and how powerful it is, is yet not concluded. These issues and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Das digitale Spielen hat in den letzten Jahren stetig zugenommen und scheint heute ein selbstverständlicher Teil im alltäglichen Leben vieler Menschen zu sein. Eine deutliche Verbindung zwischen der digitalen Welt und der englischen Sprache ist zu beobachten, und man kann sich fragen, ob es immer so war. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die Verwendung von Anglizismen in der digitalen Computerspiel- und Videospielwelt zu untersuchen, um herauszufinden, ob und inwiefern sich eine zunehmende Globalisierung in der Domäne des digitalen Spielens nachweisen lässt. Dazu wird der Sprachgebrauch ausgewählter Benutzer-Kommentare eines deutschen Spieleforums aus dem Jahr 2013 (teilweise auch vom Beginn des Jahres 2014) und der von 2004 untersucht. Die grundlegende Frage lautet: Wie unterscheidet sich der Gebrauch von Anglizismen in der digitalen Spielwelt, wenn man die Situation heute mit der von 2004 vergleicht?