The reflective game design theory outlined by Rilla Khaled (2018) argues for designing disruptive experiences to promote reflection within the player. We decided to design and produce a game based on her theory to then engage with Khaled’s theory critically. We define the act of making a game as a three-step process consisting of ideation (influenced by Khaled’s theory), articulation of the design based on a framework (SGDA Framework by Mitgutsch & Alvarado, 2012), and finally the implementation of it (based on principles outlined by Swink, 2009 and Boyer, 2010). We make a theoretical argument for our design decisions, test the game in a user study, and then discuss the successes and shortcomings of our design. To conclude we tie our discoveries to the steps taken in the application of theory into practice. We discover that the best design intentions often cannot reach the player because their interaction with the game is hindered by un-polished implementation. We identify further gaps between theory and practice and are stating what designers should watch out for when making reflective games. / I Rilla Khaled´s (2018) teori Reflective game design theory, argumenterar hon för fördelen med att skapa omvälvande upplevelser i syfte att uppmana spelaren till reflektion. Vi beslöt oss för att designa och utveckla ett spel baserat på hennes teori, för att sedan undersöka och utvärdera teorin. Vi definierar spelutvecklande som en process i tre steg, bestående av ”ideation” (grundat ur Khaleds teori), artikulering av designen baserat på ett ramverk s.k. ”SGDA Framework” ( Mitgutsch & Alvarado, 2012), och slutligen realisering (grundat på principer framtagna av Boyer, 2010 och Swink, 2009). Vi argumenterar för besluten som ligger bakom vår design, utför praktiska test av spelet i en användarstudie och diskuterar sedan framgångar samt eventuell tillkortakommanden med vår design. Slutsatsen består av en redogörelse för hur våra upptäckter står i förhållande till applikationen av teori till praktik. Vi upptäckte att genomtänkta och välmotiverade beslut inom spelutveckling inte alltid når spelaren, då interaktionen mellan spelare och spel hindras av tillkortakommanden i hur dessa beslut tillämpats. Vi identifierade ytterligare klyftor mellan teori och realisering, och konstaterar vad spelutvecklare bör vara uppmärksamma på under utveckling av s.k. ”reflective games”.

First-person games often support the player’s gradual accretion of knowledge of the game’s rules during gameplay. They thus focus on challenging and developing performative skills, which in turn supports the player in attaining feelings of achievement and skills mastery. However, an alternative disruptive game design approach is proposed as an approach that encourages players to engage in higher-order thinking, in addition to performative challenges. This requires players to cognitively engage with the game at a deeper level. This stems from the player’s expectations of game rules and behaviours being disrupted, rather than supported, requiring players to learn and re-learn the game rules as they play. This disruptive approach to design aims to support players in satiating their needs for not only achievement and mastery at a performative level but also, their needs for problem-solving and creativity. Utilising a Research through Design methodology, a model of game space proposes different stages of a game’s creation, from conceptualisation through to the final player experience. The Ludic Action Model (LAM), developed from existing game studies and cognitive psychological theory, affords an understanding of how the player forms expectations in the game as played. A conceptual framework of game components is then constructed and mapped to the Ludic Action Model, providing a basis for understanding how different components of a game interact with and influence the player’s cognitive and motor processes. The Ludic Action Model and the conceptual framework of game components are used to construct the Disruptive Game Feature Design and Development (DisDev) model, created as a design tool for ‘disruptive’ games. The disruptive game design approach is then applied to the design, development, and publication of a commercial game, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (The Chinese Room, 2013). This application demonstrated the suitability of the design approach, and the proposed models, for establishing disruptive game features in the game as designed, developing those features in the game as created, to the final resolution in the game as published, which the player will then experience in the game as played. A phenomenological template analysis of online player discussions of the game shows that players tend to evaluate their personal game as played (i.e. their personal play experience) in relation to their a priori game as expected (i.e. the experience that they expected the game to provide). Players reported their play experiences in ways that suggested they had experienced cognitive engagement and higher-order thinking. However, player attitudes towards this type of play experience were highly polarised and seemingly dependent on the correspondence between actual and expected play experiences. The discussion also showed that different methods of disruption have a variable effect on the player experience depending on the primacy of the game feature being disrupted. Primary features are more effectively disrupted when the game’s responses to established player actions are subsequently altered. Secondary game features, only present in some sections, are most effectively disrupted when their initially contextualised behaviour is subsequently altered, or recontextualised. In addition, story-based feature disruption is most effected when the initial encoding stage is ambiguous, thus disrupting players’ attempts to form an initial understanding of them. However, these different methods of disruption may be most effective when used in conjunction with each other.