This paper is aimed to analyze how the Motivators in Herzberg's Two-Factor theory can be applied to a game design framework, namely the MDA-framework. This is done by evaluating a feature called Detailed Feedback System which is a gamification layer aimed towards evaluating photos from predetermined categories. The evaluation is done by letting participants use the Detailed Feedback System, and later letting them participate in an online survey on how it felt to use the feature. In this paper Self-Determination Theory and the Likert-scale is used in order to find a variance in their answers. This is later explored in a comparison matrix exploring which aspects of each theoretical framework may be the most prominent. The results are also analyzed to find variance in the final result, in order to find how significant the variance is in motivation and enjoyment, and why I conclude these findings to be positive.

Field of view in virtual environments such as games is the angular cone-of-vision a camera uses to display content on screen, and is subject to various characteristics and effects. Some of these effects have been documented based on simulation. However little to no research is readily available regarding video games. This paper set out to document and verify if field of view can reliably be used to affect potential game design aspects, particularly for first-person cameras. Several factors were identified and tests constructed which had participants play through a virtual first-person environment on regular computer hardware (no head-mounted display or other viewing mediums). The measured properties were distance, scale and speed as a function of field of view. According to the results, distances appear longer, objects appear smaller and movement faster at higher field of view, however at varying amounts depending on the context, scenario and viewing angle of the camera. In addition it was also shown that text readability and peripheral vision were significantly affected. It was concluded that field of view can be used within games and virtual applications to enable certain game design elements, and that field of view also should be a consideration in designing a game as it may be interpreted differently given a different field of view.

This thesis addresses design and development associated problems identified within theplatform-game genre. The problem described originates from the fluctuating curve ofinterest towards the platform-game genre that can be observed between the 1980’s andtoday. The problem stated in this thesis is that modern platform-game developers mayoften overlook and –or deprioritize important design and gameplay related componentsthat we find reoccurring in previously popular games within the genre.This thesis strives to address such problems by decomposing the developmentprocess of a platform game into a light framework titled Implementation categories. Allincluded categories represent a set of design and development related platform-gamecomponents – primarily identified through previous research in the field. In order tocreate an understanding of each category’s complexity - as well as account for thepossibilities to use the categories as a guideline when developing a platform game - aprototype game was developed. The Implementation categories included in theprototype was then measured with a set of software complexity metrics. This thesis willmotivate and explain the selection of implementation categories, account for the usageof software complexity metrics as well as present a detailed documentation of theprototype development.The result of this thesis is a thorough presentation of the Implementation categories -attached with complexity examples for each category as well as a complete gameprototype. The complete results of this thesis will hopefully be of assistance in smallscale,independent or academic game projects in regard of design, decision making,prioritization and time planning.

The repetitive and sometimes mundane nature of conventional rehabilitation therapy provides an ideal opportunity for development of interactive and challenging therapeutic games that have the potential to engage and motivate the players. Different game design techniques can be used to design rehabilitation games that work alongside robotics to provide an augmentative therapy to stroke patients in order to increase their compliance and motivation towards therapy. The strategy we followed to develop such a system was to (i) identify the key design parameters that can influence compliance, prolonged activity, active participation and patient motivation, (ii) use these parameters to design rehabilitation games for robot-mediated stroke-rehabilitation, (iii) investigate the effects of these parameters on motivation and performance of patients undergoing home-based rehabilitation therapy. Three main studies were conducted with healthy subjects and stroke subjects. The first study identified the effects of the design parameters on healthy players' motivation. Using the results from this study, we incorporated the parameters into rehabilitation games, following player-centric iterative design process, which were formatively evaluated during the second study with healthy subjects, stroke patients, and health-care professionals. The final study investigated the research outcomes from use of these games in three patient's homes during a 6 weeks clinical evaluation. In summary, the research undertaken during this PhD successfully identified the design techniques influencing patient motivation and adherence as well as highlighted further important elements that contribute to maintaining therapeutic interaction between patients and the therapy medium, mainly the technological usability and reliability of the system.

This study explores how character design guidelines can be combined and remixed to create characters whose motivations are ambiguous to the viewer. I investigate some common guidelines that character artists generally follow when designing characters; summarized in a literature review, and then I test various applications of these guidelines through online surveys. I analyze the qualitative data from these surveys to answer the question of how flexible these guidelines are and how far they can be stretched. The study includes the design guidelines for color, shape and posture of the character, to see how each element is added to different kind of characters and how it affects the interpretation when changed. The final part of the study is done with a second online survey collecting qualitative data, including self-created characters built from the guidelines found for the protagonist or the antagonist and the results of the first survey. Two different designs are created and then changed to different versions, where the color scheme, shape or pose is reversed to the other’s role. The results collected from the online survey showed that by just changing color, shape and posture separately; the character is interpreted in new ways – which can be used when creating characters that are supposed to be hard to read. With the change of each separate element and by having the design elements counteract each other, the characters were read as good by about half the participants, while the other half interpreted it as evil. Depending on which design elements that were changed, opinions ranged between characters that are hiding their true nature, to characters that are trying to be good or a character that is supposed to betray the main character. By changing the two factors of color and shape at the same time, however, showed that the character was interpreted as almost strictly either good or evil.

The aim of this work was to create an online platform for multi-user sound creation with original sound synthesis tools. The educational context of the application was also taken into account by hiding the controls of the sound parameters behind the subconsciously known physical phenomena and the game form of the application. A substantial part of the logic and all graphics of the instruments is written in the JavaScript programming language and its library p5.js. It is located on the client side and communicates with the Node.js-based server via a web socket. The audio part is on another server in the SuperCollider environment, it is transmitted via IceCast and communicates with the main OSC message server. The application contains 3 instruments for generating sounds and one effects module. Each instrument is designed for multiple users and requires their cooperation. Acceptable transmission speeds and minimum computational demands have been achieved by optimizing the instrument's internal algorithms, the way in which the graphic content is displayed and the appropriate routing of the individual sound modules. The sound is specific for each instrument. The instruments in the application are tuned and designed so that the user can both achieve interesting sound results himself and play his role as a whole with others. Methods such as granular synthesis, chaotic oscillators, string instrument modeling, filter combinations, and so on are used to generate sound. Great emphasis in the development of the application was placed on the separation of roles, simultaneous control of one instrument by several players and communication of users through playing the instruments and text expression - chat. An important part is also a block for displaying descriptive information.

This thesis investigates how principles of game design can be applied to a PC game settings menudesign to make the interaction fun and enhance the user satisfaction of interaction and navigation.Through exploring the question “How can principles of game design be applied to UI design inorder to enhance the user satisfaction of interacting with an interface?” it might be possible to addto the experience of using UI without removing any of the usability goals that is customary today.This is determined through user testing of a common design pattern of game settings menusrecognized in World of Warcraft (2004) Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) Stardew Valley (2016)and a game settings menu designed through game design principles where the respondentsevaluated their experience in an SUS form (Brooke, 1996) and a form created for this study basedon Swink’s (2009) Game Feel. The results revealed that the common menu design generatedhigher scores in usability than the interface designed through game design principles but therewas no significant difference in game feel between the prototypes. However, when dividing gamefeel into questions regarding usability and aesthetics a clear difference between the twoprototypes could be determined where the prototype designed through game design principlesdisplays a trend to score higher in aesthetics than the traditional UI. This could be strengthenedthrough optional comments from the participants where 6 used the word “fun” to describe thegame design prototype while the traditional UI design were described with words such as“functional” “intuitive” “straightforward” “easy to use” and “felt more like a chore”.

This thesis studies a few established design principles which were implemented in a developed fast-action puzzle game prototype. The aim was to study how several design principles affected the performance of players. The prototype was described as a Time-Based Memory Mashup with six different ”presets” based on the established design principles in which small changes occur. All participants in the study played through all six presets. Gameplay data was gathered from the participating users and were automatically recorded into a database in order to determine which preset was the most successful. Participants also filled in a survey to answer questions regarding on how they would judge their own performance, engagement and enjoyment of each played preset. Collected gameplay data from the participants were compared and ranked to determine which presets and design principles were the most effective. Surveys, observations and interviews have been studied to see if it matched the statistical data. Participants had higher performances with a fixed or more forgiving timer, which participants preferred the most. Downgraded graphics and sound were enjoyed the least, however did not led to much worse performances. An increased difficulty had the most effect in lowering performances. Design principles such as Pacing, Difficulty, Feedback, Interface Design and Foreground had the most potential to lower performances among participants.

Many organisations need to increase their use and knowledge of service innovation in order to answer up to the increased demand for sustainable services and offerings that cater to the needs of their users. They need to become better at understanding that the best starting point for organisational development is outside the organisation where the value of their products and services are Co created with other actors and stakeholders. This paper explores the possibility of creating a serious game that introduces service innovation using the design science research and workshops as a collaboration method. The most important Service Innovation elements to include in the game are evaluated and the game ideas generated are examined through the lens of two different game design frameworks.

The present thesis deals with the playful exploration of fermentation as a practice of care. Fermentation has a lot of positive impacts and can be seen as a practice of care in relation to human self-care, caring with human others, relationships to non-human beings, like microorganisms, and caring with the planet Earth. Based on the question ‘What can game design do to explore fermentation as a practice beyond human (self-) care?’ I developed an Online Fermentation Game. The game functioned as a conversational framework to explore together with co-creators the possibilities of more careful and sustainability-oriented food practices on the example of fermentation. The game involved the step by step and hands-on fermentation of fruits and vegetables while exploring the complexity of care in relation to fermentation.  With this project, I aimed to offer a co-learning space to explore together with co-learners the possibilities of more careful and sustainable food practices on the example of fermentation in a playful way. To create a dialogue about more than human care in relation to food, in particular fermentation. To inspire the co-learners to question their relationships around food and discover which actors to care with. Beyond this project and in a larger context, I aim for a paradigm shift from the individualistic human benefit towards a notion of more than human care. This shift can make a huge difference regarding a more sustainability-oriented future of food. With this thesis project, I strived to make a small contribution to this long term vision. Starting from the human need for healthy food, the blind spot of acknowledging fermentation as a sustainability-oriented practice beyond human care, that the majority of other fermentation workshops is missing, was explored in a playful way. The global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that this project happened to be situated in challenged me in creating a safe and comfortable co-learning space. Therefore, this project focused on creating a digital- and home-based game experience. To hand over, other design practitioners and change agents can apply and transform the game as part of their fermentation projects. On a broader perspective, the concept of this explorative design game can be adapted inside but also outside the food sector. The project serves as inspiration for a playful and at the same time careful approach to design and change-making. Moreover, it shows an example of shifting community spaces provoked by crises.