As movies, television shows, and other forms of media have progressed over the last century, the use of destruction sequences as a form of entertainment have seemingly grown exponentially. From ginormous explosions to cities collapsing, more destruction sequences have drawn people’s attention in ways that are quite captivating. However, as content producers continue to push the limit of what is possible, the reliance on practical effects starts to dwindle in comparison to the usage of computer generated scenes. This thesis acknowledges the trend and dissects the entire process of how a general destruction sequence is made, from the research and planning process to the actual simulation of the effects. Various methods are discussed in how to attempt the creation of destruction with a singular project in mind. The goal is to not only to complete the sequence, but to do so in an efficient manner that can rival a professional workflow.

As society becomes more and more sedentary new solutions must be researched. One such possible solution is exergames.They are games that require physical movement to be played.By playing exergames a player can become less sedentary and get a bit of physical exercise. This thesis will examine the viability of a bubble shooter game as an exergame in order to potentially find another kind. This is to find if a bubble shooter is a game type that fits well with being made into an exergame. To do this a bubble shooter was developed and turned into an exergame. Then a small user test wascarried out in order to gather data on the viability of the game. These results showed that a bubble shooter works well as an exergame, and it has the potential to work really well.

Replayability in games is important to many players as it increases the amount of play time they get out of a game for the price they paid, which is why it is interesting to know how replayability can be promoted in games with simple mechanics. Previous research has categorised what motivates players to play a game again, as aspects of replayability. These aspects and the inherent subjectivity of replayability have been taken into account to define replayability. In this study, a game is designed to be replayable according to those definitions and then iterated on three times. Four different tools and principles for designing for replayability are used and evaluated in the design. All four tools and principles are considered in the initial design, after which one or a few are selected to be used in each game iteration. For each version of the game, the reason for, and the theory behind, design decisions is documented. The game is then released and player data and answers to two questions within the game are gathered to inform reflection. After which the design is reflected on before designing the next iteration. Four different tools and principles were tested as part of the design process. The Periodic Dilemma Generator (Aghekyan, 2021), the Aspects of Replayability (Krall and Menzies, 2012) (Monedero March, 2019), game elements based on randomisation (Bycer, 2018), and a tool to add synergy (Rosewater, 2013). Each of them proved to be useful in different ways. The Aspects of Replayability helped focus the design as goals to work towards. The Periodic Dilemma Generator tool was used throughout the design as both a design tool and a guide for creating meaningful choices. Randomisation was added as part of the game’s initial design and remained the main source of variance throughout all iterations. Designing synergy between game elements then enhanced both the Periodic Dilemma Generator and the randomised variance, making it the tool that provided the most replayability in the game. Using these tools and principles together, they can guide the design to enhance the complexity of a simple game to promote replayability. / Omspelbarhet i spel är viktigt för många spelare då det ökar mängden speltid de får ut av ett spel för det pris de betalade, därför är det intressant att veta hur man kan främja omspelbarhet i spel med enkla mechanics. Tidigare forskning har kategoriserat vad som motiverar spelare att spela ett spel igen. Det kallas aspekter av omspelbarhet. Dessa aspekter och subjektiviteten av omspelbarhet har beaktats för att definiera konceptet. I den här studien designas ett spel för att vara omspelbart enligt de definitionerna och sedan designas tre ytterligare iterationer. Fyra olika verktyg och principer som handlar om att designa för omspelbarhet används och evalueras i designen. Alla fyra verktyg och principer används i den ursprungliga designen, varefter en eller ett fåtal av dem väljs till att användas för att designa varje iteration. För varje version av spelet dokumenteras orsaken till, och teorin bakom, designbeslut. Spelet släpps sedan och spelardata och svar på två frågor inom spelet samlas in för att informera vid reflektion. Varefter designen reflekteras över innan nästa iteration utformas. Fyra olika verktyg och principer testades som en del av designprocessen. Verktyget Periodic Dilemma Generator (Aghekyan, 2021), principen Aspects of Replayability (Krall och Menzies, 2012) (Monedero March, 2019), spelelement baserade på randomisering (Bycer, 2018) och ett verktyg för att lägga till synergi (Rosewater, 2013). De visade sig alla vara användbara på olika sätt. Aspects of Replayability hjälpte till att fokusera designen som genom att agera som mål att arbeta mot. Periodic Dilemma Generator användes genom hela designen som både ett designverktyg och som en guide för att skapa meningsfulla val. Randomisering lades till som en del av spelets ursprungliga design och förblev den huvudsakliga källan till varians genom alla iterationer. Att designa synergi mellan spelelementen förbättrade sedan både Periodic Dilemma Generator och den randomiserade variansen, vilket gjorde det till det verktyg som gav mest omspelbarhet i spelet. Genom att använda dessa verktyg och principer tillsammans kan de vägleda designen för att förbättra komplexiteten i ett enkelt spel och främja omspelbarhet.

Industrial control systems (ICSs) are software systems that allow operators to remotely control entire industrial processes. This activity is usually performed within particular spaces located inside the facilities: control rooms. While the operators’ job is extremely important, it is often regarded as boring and dull; due to the passive nature of the job, the operators often feel unengaged. Industrial stakeholders are concerned about the next generation of operators, due to their different requirements regarding softwares and engagement. In fact, they would not be eager to work with the current ICSs. However, gamification — the design practice about using game design elements in contexts unrelated to games — has potential to contribute in addressing the problem. Implementing gamification within ICSs could make the future operators’ job more fun, appealing, and engaging, providing an overall better user- experience (UX). This research is a step towards achieving an effective gamification of ICSs; it consists of an exploratory study aimed to understand what gamification approaches are more suitable for the industrial context and the target user group. This research adopted an user-centred design approach, starting with extensive user studies on control rooms and the future operators; followed by a design and prototyping phase, and finally a user evaluation involving quantitative and qualitative investigations. This paper ultimately provides a series of design implications and insights for the design of gamified ICS.

TINAG, which stands for This is Not a Game, can be defined as "the concept that there are pervasive games, often ARGs, that are designed to immerse players in such a way that they suspend their disbelief in a fictional narrative and act like the world they have entered is real during their play time" (Pohjola 2004). Many designers and educators want to create games that appear real, but they are unsure of how to accomplish this. Increasing TINAG allows designers to create more realistic games while taking advantage of the many benefits that TINAG experiences offer. The purpose of this research was to identify and validate design patterns that enhance TINAG. As part of this research, design patterns to increase TINAG in ARG and PCS games were identified and presented. After defining the design patterns, workshops were completed to validate the design patterns and their usefulness to designers. We were able to verify that both novice and more experienced designers are able to understand the design patterns and apply them, with a few exceptions. We found that the design patterns were helpful tools, especially when used in group settings. All of the design patterns could be used and applied to a PCS and the designers felt like they would be impactful. This suggests that they are applicable to non ARG contexts, even though they were generated primarily from PCSs. Participants were drawn to design patterns that help create more authenticity and give players tools to succeed because they agreed that TINAG can increase transfer of learning into real context (Balzotti & Hansen, 2019). We imagine these design patterns could be used to help designers of ARGs, educational simulations, or escape rooms, or other experienced that have the goal of feeling real or authentic.

This research evaluates two-dimensional top-down dungeon generated levels regarding fundamental and micro dungeon design patterns. Additionally, it investigates the meaningfulness of the evaluation results in terms of accessibility to level designers and similar. The research method concentrates on two dungeon-generation techniques – Cellular Automata and Drunkard Walk. Each generated level gets evaluated based on three evaluation stages that build on top of each other: the passability of each tile; categorization of each collection of tiles with the same attributes; and player-centric gameplay data. The results show key differences between Cellular Automata and Drunkard Walk as the risk of using Cellular Automata to generate up to 90% unreachable space, while drunkard walk always has a playable relative space size of 100%. The evaluation also shows results that depend on the requirements of a game or constraints of a level designer. Cellular Automata generates more rooms, while Drunkard Walk provides more decisions per room. In conclusion, the evaluation results show differences between the two algorithms, presented using a vocabulary that is familiar to a level designer.

This bachelor’s thesis presents a study mainly focused on players’ motivations of purchasing cosmetics items in Path of Exile, a free-to-play, action role-playing game. A “Theory of Consumption” is used in this paper as the theoretical framework. This study is conducted by running nine interviews and one survey, where 33 sets of results are collected in total. It was found that there were two main motivations for purchasing cosmetic items in that game. The dominant one is “conditional” motivation which is to support the game or game company, while the second one is “emotional” motivation which is to bring certain feelings within the game experience. However, the study found that one non-cosmetic item in Path of Exile was also purchased very frequently when it comes to the microtransactions of this game, so a “functional” motivation will also be mentioned in this paper. This study could be helpful for game designers wanting to figure out a good monetization strategy which does not alienate, but welcome players, especially in free-to-play games. / Denna kandidatuppsats presenterar en studie huvudsakligen fokuserad på spelarnas motivationer till köp av kosmetiska objekt i Path of Exile, ett ‘free-to-play’ actionrollspel. En “Konsumtionsteori” används i denna uppsats som dess teoretiska grund. Denna studie genomfördes genom nio intervjuer och en enkät där totalt 33 olika svar samlades in. Undersökningen visade att det fanns två huvudsakliga skäl till köp av kosmetiska objekt i spelet. Det dominerande skälet visades vara “villkorligt baserad” där spelare vill visa support åt spelet eller spelföretaget, medan nästa skäl visades vara “känslomässigt baserad” där spelarnas känslor höjs genom köp som förgyller spelupplevnaden. Studien visade även att den enda icke kosmetiska varan i Path of Exile köptes mycket ofta i relation till andra mikrotransaktioner i spelet, så ett “funktionellt baserat” skäl kommer även presenteras i uppsatsen. Denna studie kan bli hjälpsam åt speldesigners som vill lista ut en god monetäriseringsstrategi som inte fjärmar, utan välkomnar spelare, särskilt inom ‘free-to-play’ spel.

As a response to finding innovative ways of using games as tools for learning we explore the design process of creating a game system meant to promote self-directed learning. This thesis explores what design pillars a game system needs to follow when making a game that is meant to promote self-directed learning through reflection on cause and effect relations. We use a theoretical framework based on procedural rhetoric and self-directed learning in video games to inform our design process when creating an eco-adapted game system that provides experimentation opportunities. We adapt an ecosystem as a simulated real life context for our game environment and identify the major design pillars that video games looking to promote self-directed learning needs to consist of. The major pillars we found most important were; 1, activate participation, to engage the player by allowing them to experiment with different perspectives and the game state. 2, avoid correlating rhetorical arguments, to not influence players as they set their own goals when playing in an informal setting. 3, provide observational clarity, to let players learn how the actions they perform affect the actors and events in the game system. 4, enable trial and error, to give players time to explore multiple approaches in a safe environment where they can fail and try again without penalties. This thesis focuses primarily on the design process and documentation around the creation of a game system that adapts self-directed learning principles as a central design directive. In our design documentation we provide an open discussion of our design process around the decisions, findings, and implementations that make our simulation. / Som ett svar på att hitta innovativa sätt att använda spel som verktyg för lärande undersöker vi designprocessen för skapandet av ett spelsystem som är avsett att främja självstyrd inlärning. Denna uppsats undersöker vilka designpelare ett spelsystem behöver följa när man skapar ett spel som är avsett att främja självstyrd inlärning genom reflektion över orsaks- och påverkansrelationer. Vi använder ett teoretisk ramverk baserat på procedurell retorik och självstyrd inlärning i datorspel för att informera vår designprocess när vi skapar ett eko-adapterat spelsystem som ger experimenteringsmöjligheter. Vi anpassar ett ekosystem som en simulerad verklig omgivning till vår spelmiljö och identifierar viktiga designpelare som datorspel som vill främja självstyrd inlärning behöver bestå av. De huvudsakliga pelarna som vi fann viktigast är; 1, aktivera deltagande, för att engagera spelarna genom att låta dem experimentera med olika perspektiv och spelets tillstånd. 2, undvik korrelerande retoriska argument, för att inte påverka spelarna när de sätter sina egna mål medan de spelar i en informell miljö. 3, ge observationsklarhet, så att spelarna lär sig hur handlingarna de utför påverkar aktörerna och händelserna i spelsystemet. 4, möjliggör försök och misstag, för att ge spelarna tid att utforska flera tillvägagångssätt i en säker miljö där de kan misslyckas och försöka igen utan straff. Denna uppsats fokuserar främst på designprocessen och dokumentationen kring skapandet av ett spelsystem som tillämpar självstyrda inlärningsprinciper som ett centralt designdirektiv. I vår designdokumentation ger vi en öppen diskussion om vår designprocess kring de beslut, resultat och implementeringar som utgör vår simulering.

Artikelns syfte är att undersöka hur vi kan skapa en gestaltning som väcker tankar kring ‘Human Enhancement Technologies’ (Pariseau-Legault et al., 2018) genom kritisk design och VR-teknik. Detta har skett genom ett utforskande av våra fysiska händers beröring (Puig de la Bellacasa, 2009) i vardagliga aktiviteter samt spelarens beröring i en VR-upplevelse. Denna undersökning ledde till en gestaltning som vill förändra en spelares upplevda beröring i samband med en vardaglig aktivitet, där vi genom teknologiska modifikationer ger dina händer ny funktionalitet. / This article aims to research how we can design an experience that challenges our ideas about ‘Human Enhancement Technologies’ (Pariseau-Legault et al., 2018) through critical design and VR-technology. This through exploration of our hands physical touch (Puig de la Bellacasa, 2009) in everyday activities and exploring touch in Virtual Reality. This research helped to create a design that aims to change a player's touch in connection with an everyday activity where we through technological modifications give your hands new functionality.

This Degree Project (DP) focuses on an under-researched area in the field of ComDev, namely the study of entertaining games. It explores and asks how independent and intersectionally marginalised game designers contribute to social justice movements. The trajectory of this DP is informed by responses to an online survey with 49 diasporic gamers of colour in the socalled global North. The game design practices researched encompass artistic, technological and archival endeavours. These are positioned within the individualistic, community and societal factors surrounding the participants of this research. Seven independent game designers of colour in Europe and the US were interviewed via video calls and a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis is applied to analyse their responses. The literature review considers previous research on the potential and flaws of new technologies, on game design as an art practice, on art as a social movement and on community, identity and demography in games. The consequential theoretical framework is based on a Critical Race theoretical and practical approach. In a commitment to intersectionality it further applies queer theory and postcolonial theory as its pillars to conducting this subjectivist qualitative research. The findings suggest that game designers exist at the intersection of art, technology and industry and hold the agency to contribute to social movements. They may do so through an empowerment lens and community efforts, while not claiming the title of an activist per say. Through further research their contribution to development may be further explored.