In scaffolding, full support (guidance) is given to the learner to support weakness and withdrawn bit by bit as learner knowledge fortifies (fading) (Martens & Maciuszek, 2013) . According to Puntambekar & Hubscher (2005), the attributes of scaffolding include diagnosis, calibration and fading. Research work on scaffolding in serious games – games with other purposes other than entertainment, has mainly focused on diagnosis and calibration often referred to in this field as player modelling and adaptivity respectively. There is barely any empirical study investigating fading this in these games. Instead of fading which is the gradual removal of scaffolding, an all-or-nothing approach is often used. The all-or-nothing could lead to cognitive overload in children. For children to have a pleasurable gameplay, it is important the cognitive load is managed effectively. The fundamental question asked in this thesis is “To what extent can scaffolding-fading improve children’s gameplay experience and knowledge gain?” This is broken down to four research questions – 1. Does the gradual removal of guidance improve children’s gameplay experience? 2. What dimensions of gameplay experience are impacted and to what extent are they impacted by the gradual removal of guidance? 3. Would guidance fading during gameplay improve knowledge gain? 4. What effect would inappropriate guidance-fading have on gameplay? A game in which the scaffolding can be manipulated is designed for this study. A comparative study methodology with a controlled experiment, comparing gameplay in both the gradual removal and the all-or-nothing mode, is employed with the aim of measuring gameplay experience and knowledge gain in these modes. Analytics was also employed to capture performance-related gameplay metrics. These methods were combined for a more substantial explanation of findings. The key contributions made include – 1. Appropriately implementing guidance-fading for the first time in a game AND highlighting the relevance of this scaffolding mode to serious gameplay.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Bruckman, Amy; Committee Member: Guzdial, Mark; Committee Member: Juul, Jesper; Committee Member: Kolodner, Janet; Committee Member: Mateas, Michael.

Civilization games can depict imaginative and sophisticated perspectives on the future. Yet some scholars have critiqued civilization games for their replication of dominant, limited ideologies. Game designers often learn about design directly or indirectly from frameworks, such as the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework which contains a very idiosyncratic definition of aesthetics. Given that aesthetic thinking can unlock the sociological imagination, the aim of this dissertation was to discover opportunities to expand civilization game design by understanding the aesthetic experience of designers. A qualitative interview study was conducted of 13 game designers who created at least one civilization game based in the future. The interview and analysis had an ontological focus, to better understand how aesthetics fit into the existing puzzle of game design knowledge. The findings showed that designers employ their perspective in game design; this sense of self and perspective is not captured by current ontologies of game design. Furthermore, designers are limited in their ability to explore the boundaries of civilization games by task complexity, emotionality, and reliance on player experience. Resultantly, they may focus intensely on known aspects of game design in order to deliver a product. The dissertation proposes two primary solutions. Firstly, a game design framework that integrates the self into game design and more clearly delineates the game as an artifact. Secondly, cultivate truer senses of vision in game design for those who want to push civilization games and games as a whole, while understanding the practical realities of game design. These implications can be used by educators to reconsider game design program curricula, as well as affirm game designers’ pursuit of their own perspective.

The purpose of this project on game design and development is to experiment with actual technology tools used in computer games and get experience in three deminsional game development using 3D Studio Max and Microsoft XNA.

This thesis explores the effects of ludic structure—defined as the elements of game play not considered content—on video game communities. Counter to the focus on video game content and its effects by other scholars, this study argues the importance of the study of game structure and its influences on player interactions. Two games, League of Legends and Puzzle Pirates were examined. I played both games for 20 hours, as well as interviewing four players from each game. Using Laura Ellingson’s (2009) crystallization as a guiding approach, I analyzed the games using both a traditional thematic analysis and personal narratives in an attempt to create a richer dataset from which to draw conclusions. I discovered that one game was more competitively structured (League of Legends), which resulted in more aggressive and negative interactions among players in the community. Puzzle Pirates, on the other hand was more cooperatively structured, which resulted in an open and friendly community of people who were wanting to help each other. I argue that ludic structure does have a significant impact on player interactions, and that game companies should strive for more cooperatively structured games to encourage a positive community of gamers. / Literature review -- Methodology -- Close analysis of League of legends -- Close analysis of Puzzle pirates -- Conclusions, flaws and future research. / Department of Communication Studies

Many new board games are designed each year, ranging from the unplayable to the truly exceptional. For each successful design there are untold numbers of failures; game design is something of an art. Players generally agree on some basic properties that indicate the quality and viability of a game, however these properties have remained subjective and open to interpretation. The aims of this thesis are to determine whether such quality criteria may be precisely defined and automatically measured through self-play in order to estimate the likelihood that a given game will be of interest to human players, and whether this information may be used to direct an automated search for new games of high quality. Combinatorial games provide an excellent test bed for this purpose as they are typically deep yet described by simple welldefined rule sets. To test these ideas, a game description language was devised to express such games and a general game system implemented to play, measure and explore them. Key features of the system include modules for measuring statistical aspects of self-play and synthesising new games through the evolution of existing rule sets. Experiments were conducted to determine whether automated game measurements correlate with rankings of games by human players, and whether such correlations could be used to inform the automated search for new high quality games. The results support both hypotheses and demonstrate the emergence of interesting new rule combinations.

This research addresses the challenges associated with the supervision of game development projects as part of a capstone experience. The context of this research is the capstone experience as undertaken by third year software development students who have chosen to develop a game for their project at the School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). This research begins by determining the curricular requirements with respect to the capstone experience for Information Technology (IT) qualifications. This is done by investigating the applicable documentation at the international, national and departmental levels. The position of game development as a sub-category of software development is established and the Indie paradigm is investigated as a further sub-category of game development. Furthermore, the Indie paradigm is investigated through in-depth analyses of the techniques used in the development of ten Indie games. This investigation serves to identify the commonly used techniques in the Indie paradigm. The research presents a case study of the game development projects at the School of ICT at the NMMU for the period from 2009 to 2013. This case study combined with the techniques identifed from the Indie paradigm forms the basis of the guidelines presented by this research. The guidelines are subject to a review by an industry expert. The review takes the form of an expert interview, which serves to verify the guidelines. This research concludes by demonstrating alignment with the objectives it set out to achieve and motivating the success of the research conducted.

As video games continue to become larger, more complex, and more costly to produce, research into methods to make game creation easier and faster becomes more valuable. One such research topic is procedural generation, which allows the computer to assist in the creation of content. This dissertation presents a new algorithm for the generation of Sokoban levels. Sokoban is a grid-based transport puzzle which is computational interesting due to being PSPACE-complete. Beyond just generating levels, the question of whether or not the levels created by this algorithm are interesting to human players is explored. A study was carried out comparing player attention while playing hand made levels versus their attention during procedurally generated levels. An auditory Stroop test was used to measure attention without disrupting play.

It seems like teaching about games should be easy. After all, students enjoy engaging with course content and have extensive experience with videogames. However, games education can be surprisingly complex. I explore the question of what it means to understand games by looking at the challenges and problems faced by students taking games-related classes. My findings include realizing that extensive prior videogame experience often interferes with students abilities to reason critically and analytically about games, and that students have difficulties articulating their experiences and observations about games. In response to these challenges, my research explores how we can use online learning environments to support learning about games by (1) helping students get more from their experiences with games, and (2) helping students use what they know to establish deeper understanding. I explore these strategies through the design and use of two online learning environments: GameLog and the Game Ontology Wiki. GameLog is an online blogging environment designed to help students reflect on their game playing experiences. The Game Ontology wiki provides a context for students to contribute and participate legitimately and authentically in the Game Ontology Project. The Game Ontology Project is a games studies research project that is creating a framework for describing, analyzing and studying games. GameLog and the Game Ontology Wiki were used in university level games-related classes. Results show that students found that participating in these online learning environments was a positive learning experience that helped them broaden and deepen their understanding of videogames. Students found that by reflecting on their experiences playing games they began to understand how game design elements helped shape that experience. Most importantly, they stepped back from their traditional role of gamers or fans and engaged in reasoning critically and analytically about the games they were studying. With GameLog, I show how blogging about experiences of gameplay can be a useful activity for supporting learning and understanding about games. For the Game Ontology Wiki, I show how it is possible to design learning environments that are approachable to learners and allow them to contribute legitimately to external communities of practice.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master Arts in Digital Animation, March 2017 / XL2018