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Alongside societal change and more sustainable living, new technologies and research will be important in becoming carbon neutral. Multiple modern board games have some form of technological progression and research in their theme, presented by game mechanics like “tech trees”. Since board games are known for being great at explaining their themes via mechanics, this study looks at how they can present the development of new green technologies. The Mariestad climate board game is a board game where players compete to try to reduce pollution in the municipality. It was also used as the artifact for this study. Through its development several groups of testers played it and then partook in semi-structured interviews, about how they experienced the game and its portrayal of technology and climate change. Overall the testers liked the mechanics, but future testing with longer test sessions are needed in the future on the topic.

Denna studie undersöker hybrida brädspel, en relativt ny genre av spel som blivit alltmer populär under senare år. En utmaning med att designa engagerande hybridspel är att kombinera analoga och digitala element på ett sätt som förbättrar spelupplevelsen. Studien syfte har varit att undersöka vilka designmönster som återfinns i hybrida brädspel och hur dessa påverkar spelarnas upplevelse av spelet. Med en fallstudie som forskningsstrategi genomfördes tre olika spelsessioner där observation användes för att ta fram data om spelupplevelse i relation till designmönster. Efter varje avslutad spelsession genomfördes semistrukturerade gruppintervjuer med deltagarna där data från observationerna använts som underlag. Data som erhållits användes sedan i en tematisk analys för att ta fram teman och mönster gällande designmönster samt spelarnas upplevelser av dessa. Mönstren som återfanns var test-wizard, förenklande misslyckanden, automatiserad fas-hantering, periodic events, tidsreglerad progression, monster-generering, save and quit, onboarding-wizard, pussel och curiosity priming. Funna mönstren påverkade deltagarnas upplevelse gällande spelelement såsom spelarnas engagemang i spelet, svårighetsgrad, slumpmässighet med dess oförutsägbarhet, inlärningsförmåga, stimulans till nyfikenhet, progression och interaktion mellan spelare. Studien har gett ytterligare data och information om hur designers i framtiden kan förhålla sig till designmönster inom genren hybrida brädspel under utvecklingen av kommande spel. / This study investigates hybrid board games, a relatively new genre of games that has become increasingly popular in recent years. One challenge in designing engaging hybrid games is to successfully combine analogue and digital elements in a way that enhances the gaming experience. The study aims to examine the design patterns found in hybrid board games and how they affect players' experience of the game. Using a case study as a research strategy, three different game sessions were conducted where observation was used to collect data on player experience in relation to design patterns. After each completed game session, semi-structured group interviews were conducted with the players where the observation data was used as a basis. The data obtained was then used in a thematic analysis to identify themes and patterns related to design patterns and players' experiences of them. Patterns found were test wizard, simplifying failures, automatised phase management, periodic events, time regulated progression, monster generation, save and quit, onboarding wizard, puzzle and curiosity priming. Patterns found influenced participant experience regarding difficulty, ability to learn, player engagement, randomness with its unpredictability, stimulation of curiosity, progression and interaction between players. The study has provided additional data and information about how designers in the future can relate to design patterns within the hybrid board game genre during the development of future games.

In the late eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century English domestic interior, games mediated and influenced the experience of age and masculinity. Games embodied, reflected, and shaped culture. Games united education, entertainment, and players’ imaginations inside the formative social environment of the home. The domestic interior was the catalyst that facilitated the agency of games. I explore the representation of age and masculinity in miniature images of boys, youth, and men in games and the agency of games as they interacted with players. I use three intersecting lenses: how people experience miniature objects; social interactions in domestic spaces; and the ability of an ordinary belonging to influence perceptions, ideas, and behaviour. In two case studies, I argue that games were serious cognitive technologies with agency that mediated and shaped players’ understanding of age and masculinity. In case one, I investigate the visuality, materiality, and experience of playing the didactic board game The New Game of Human Life (1790). The game consists of a battle between vice and virtue that males meet throughout the life stages. In case two, I analyze a series of five sets of paper dolls and their books published by Samuel and Joseph Fuller between 1810 and 1816. The male paper doll-book is an intermedial product that encourages players to imagine and act out adventures. In both cases, I argue games were active cognitive technologies that communicated with players. Games were visual and material culture that fashioned masculine identity. Games played in the domestic interior were communicative media designed to shape players’ ideas about masculine identity and their behaviour. / Graduate / 2022-08-10

The aim of this report is to see whether the graphic design of a game influences children’s will to play games. I am especially looking at minimalist graphic design and how well it works for a game aimed at children age 7-9. Does the style of the game design have any impact at all concerning the children’s wish to play the game or is the game mechanic all that matters. The final results concluded that although the graphic design plays a part in the children’s willingness to play the game the game mechanics are by far the biggest factor in whether children will play the game or not.

Yes / The unique characteristics of games have led scientific research to increasingly focus on their potential role in learning processes. Currently, their effectiveness in fostering experiential learning and skill acquisition in several areas is already supported by the existing evidence, mainly about the potential of digital games. Paradoxically, the current post-digital era seems to have led to a growing popularity of analogue games. The present Systematic Literature Review aimed to map the existing literature on the potential of board, tabletop, or other analogue games in learning processes. It intended to systematize the contemporary state of the art (2012-2022) around the pedagogical role of these games, their effectiveness, the promoted learning outcomes, the methodological aspects of the interventions, the used games – including mechanics and other characteristics – and the current discussions around inclusion and accessibility in analogue game-based learning. Adopting the PRISMA methodology, we searched ACM Digital Library, EBSCO, ERIC, Scopus - Elsevier, and Web of Science databases, as well as other peer-reviewed “grey literature” sources. The search resulted in an initial sample of 2741 articles that was then screened by inclusion and exclusion criteria previously defined according to the research objectives. We obtained a final sample of 45 articles. To formulate the mapping of existing research, these studies were analyzed using a combination of statistical, content, and critical analysis procedures. The obtained results support the role of board, tabletop, and other analogue games in educational contexts – based on their educational potential – with a broad range of knowledge, cognitive, and psychological outcomes. The study also emphasized the relevance of these games in the promotion of soft skills and other aspects typically associated with meaningful learning, such as engagement, satisfaction, flexibility, and freedom of experimentation. However, important limitations were found in a fair amount of the pedagogical approaches studied, which can be mostly attributed to the low prevalence of modern board games that relate what is intended to be learned to aspects of game design and have little to no consideration of accessibility and inclusion aspects in these studies. / The present work was developed in the scope of the Project Training the Educators to Facilitate the Teaching and Assessment of Abstract Syllabus by the Use of Serious Games – TEGA (2020-1- UK01-KA203-079248), funded by the European Commission on the scope of Erasmus+ Programme. The research team also acknowledges the funding by Fundação para a Ciência e para a Tecnologia (FCT) provided to CICANT R&D Unit (UIDB/05260/2020), on the scope of Verão com Ciência initiative, which allowed the inclusion of a research initiation grant holder as co-author of the present work.

This thesis describes the design and the implementation of an Ada library for positional board games. The library consists of general software modules that use some concepts from a model of Positional Board Games presented in [Antoy 87]. This thesis shows that general software modules based on the mathematical concept of board can be built and used by any positional board game program. Furthermore, this thesis describes the data types used in the modules and presents informal and formal specifications of the operations on the data types. It also describes the implementation of the data types; presents the algorithms implementing the operations and shows how the library can be used on two positional board programs and justifies the claim of generality and simplicity of the model in [Antoy 87]. The programming language Ada is used to express the formal specifications and to code the software modules. / Master of Science

This diploma thesis has outlined the issues of gifted education and the problems which this whole area of education faces. It introduced the basic topics related to the gifted population such as the gift itself, its division etc. In addition, it described the basic forms of work with gifted students, with emphasis on the importance of teacher training and introduced (using interviews) the personal characteristics of teachers which are considered by the gifted students important. Furthermore it presented specific training needs of gifted students and showed the possibilities in helping the gifted. In its second part, this diploma thesis also presented some of the unusual methods which can be used in the process of teaching and which are usually highly effective when presented to gifted students. Individual methods were analysed and possible applications of each of those were described. For a better understanding, each of the methods was accompanied by an example. During the research I realized even more that the issue of gifted children and gifted individuals in general in the Czech Republic is not sorted out adequately. There are still many challenges to solve before talented individuals will be given the space for their education and also the following application at work and in life. Therefore,...

Many multiplayer games feature teams, and whether they are pitted against each other or against the game itself it seems likely that the way these teams bond will affect the players' experience. What are the factors that influence the experience of being a team member in a game? To what extent can the game designer manipulate the cohesion of the teams by changing the game design? How does the satisfaction of the player with their team relate to their feeling of cohesion? How does cohesion differ between tabletop and online games? These issues become particularly important where the group dynamic is central to the desired outcome of the game e.g. educational games aiming to place the players in specific social situations. Four studies were conducted on four similar simulation games (two tabletop, two online) used for teaching in International Development Studies. These games explore farming in sub-Saharan Africa and require 12-30 players to play in small groups. The group dynamics are important for the learning outcomes. Similar groups of participants (all students of International Development Studies) played one game each. Each group played for 3 hours before completing a questionnaire about their experience and wrapping up with a full-group reflective discussion. Results from the two tabletop games suggested that, as expected, altering the rules of the game manipulated levels of team cohesion. However, the lack of significant result from the two online games suggests that careful design is required to achieve the same outcomes in the online environment. This suggests that seemingly small changes between tabletop and online implementations may impact the game play experience in unanticipated ways. The team cohesion reported by the players was found to correlate strongly with the team member satisfaction levels of the players. The gender composition of the teams was shown to have a large impact on both team cohesion and team member satisfaction: having one or more females in the group significantly increased both measures.

There is a critical need to teach computer science (CS) in order to assure that our nation remains competitive globally [6]. CS is a new basic skill necessary for economic opportunity [6] but is rarely taught before age 6 and only using electronic devices [1]. This presents a challenge for those concerned with “screen time” inherent in electronic devices [2] and for children in poverty with little access to electronic devices [3]. Coding, creating a series of commands that a computer carries out, is a component of CS and can be introduced as early as preschool age and results in increased logical sequencing [5] (putting action commands in order). Missing from the research is the impact of coding with non-electronic formats on logical sequencing with children younger than age 6. Our study fills this need by using a non-electronic format with 4-year-olds. The purpose is to see if playing Robot Turtles, a board game designed to teach coding, will increase logical sequencing skills. Our hypothesis is that we will see a 10 times greater increase in logical sequencing in the children who play Robot Turtles than those playing Candy Land, a board game with no measurable effect on math skills [4]