The approachability of a game is determined by the ease of which a player may learn how to play it. Most often, the player is taught how to play a game during a specially designed first level, called the tutorial level. In order to evaluate the approachability of a game, Desurvire et al. created the Game Approachability Principles (GAP) and suggested that GAP could potentially also be used to design game tutorials. This was tested in this paper by using GAP during an iterative design process of a strategy game tutorial. Each tutorial iteration was user-tested and heuristically evaluated. This study suggested that the use of GAP during the design process had resulted in a successful game tutorial. However, as there was a difference between identifying and solving an issue, some revisions to GAP were suggested to improve the usage during design processes’. / Desto större och mer avancerat ett spel är, desto svårare kan det vara att lära sig. Moderna spel böjar ofta med att låta spelaren spela en övningsbana,  även kallad “tutorial”, för att lära spelaren spelet. För att mäta hur väl ett spel går att lära sig tog Desurvire et al. fram “speltillgänglighetsprinciperna”, eller “The Game Approachability Principles” (GAP). Det föreslogs även att GAP skulle vara användbara vid skapandet av övningsbanor. I den här rapporten utvärderades det påståendet genom att applicera GAP vid skapandet av en övningsbana till ett strategispel. Slutsatsen blev att användandet av GAP resulterat i en framgångsrik övningsbana, men att principerna är möjliga att anpassa ytterliggare för användandet vid designprocesser. Därför föreslogs en reviderad version av principerna.

Building complex games like Grand Strategy Games for both PC and console is a costly endeavour. Normally, two different platforms imply two different User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) designs, even though it is the same game. If the game’s UI could have similar designs for both platforms, this costly obstacle could be overcome. This study aimed to take the first steps to look at “one UI to rule them all”. Due to the lack of existing research on this topic, this study had to begin from scratch. This led to a focus on existing strategy games on consoles, and an evaluation of the User Experience (UX) of these games. Considering the lack of Grand Strategy Games on consoles, eleven existing strategy games on console similar to Grand Strategy Games were chosen to be investigated further with the aim to find possible best practices and/or the most important aspects of the player’s experience in these games. Through discussion with game industry experts (experienced and senior UX designers), the UI and UX of strategy games on console were broken down and grouped as specific game interactions, with emphasis on the similarity to Grand Strategy Games. By using the defined game interactions, a quantitative survey was carried out to pinpoint the game interactions with the biggest impact on the player’s experience. The analysis of the results from the 864 respondents in the quantitative survey showed the importance of console first. It could be determined by looking at how well the only console first game of the survey did. Halo Wars 2 had the overall best-perceived experience in five out of the eight defined game interactions. Yet the participants preferred playing Halo Wars 2 on PC to an equal extent as they preferred to play it on consoles, concluding that console first seems to be the design approach to use when a game studio wants to ship a game simultaneously to both PC and consoles since it gives the overall best player experience. Furthermore, the pace, meaning the speed with which the player can execute specific in-game actions and reach their goals, was found to be a major factor in the player’s experience of the chosen strategy games on console. This led to a further developed definition of the pace through discussion and workshops with industry experts. Research then continued with remote and unmoderated playtests (qualitative usability testing) of two of the chosen games being most similar to Grand Strategy Games; Stellaris and Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. These playtests aimed to find what are the most important aspects of the pace and how the pace affects the player's experience. When the participants were asked to rank what they thought has the biggest impact on the pace in the game, game mechanical aspects were ranked higher than UI and UX aspects of the pace. This shows the game mechanics to be more important than the UI and UX aspects of the pace when designing the pace in a game like Stellaris and Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.

This thesis aim was to find the answer the following research question: What do queer gamers think of the game Monster Prom. The material gathered for this thesis was through a participant observation with four people from the LGBTQIA+ community playing the game Monster Prom and a subsequent focus group interview with these people. The material was analysed using Queer Game Studies research. In this paper I came to the conclusion that representation does matter to queer gamers. According to my interviewees, there is a need for representation in games and that it needs to be diverse and made undramatic. The interviewees brought forward how and why this design of an avatar system gives the player freedom, queer possibilities, and being positively received by queer players. The interviewees also brought forward how and when one should/shouldn't write a story surrounding the representation of queer oppression from a queer player´s point of view.

In First-Person shooter video games, spread is a mechanic that adds a random artificial inaccuracy to the player’s shots. Movement-amplified spread is a particular implementation of spread which amplifies the inaccuracy based on the speed the player is moving at. As a consequence, players that are moving are unable to fire accurate shots, whereas players standing still remain accurate. The purpose of this thesis is to study the effects of movement-amplified spread of different intensities on gameplay dynamics. To this end, we created a First-Person shooter target practice course for testers to complete 15 times. For every third completion we made movement-amplified spread more intense. The results showed that as movement-amplified spread increased, testers were more prone to halt before shooting, firing more shots and engaging with targets at a somewhat shorter distance. / I förstapersonsskjutare, även kallat FPS, är spread en spelmekanik som applicerar enslumpmässig inexakthet till spelarens precision när de skjuter. Movement-amplified spread ären specifik implementering av spread som amplifierar inexaktheten baserat på spelarens rörelse och hastighet. Som en konsekvens av detta så har spelare som rör på sig svårt att samtidigt vara träffsäkra, medan spelare som står still förblir precisa. Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera hur effekterna av en ökande movement-amplified spread påverkar spelkänsla och dynamik i spel. För detta har vi byggt en FPS hinderbana med stationära mål som testare har fått springa igenom 15 gånger. För vart tredje genomförande har vi ökat intensiteten av movement-amplified spread. Resultaten visar att när movement-amplified spread ökade, så var testarna mer benägna att stanna före de avlossade skott, de sköt mer eller så sprang de närmare för att bekämpa måltavlorna på ett kortare avstånd.

En grafisk designer är van att arbeta i en klassisk rak metod, och skapa sina designlösningar med tanke på användaren i tron om att de är experter på att visuellt kommunicera. Samhället kräver dock mer hållbara och användbara produkter och tjänster, vilket tyder på att slutanvändarintegrering kan vara en lösning som ger bred feedback på en potentiell lösningsmetod. En grafisk designers uppgift är att visualisera sin uppdragsgivares uppdrag, göra en målgruppsanalys och leverera en produkt eller tjänst efter en brief; detta inom designerns konstnärliga stil samt expertis. Hur blir det då att inkorporera en slutanvändare i en process där man som grafiker ofta gör individuella beslut? Denna uppsats undersöker vilket värde slutanvändarintegrering skapar och i vilken grad det används idag inom brädspelsbranchens skapandeprocess. Uppsatsen utmanar också genom att presentera barriärer för implementering av en slutanvändar-baserad designmodell. Med utgångspunkt i ett intervjumaterial destilleras ett standardiserat arbetsflöde för brädspelsdesign fram, vilket leder till en bättre förståelse för när och hur slutanvändaren framgångsrikt kan inkorporeras i processen. Detta jämförs sedan med egenutförda användarcentrerade designmetoder där brädspelet ”Green Guardians” har designats men hjälp av speltestningsgrupper bestående av slutanvändare. Intervjumaterialet ger en bred och generell förståelse för hur brädspel skapas, med ett fokus på vad moderatorn studerar under ett speltestningstillfälle. Det sammanfattade resultatet redovisar integrering av slutanvändare som en vital och tillförlitlig del av skapandeprocessen av brädspel. Däremot finns för lite forskning på hur teori och metod tillämpas i praktiken. Dessutom påvisar resultatet att det inte är vanligt att få feedback om brädspelets grafiska utformning och utmanar denna teori med påståenden om att den grafiska designern ser sig som expert, och att kommunikationsproblem kan stå som barriär. Uppsatsen ger därför förslag på hur interaktionen kan förbättras mellan moderator och speltestare för att brädspelet ska utvecklas optimalt.

Sometimes games that belong to the same genre achieve different levels of success among the playerbase of the genre. As an example, of two space RTS games Homeworld (released in 1999) and O.R.B. (releasedin 2002), which feature a similar setting and similar gameplay mechanics, Homeworld has beenmore successful. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons for the different popularityof the two games, using game reviews as the primary source of data to learn about the strengths andthe weaknesses of the two games. Thematic analysis has been applied to a total of 27 game reviewsof space RTS games Homeworld and O.R.B. Codes describing various strong and weak aspects of bothgames have been extracted from the texts. The codes have been grouped into various categories traditionallydescribed in game reviews, such as the story line, the UI, the graphics, etc. Using these codesas a basis, a number of explanations have been suggested as to why the game Homeworld has beenmore successful than the game O.R.B. The main reasons discovered are that Homeworld was releasedseveral years before its competitor and that some of important game features of O.R.B. suffered frompoorer technical execution in comparison to equivalent features in Homeworld.

Denna artikel undersöker hur förväntningarna hos spelaren inför en upplevelse påverkar dennes subjektiva upplevelse med ett verk. Genom självutvärdering från spelare påvisar undersökningen kopplingen mellan förväntningar och upplevd upplevelse genom den tillhörande gestaltnings designkontext. Denna undersökning ämnar försöka ge en definition på termen “spelarens förväntningar”, samt hur denna term kan användas i spelskapande som ett verktyg för att uppnå förståelse för spelaren. Detta genom ett fokus på de subjektiva politiska-, etiska- och kulturella värderingarna hos spelaren. / This article investigates how expectations among players before an interaction with a game design could influence the subjective experience. This article shows the influence a player’s expectation has on the subjective experience with a specific design context through the prototype accompanied by this paper. This investigation aims to give the term “Player’s Expectation” a definition, as well as a demonstration of using said term with the goal of understanding the individual player. While simultaneously focusing on the player’s political-, ethical- and cultural values.

In the capitalistic landscape of games today there exists a paradigm where metrics rule over game design which constrains the creativity and diversity of game design. Realistic games have seen a surge in popularity under this paradigm and as an artist I look to the art movement of impressionism for answers. In 19th century France, impressionist painters managed to escape the conventional realism of their time and their work diversified art. I explore how game mechanics could be refined using impressionist painting techniques as inspiration. Existing definitions of game mechanics such as Sicart (2008) which sees mechanics as methods invoked by agents, designed for interaction with the game state and Lundgren et al. (2003) which see mechanics as any part of the rule system that covers one possible kind of interaction that takes place during the game, both definitions fail to recognize the context (game) in which they exist and looks at mechanics in isolation. Using the analogy of a game as a painting, the properties of a brushstroke is translated into six considerations (size, placement, angle, visibility, shape, and overlap) which can be used to explore game mechanics in a novel way. Through three case studies I learned that my approach to game mechanics can be complementary to existing definitions and provides a language to discuss game mechanics. The six considerations proved useful both in research and in practice and enables a designer to quickly explore game mechanics, embracing the context of the game they exist in. / I dagens spels kapitalistiska landskap existerar det ett paradigm där metrik styr över speldesign vilket stryper speldesignens kreativitet och diversitet. Realistiska spel har blivit mer populära under detta paradigm och som en konstnär så letar jag i konströrelsen impressionism för svar. Under 1800-talets Frankrike lyckades impressionistiska konstnärer fly från tidens konventionella realism och deras arbete diversifierade konst. Jag utforskar hur spelmekaniker kan förädlas med användning av impressionistiska målningstekniker som inspiration. Existerande definitioner av spelmekaniker som Sicarts (2008) ser spelmekaniker som metoder åberopade av agenter, designade för interaktioner med spelets tillstånd och Lundgren et al. (2003) som ser spelmekaniker som en del av det regelsystemet som täcker en möjlig interaktion som tar plats under spelets gång, både definitionerna misslyckas med att se på spelmekaniker i deras kontext och kollar på spelmekaniker i isolering.  Med analogin av ett spel som en målning, så översätts ett penseldrags egenskaper till sex överväganden (storlek, placering, vinkel, synlighet, form och överlappning) som används till att utforska spelmekaniker på ett originellt sätt. Genom tre studier har jag lärt mig att mitt tillvägagångssätt bevisar sig vara användbart både för forskning och i praktik samt att det tillåter designern att snabbt utforska spelmekaniker med spelets kontext i åtanke.

In recent times, companies have been motivated to transition towards sustainable development. This motivation is driven by several external and internal factors such as awareness about limited resources, environmental degradation, economic profitability, changes in regulations, etc. Transitioning towards sustainability is not an easy task. There can be several challenges such as the multi-dimensional aspect of sustainable development, changes in workflow , investing in/inventing new technology , etc. T o tackle these challenges, a strategic transition is required. In order to help organizations strategically move towards sustainable development, Göran Broman and Karl- Henrik Robèrt have provided a framework through their research. It can be an overwhelming task for a company to understand and implement this framework. The thesis addresses this challenge by designing a board game around the operational procedure provided by the framework. To develop the game, Evensen et al.’s model was leveraged which utilized different inputs such as literature review, Broman and Robèrt’s framework, and thematic analysis of interviews as inputs for game development. The interviewing process included semi-structured interviews of eight employees (sustainability-related positions) from different companies to understand how their companies are perceiving sustainable development, implementing sustainable practices, and what are the needs and challenges faced. This thesis contributes to academia in two ways. First, it extends the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) by providing an application-based learning tool. After studying the theoretical side of the framework, the developed game can enhance the understanding of the framework. Second, it modifies the game design model by substituting generative research with a framework (FSSD) as an input and further discusses the benefits of having FSSD as an input element. From a practical perspective, apart from providing a better understanding of sustainability and educating companies about FSSD, the board game session enables the employees to think about how to implement FSSD for their specific scenario. Additionally, it also provides companies a controlled environment to think about risks and foresee the consequences of their future actions. Hence, providing a safety net before the initiation of the implementation process.

The stories humans tell and are told about climate change matters in our understanding of the phenomena, and have an impact on how we act in relation to it. However, climate fiction video games are few in numbers. This project presents the development of “The Testing Bureau”; an interactive fiction game with a story inspired by climate research. The research used is that of the shared socioeconomic pathways: five scenarios that present different socio-economic and political movements and their impact on mitigating and adapting to climate change (O’Neill et. al 2015). The game has been created as a response to the lack of climate fiction within video games, as well as being a way to make climate change research visible outside of scientific circles. Playtests indicated that the game held the potential of spurring personal reflection and engagement on the topics of the policies and possible endings.