O fenômeno metafórico, caro às ciências da linguagem, tem recentemente adentrado também os estudos cognitivos, visto que se tem advogado que a metáfora não ocorre apenas na linguagem, mas constitui processos do pensamento. Argumento aqui que a metaforização articula singularidades que operam na contiguidade entre linguagem e cognição e, nela, na invenção de si e do mundo. Para tanto, um projeto de pesquisa-intervenção foi cartografado, através da criação de um método com retalhos, denominado pat(c)hwork. No projeto, desenvolvido pelo Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ecologias e Políticas Cognitivas (NUCOGS-UFRGS), um jogo digital móvel baseado em localização foi produzido para ser jogado no Parque Jardim Botânico de Porto Alegre, em um contexto não formal de aprendizagem. O jogo foi testado por estudantes do 4º e 5º ano do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública conveniada com o parque e com o grupo de pesquisa, através de oficinas. O foco cartográfico enfatizou o linguajar como agir humano na linguagem, com especial atenção à hipótese de que o mesmo caracteriza-se também pela metaforicidade O referencial teórico apóia-se na teoria autopoiética, por meio da concepção de linguagem como linguajar, entrelaçada ao emocionar e ao conversar, compondo redes de conversação; na teoria da enação, mediante a noção de cognição incorporada; na linguística cognitiva, especialmente na teoria da metáfora conceitual, como processo de fabricação e organização que pressupõe a corporeidade; e na cognição inventiva, pela costura dos conceitos de políticas, ecologias e tecnologias cognitivas. Ao cartografarmos retalhos linguageiros de conexões entre os domínios físico e digital, necessários à jogabilidade de um jogo móvel de localização, esperamos contribuir para uma compreensão do fenômeno metafórico como modulador da linguagem e da cognição como ações corporificadas, emergentes e acentradas, processos e produtos de recorrências e recursões operadas no entrelaçamento linguajar-conhecer ao longo do viver. / The metaphorical phenomenon, dear to the sciences of language, has also recently entered the cognitive studies, since it has been argued that metaphor does not occur only in language, but constitutes processes of thought. I argue here that metaphorization articulates singularities that operate in the contiguity between language and cognition and, within it, in the invention of oneself and of the world. For this, a research-intervention project was mapped through the creation of a patchwork method, called pat(c)hwork. In the project, developed by the research group Núcleo de Ecologias e Políticas Cognitivas (NUCOGS-UFRGS), a location-based mobile game was produced to be played at the Botanical Garden of Porto Alegre, in a non-formal learning context. The game was tested by students from the 4th and 5th grades of an elementary public school that entered a partnership with the park and the research group, through workshops. The cartographic focus emphasized languaging as human action in language, with special attention to the hypothesis that it is also characterized by metaphoricity The theoretical research framework is based on autopoietic theory, through the conception of language as languaging, intertwined with emotion and conversation, composing conversation networks; on enactivism, through the notion of incorporated cognition; on cognitive linguistics, especially on the theory of conceptual metaphor, as a process of fabrication and organization that presupposes corporeality; and on inventive cognition, by sewing the concepts of cognitive policies, ecologies and technologies. By mapping patches of connections between the physical and the digital domains, necessary for the gameplay of a location-based mobile game, we hope to contribute to an understanding of the metaphorical phenomenon as a modulator of embodied, emerging and decentralized language and cognition as modes of actions, processes and products of recurrences and recursions operated in the intertwining of languaging and knowing along living.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:51:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Os mais almejados objetivos da engenharia de software são basicamente alta produtividade, com alta qualidade a um baixo custo e uma possível forma de atingi-los é estabelecer reuso de software o processo de criar sistemas de software a partir de sistemas existentes ao invés de criar do início. Neste contexto, uma abordagem que pode habilitar reuso na prática é Linha de Produto de Software (LPS) um conjunto de sistemas de software que compartilham um conjunto comum e gerenciado de funcionalidades que satisfazem uma necessidade específica de um domínio, e que são desenvolvidas a partir de um conjunto de artefatos reusáveis. Um domínio em particular onde a adoção de tal abordagem pode trazer benefícios é o domínio de jogos móveis principalmente porque os jogos precisam executar em diversos dispositivos e existe uma grande quantidade de jogos do mesmo tipo sendo desenvolvidos com funcionalidades em comum. Entretanto, as características do domínio de jogos móveis geralmente criam barreiras para os processos de LPS na prática, tais como, restrições de memória e de tamanho da aplicação e diferentes implementações de API feitas por diferentes fabricantes. Além disso, os atuais processos de LPS ainda carecem de detalhes em fases relacionadas à implementação de artefatos reusáveis, dificultando a administração apropriada das características mencionadas. Dessa forma, este trabalho objetiva definir uma abordagem prática para implementação de artefatos reusáveis em uma LPS para o domínio de jogos móveis com base nas boas práticas do estado da arte na área. Além disso, com a intenção de avaliar a abordagem, um estudo experimental foi executado com três jogos de plataforma para construir a LPS e um quarto jogo foi derivado dela

The decision of which business model to follow, when developing a game, has become one of the most important choices a company has to make. In our re- search we have compared and evaluated different kinds of freemium based busi- ness models. The objective with the research is to follow a constructed business model when developing a game. The game concept is based on an existing game called GoSupernova complemented with a litarature-based study. Which parts of the concept that has been implemented follow the client’s requests, but also discussions on which parts are most essential for the gameplay. The goal with the game concept is to have good potential to consolidate a continuous playing behaviour. To accomplish this we had to take many different factors into account that could affect the user’s opinion of the game, both in short and long term. The game should be satisfying enough to get users to play, but unsatisfying enough so users to have something to work for. This can also benefit in-app purchases, when users try to achive different goals.

Context. Daily active listening is important for the deaf and hard of hearing people (DHH) of their hearing rehabilitation, but the related hearing activities are usually not enough for them due to kinds of reasons. Although some traditional desktop computer-assisted tools were created for encouraging active listening, the usage rate is not high. Nowadays, mobile smart devices become more and more widely used and easily accessible all around the world. Game applications on these devices are good tools for training related activities. However, in the market, there are limited games designed for the DHH, especially aiming for engaging them in active listening. Therefore, such a game on mobile platform is the inspiration for increasing their everyday active listening. Objective. In this study, an audio-based mobile game application called the Music Puzzle was to create on Android operating system, for encouraging the DHH in their active listening. With aim of making the game have good usability and engaging for real use, we were to evaluate the game and conduct experiments on its usage, to see if it could be more used than another traditional hearing game on desktop platform and bring greater amount active listening for the DHH. Methods. In this study, overall, methods of literature review, game development, preliminary and evaluation experiments, as well as tracking study were used. In the development phase, interaction design theories and techniques was applied for assisting the design work. Android and Pure Data were employed for the software implementation work. In the evaluation phase, System Usability Scale (SUS) and Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire were used for respectively testing the game usability and engagement. Then a four-week tracking study was conducted to acquire the usage data of the mobile game among the target group. Afterwards, the data was collected and compared with the usage data of the desktop game using statistical method of paired sample t-test. Results. From the preliminary experiments results, most of the participants reported their enjoyment with playing Music Puzzle and willingness to use it. Subsequent experiment gave good results on the game usability and engagement. The final tracking study shows that most participants activated and played Music Puzzle during the given time period. Compared with the desktop game, the DHH spent significantly greater amount of time on playing the mobile game. Conclusion. The study indicates that the Music Puzzle has good usability and it is engaging. Compared with the desktop game, The Music Puzzle mobile game is a more effective tool for encouraging and increasing the amount of active listening time among the DHH people in their everyday life.

Context. There has been a remarkable growth of the mobile game industry since the raging pandemic covid-19 destroyed many businesses across several industries [1]. Nowadays mobile gaming has been one of the highest performing industries globally, raking in more billions in revenue [1,2]. Understanding the direction and aspects to improve the quality of products and reduce the cost is important for a mobile gaming company to stand out. There is a plethora of literature on how to improve the related product quality [3]. One of them is to analyze and optimize the various requirements in each version update, and how these requirements could be elicited from the company’s development plan and user feedback. Specifically, mobile game companies would review the user comments of their products from various application platforms such as Google Play and Apple store, select the informative comments with specific user requirements according to their own standard, and finally elicit and then implement these requirements in the follow-up version updates. During this process, it is important to control the lead time---the time cost for mobile game companies to review and select the valuable user comments, make decisions to apply the changes, make a development plan afterwards and finally put it into action. In the current increasingly intense competitive environment, time-based dimensions of a product such as the lead-time are becoming an increasingly important component in assessing strategic advantage, since having products early increases the possible market introduction window. Meanwhile, traditional long lead times and high inventory levels may be less appropriate and more costly endeavors that may not even achieve product parity [4]. To compress the product lead time was the priority task to help companies keep their competitiveness [5]. To fulfil this aim, fundamental changes must be made in every function that affects the delivery of the product. However, most existing literature focuses on the lead time in the traditional software industry, which can be different in the case of the mobile game apps. We herein in this paper explore the contents of lead time in the mobile gaming industry. We designed a series of steps to explore the real situation of lead time in the mobile gaming industry. Differences between mobile gaming and traditional software industries are also of interest to be explored.       Objectives. The main purpose of our research was to study the lead time which would be caused during the process of implementing users’ requirements. We tried to achieve the purpose from two aspects: First, we investigated whether there were differences in the lead time of different requirement types. Second, we investigated whether the lead time differences existed in different types of mobile games.   Methods. Our group used Case Study as the main research method to investigate the lead time in real cases.   Results. .First, there were differences in the lead time of implementing different types of requirements. Such as the lead time of bug fix types of requirements would be shorter than feature added types of requirements. Second, different types of mobile game apps had differences in the lead time. For example, MOBA games would take longer time on Function update or Feature request types of requirements, and FPS games would take longer time on exclusive event types of requirements. The details would be shown in part 4.2 and 4.3.   Conclusions. Two research questions in our thesis were answered. When mobile game companies dealt with requirements in user feedback, the lead time objectively existed. We could calculate the length of the lead time of different types of requirements. Moreover, different types of requirements had various lead times. For example, the lead time caused by bug fixing requirement would be shorter compared with that of adding new functions. And this research provided some fundamental results to both academic field and mobile game industry field.   Keywords: Mobile game apps, User reviews, User requirements, Lead time

In this study we will investigate the evolution of manipulative and experientially devaluative business practices in the mobile game industry from the perspective of game designers. The focus will be placed on the use of Dark Design Patterns defined in previous research by Zagal et al. (2013), significant changes since their cataloguing in said study, and the emergence of new ones. To do this, we isolate the different Game Modes of Coin Master and use Formal Analysis to break down various systems and interactions. In order to identify Dark Patterns, we use Zagal et al. (2013) study, supplemented by a list of potentially exploitable cognitive biases found in the work of Mathur et al (2019) as our theoretical framework. We discovered that many of the previously defined Dark Patterns can still be found in Coin master, along with hitherto new and undefined ones, chiefly related to company or developer interests as opposed to the players’. Dark Patterns of monetary and temporal nature appeared to have a close connection as they often manifested together, also commonly underpinned by exploitation of cognitive biases. Our findings are indicative of an increased intensity of predation on players, primarily motivated by monetary gain and to the detriment of player experience. / I denna studie undersöker vi utvecklingen av manipulativa och upplevelsemässigt nedvärderande affärsmodeller i mobil-spelsindustrin ur en speldesigners perspektiv. Undersökningens fokus riktas mot användningen och inkluderingen av Mörka Design Mönster, definierade i en tidigare studie av Zagal et al. (2013), förändringar i dessa mönster sedan deras kategorisering i sagd studie, och uppkomsten av tidigare odefinierade mönster. För att genomföra detta isolerar och analyserar vi de olika spellägena funna i spelet Coin Master med hjälp av Formell Analys, och nyttjar i syfte av identifiering Zagal et al. (2013) studie, samt som komplement den lista över kognitiva bias framtagen i en studie utförd av Mathur et al (2019) som teoretisk grundstomme. Vi upptäckte att flera utav de redan definierade mönstren i Zagal et al (2013) forskning består i sin närvaro än idag i Coin Master, beblandade med ett antal nya mönster, i överlag relaterade till företagets eller utvecklarens egna intressen istället för spelarens. Mörka Mönster av monetär och temporal karaktär påträffas ofta i samband med varandra, då i flera fall även med utnyttjande av kognitiva bias. Våra resultat är indikativa av en ökad vikt placerad på målsättningen att föregå värdet av spelupplevelsen i utvecklarens ekonomiska intressen, på spelares bekostnad.

Background: P2W games (Pay-to-Win) occupy a significant position in the Chinese gaming market, attracting a large number of players to participate and spend money. However, there is still a knowledge gap in understanding the motivational factors behind the behavior and psychology of Chinese players in terms of their purchase motivation in specific games Diablo: Immortal. Purpose: The objective of this study is to use the TCV framework to explore in depth the purchase motivations of Chinese players in the P2W game Diablo Immortal and to find out what factors have the greatest impact on the purchase of virtual items within this game. Method: In the method section, the article uses a qualitative research method to conduct semi-structured interviews. Convenience sampling and snowball sampling were conducted through friends close to the author, and 8 respondents were selected who met the research criteria. After data collection, a thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data.  Conclusion: This study reveals that Chinese players in the P2W game Diablo: Immortal are motivated to purchase virtual items based on five key themes: functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value, and monetary value. Among these, social value emerges as the strongest motivator, followed closely by conditional value, emotional value, functional value, and monetary value. The findings highlight the importance of enhancing the social aspects of the game, such as fostering player interactions and creating a sense of community. Additionally, developers should consider offering attractive discounts and promotions to stimulate player buying behavior. These insights provide valuable guidance for game developers and operators seeking to understand and cater to the motivations of Chinese players in the context of virtual item purchases.

Mobile games present a great opportunity for organizations with sustainability agendas to spread their message and generate revenue towards its cause, as they are the best money generating apps. This can be done through designing so-called persuasive games. A major challenge when designing such a game is that the sustainability agenda might compromise the gaming experience, rendering an uninteresting game. The present research explores what could trigger both an interesting game that also compromises a do-good agenda by designing and play testing two versions of a persuasive game called Aqua Escape. Results indicated that users felt more excited about the game once they knew about the social agenda. They also wanted more information on the social agenda integrated into the app than was already there. / Mobilspel generar störst intäkter av mobilapplikationer och skapar därför en möjlighet för företag med hållbarhetsagendor att sprida deras budskap och generera intäkter till deras ändamål. Detta kan göras genom att designa så kallade övertygande spel (eng. persuasive games). En stor utmaning i designandet av ett sådant spel är att hållbarhetsagendan riskerar att äventyra spelupplevelsen och rendera ett ointressant spel. Denna studie utforskar hur ett intressant spel med en hållbarhetsagenda kan designas genom att designa och speltesta två versioner av ett övertygande spel kallat Aqua Escape. Resultatet indikerar att spelarna fick en förstärkt positiv känsla av spelet när de förstod att spelet hade en hållbarhetsagenda. Spelarna ville även att hållbarhetsagendan skulle integreras mer i spelet.

Smartphones have become a staple in many people's day to day lives and we’re playing more games on them than ever before. This has lead to the gaming market being filled with thousands upon thousands of games to choose from. A lot of these games are using commercials and advertisement as a way to generate income for the developers. This can however have a negative impact on the player's user experience. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the impact different factors of advertisements have on user experience and how developers can minimize the negative impact of their advertisements, a survey of advertisements in mobile games was done, followed by a series of semi-structured interviews with users of mobile games.The result was better knowledge of which factors affected aspects of the user experience, as well as three guidelines that developers can follow when implementing advertisement in their games, to minimize the negative impact their ads have on the player's user experience. / Smartphones har blivit en central del av många personers dagliga liv och många av användarna spelar spel på sina smartphones. Detta har lett till en marknad som kryllar av spel för användare att välja och vraka mellan. Många av de här spelen använder sig av reklam för att generera intäkter till utvecklarna. Den här reklamen kan dock medföra en negativ påverkan på spelarnas användarupplevelse. För att bättre förstå hur olika faktorer hos reklamen påverkar aspekter hos användarupplevelsen och vilka åtgärder utvecklare kan ta för att minimera den negativa påverkan som deras reklam har så utfördes en kartläggning av mobila spel, följt av en rad semistrukturerade intervjuer med användare av mobila spel. Arbetet resulterade i djupare förståelse för hur olika faktorer hos reklamen påverkar användarupplevelsen, samt tre stycken riktlinjer som utvecklare kan följa när de implementerar reklam i sina spel, för att minimera den negativa påverkan som reklamen har på spelarens användarupplevelse.

The thesis is focused on international marketing of gaming industry. It’s focus is on trends and possibilities of international marketing strategy for microtransactions. The theoretical part aims to define basic concept of gaming industry, marketing, microtransactions, customer behavior and ways to engage with him. The analytical part is creating a concept of international marketing strategy for a game, which is being developed by the author of this thesis based on quality research and theoretical background. This strategy is supposed to engage with customers not interested in microtransactions.