Understanding the Game-based Learning Experience: A Framework of Frictions Between Design and Play

Understanding the Game-based Learning Experience: A Framework of Frictions Between Design and Play

Understanding the Game-based Learning Experience: A Framework of Frictions Between Design and Play

By Daniel Fernández Galeote, Marius Diamant, Kristofers Volkovs, Chubo Zeko, Mattia Thibault, Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki, Juho Hamari

Abstract

"Games have been used for utilitarian purposes since at least the 1960s, with gamification pursuing game-like experiences in areas such as education, health, and sustainability. While these methods generally attempt to improve life for players, a central and underexplored issue is the friction between a design that wants players to attain a utilitarian outcome, such as learning, and players who often strive for self-directed play. Based on data collected from user testing of a digital serious game and following an inductive process, we created a thematic framework that focuses on the frictions and tensions that may arise between design and player. This framework may be used to understand how players engage holistically with serious games, but also to improve such games to maximize engagement with the content while acknowledging and allowing for player agency and emergent behavior."

Reference

Fernández Galeote, D., Diamant, M., Volkovs, K., Zeko, C., Thibault, M., Legaki, N. Z., & Hamari, J. (2022, September). Understanding the Game-based Learning Experience: A Framework of Frictions Between Design and Play. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (pp. 1-4). https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3555858.3555933

Keywords

game-based learning, serious games, gamification, design, framework, player experience, autonomy