Creating meaningful games through values-driven design

Adam Michael Leonard Jerrett; Peter Howell; Neil Dansey

Creating meaningful games through values-driven design

Adam Michael Leonard Jerrett^*, Peter Howell^*, Neil Dansey

^*Corresponding author for this work

The Independent Institute of Education

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

The interactivity present in games makes them useful vehicles for the exploration of various concepts outside of “finding the fun”. Empathy games – games that are developed to educate and encourage empathetic responses from players about a scenario – are one such example. However, the notion of empathy game design overlaps with other tangential design theories like emotional game design, radical game design, and critical game design. These theories often overlap but are difficult to discover because of their different naming conventions.

To assist designers, this paper discusses design principles from these and other similar game design frameworks. Using these, it presents a consolidated set of design principles and considerations that can be applied to game projects. These principles are presented to inspire future design work to explore lesser-known experiences, in the hopes of being more inclusive of, and more meaningful to, a diverse player base.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	DiGRA '20 - Proceedings of the 2020 DiGRA International Conference
Subtitle of host publication	Play Everywhere
Publisher	Digital Games Research Association
Number of pages	17
Publication status	Published - 29 Sept 2020
Event	DiGRA 2020 - Tampere University, Tampere, Finland Duration: 2 Jun 2020 → 6 Jun 2020 https://digra2020.org/

Conference

Conference	DiGRA 2020
Country/Territory	Finland
City	Tampere
Period	2/06/20 → 6/06/20
Internet address	https://digra2020.org/

Keywords

serious games
design principles
inclusion
values-driven
prosocial
empathy
noissn

Access to Document

4 Citations
1 Article
1 Artefact
1 Exhibition

What We Take With Us - alternate reality game
Jerrett, A. M. L. & Lianne, E. (Performer), 19 Feb 2023
Research output: Non-textual form › Artefact

Open Access
What We Take With Us - room-based game
Jerrett, A. M. L., 28 Jan 2023
Research output: Non-textual form › Exhibition
Values throughout the Game Space
Jerrett, A. M. L. & Howell, P., 31 Oct 2022, In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 6, CHI PLAY, 27 p., 257.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
476 Downloads (Pure)

1 Finished

What We Take With Us
Jerrett, A. (PI), Howell, P. (Team Member), Higgins, M. (Team Member) & Dansey, N. (Team Member)
1/10/19 → 1/03/24
Project: Innovation

1 Participation in conference

DiGRA 2022
Jerrett, A. (Presented paper)
7 Jul 2022 → 11 Jul 2022
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference

Cite this

@inproceedings{94c1a28714c54315b35239c37d65e3fe,

title = "Creating meaningful games through values-driven design",

abstract = "The interactivity present in games makes them useful vehicles for the exploration of various concepts outside of “finding the fun”. Empathy games – games that are developed to educate and encourage empathetic responses from players about a scenario – are one such example. However, the notion of empathy game design overlaps with other tangential design theories like emotional game design, radical game design, and critical game design. These theories often overlap but are difficult to discover because of their different naming conventions. To assist designers, this paper discusses design principles from these and other similar game design frameworks. Using these, it presents a consolidated set of design principles and considerations that can be applied to game projects. These principles are presented to inspire future design work to explore lesser-known experiences, in the hopes of being more inclusive of, and more meaningful to, a diverse player base.",

keywords = "serious games, design principles, inclusion, values-driven, prosocial, empathy, noissn",

author = "Jerrett, \{Adam Michael Leonard\} and Peter Howell and Neil Dansey",

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language = "English",

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Jerrett, AML , Howell, P & Dansey, N 2020, Creating meaningful games through values-driven design. in DiGRA '20 - Proceedings of the 2020 DiGRA International Conference: Play Everywhere. Digital Games Research Association, DiGRA 2020, Tampere, Finland, 2/06/20. <http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/creating-meaningful-games-through-values-driven-design-principles/>

TY - GEN

T1 - Creating meaningful games through values-driven design

AU - Jerrett, Adam Michael Leonard

AU - Howell, Peter

AU - Dansey, Neil

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PY - 2020/9/29

Y1 - 2020/9/29

N2 - The interactivity present in games makes them useful vehicles for the exploration of various concepts outside of “finding the fun”. Empathy games – games that are developed to educate and encourage empathetic responses from players about a scenario – are one such example. However, the notion of empathy game design overlaps with other tangential design theories like emotional game design, radical game design, and critical game design. These theories often overlap but are difficult to discover because of their different naming conventions. To assist designers, this paper discusses design principles from these and other similar game design frameworks. Using these, it presents a consolidated set of design principles and considerations that can be applied to game projects. These principles are presented to inspire future design work to explore lesser-known experiences, in the hopes of being more inclusive of, and more meaningful to, a diverse player base.

AB - The interactivity present in games makes them useful vehicles for the exploration of various concepts outside of “finding the fun”. Empathy games – games that are developed to educate and encourage empathetic responses from players about a scenario – are one such example. However, the notion of empathy game design overlaps with other tangential design theories like emotional game design, radical game design, and critical game design. These theories often overlap but are difficult to discover because of their different naming conventions. To assist designers, this paper discusses design principles from these and other similar game design frameworks. Using these, it presents a consolidated set of design principles and considerations that can be applied to game projects. These principles are presented to inspire future design work to explore lesser-known experiences, in the hopes of being more inclusive of, and more meaningful to, a diverse player base.

KW - serious games

KW - design principles

KW - inclusion

KW - values-driven

KW - prosocial

KW - empathy

KW - noissn

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UR - http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/DiGRA_2020_paper_66.pdf

M3 - Conference contribution

BT - DiGRA '20 - Proceedings of the 2020 DiGRA International Conference

PB - Digital Games Research Association

T2 - DiGRA 2020

Y2 - 2 June 2020 through 6 June 2020

ER -

Creating meaningful games through values-driven design

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

What We Take With Us - alternate reality game

What We Take With Us - room-based game

Values throughout the Game Space

Projects

What We Take With Us

Activities

DiGRA 2022

Cite this