Disrupting the player’s schematised knowledge of game components

Peter Howell; Brett Stevens; Mark Eyles

Disrupting the player’s schematised knowledge of game components

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

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Abstract

The concept of "conservatism" in game design has been a subject of debate for a number of years. This "conservatism" is linked to "player-centricity‟ in design. Such player-centricity can be suggested to place a limit on the fulfilment of high level cognitive player needs. A framework is thus proposed for disruptive game design that focuses on the player and how they learn about game components. It actively seeks the disruption of knowledge construction as well as the recall process used in applying that knowledge to new situations. Such disruption aims to increase the player‟s cognitive engagement with the game in a way that does not entirely prevent them from understanding the game, which may cause frustration or confusion. This design approach thus aims to provide greater potential for fulfilment of a player‟s high level cognitive needs. The framework is applied to a small case study of the game Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (The Chinese Room, 2013) that was designed and developed utilising its principles.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	DiGRA '14
Subtitle of host publication	proceedings of the 2014 DiGRA International Conference. Vol. 8
Publisher	Digital Games Research Association
Publication status	Published - 2014
Event	DiGRA 2014: <Active Noun> the <Verb> of game <Plural Noun> - Snowbird Summer Resort, Saltlake City, United States Duration: 3 Aug 2014 → 6 Aug 2014

Conference

Conference	DiGRA 2014
Country/Territory	United States
City	Saltlake City
Period	3/08/14 → 6/08/14

Keywords

cognition
development-led research
disruptive game design
memory
schema

Access to Document

digra2014_submission_74Final published version, 510 KB

http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/disrupting-the-players-schematised-knowledge-of-game-components/

2 Paper
1 Software

A theoretical framework of ludic knowledge: a case study in disruption and cognitive engagement
Howell, P., 2016. 19 p.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Open Access
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
Howell, P. (Designer), Pinchbeck, D. M. (Designer), Wade, G. (Producer) & Thompson, P. (Other), Sept 2013
Research output: Non-textual form › Software

Open Access
Schematically disruptive game design
Howell, P., Sept 2011.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Open Access
File

Disruptive game design: a commercial design and development methodology for supporting player cognitive engagement in digital games
Howell, P. M. (Author), Stevens, B. (Supervisor), Eyles, M. (Supervisor) & Pinchbeck, D. M. (Supervisor), Nov 2015
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

File

1 Finished
1 Active

Cognition and Disruption in Gameplay
Howell, P. (PI), Stevens, B. (CoI), Eyles, M. (CoI) & Pinchbeck, D. (Team Member)
1/09/11 → …
Project: Research
AAMFP: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
Howell, P. (PI), Pinchbeck, D. (CoI) & Wade, G. (Team Member)
1/10/11 → 31/12/13
Project: Innovation

1 Participation in conference
1 Membership of network or group

DiGRA 2014
Howell, P. (Presented paper)
3 Aug 2014 → 6 Aug 2014
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
University of Portsmouth (Organisational unit)
Howell, P. (Chair), Dansey, N. (Member), Wade, G. (Member), Turnbull, T. (Member), Eyles, M. (Member), Pinchbeck, D. M. (Member), Higgins, M. (Member), Turnbull, T. (Member), Limpens, A. (Member), Uddin, M. J. (Member) & De Lara, L. (Member)
2006 → …
Activity: Membership types › Membership of network or group

Cite this

@inproceedings{2f217562f80d4831bdd13cfa6991d9d6,

title = "Disrupting the player{\textquoteright}s schematised knowledge of game components",

abstract = "The concept of {"}conservatism{"} in game design has been a subject of debate for a number of years. This {"}conservatism{"} is linked to {"}player-centricity‟ in design. Such player-centricity can be suggested to place a limit on the fulfilment of high level cognitive player needs. A framework is thus proposed for disruptive game design that focuses on the player and how they learn about game components. It actively seeks the disruption of knowledge construction as well as the recall process used in applying that knowledge to new situations. Such disruption aims to increase the player‟s cognitive engagement with the game in a way that does not entirely prevent them from understanding the game, which may cause frustration or confusion. This design approach thus aims to provide greater potential for fulfilment of a player‟s high level cognitive needs. The framework is applied to a small case study of the game Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (The Chinese Room, 2013) that was designed and developed utilising its principles.",

keywords = "cognition, development-led research, disruptive game design, memory, schema",

author = "Peter Howell and Brett Stevens and Mark Eyles",

year = "2014",

language = "English",

booktitle = "DiGRA '14",

publisher = "Digital Games Research Association",

note = "DiGRA 2014 : <Active Noun> the <Verb> of game <Plural Noun> ; Conference date: 03-08-2014 Through 06-08-2014",

}

Howell, P , Stevens, B & Eyles, M 2014, Disrupting the player’s schematised knowledge of game components. in DiGRA '14: proceedings of the 2014 DiGRA International Conference. Vol. 8. Digital Games Research Association, DiGRA 2014, Saltlake City, United States, 3/08/14. <http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/disrupting-the-players-schematised-knowledge-of-game-components/>

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T1 - Disrupting the player’s schematised knowledge of game components

AU - Howell, Peter

AU - Stevens, Brett

AU - Eyles, Mark

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - The concept of "conservatism" in game design has been a subject of debate for a number of years. This "conservatism" is linked to "player-centricity‟ in design. Such player-centricity can be suggested to place a limit on the fulfilment of high level cognitive player needs. A framework is thus proposed for disruptive game design that focuses on the player and how they learn about game components. It actively seeks the disruption of knowledge construction as well as the recall process used in applying that knowledge to new situations. Such disruption aims to increase the player‟s cognitive engagement with the game in a way that does not entirely prevent them from understanding the game, which may cause frustration or confusion. This design approach thus aims to provide greater potential for fulfilment of a player‟s high level cognitive needs. The framework is applied to a small case study of the game Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (The Chinese Room, 2013) that was designed and developed utilising its principles.

AB - The concept of "conservatism" in game design has been a subject of debate for a number of years. This "conservatism" is linked to "player-centricity‟ in design. Such player-centricity can be suggested to place a limit on the fulfilment of high level cognitive player needs. A framework is thus proposed for disruptive game design that focuses on the player and how they learn about game components. It actively seeks the disruption of knowledge construction as well as the recall process used in applying that knowledge to new situations. Such disruption aims to increase the player‟s cognitive engagement with the game in a way that does not entirely prevent them from understanding the game, which may cause frustration or confusion. This design approach thus aims to provide greater potential for fulfilment of a player‟s high level cognitive needs. The framework is applied to a small case study of the game Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (The Chinese Room, 2013) that was designed and developed utilising its principles.

KW - cognition

KW - development-led research

KW - disruptive game design

KW - memory

KW - schema

M3 - Conference contribution

BT - DiGRA '14

PB - Digital Games Research Association

T2 - DiGRA 2014

Y2 - 3 August 2014 through 6 August 2014

ER -

Disrupting the player’s schematised knowledge of game components

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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Research output

Student theses

Projects

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Cite this