SWaGUR: Saskatchewan-Waterloo Games User Research
The
Saskatchewan-Waterloo Games User Research (SWaGUR) program brings together 11 researchers from 7 departments at the Universities of Waterloo and Saskatchewan with the long-term goal of training 85 HQP in GUR in an interdisciplinary environment in collaboration with our industrial partners to serve the needs of an important part of Canada's information technology sector. The team of world-leading games researchers draws upon their interdisciplinary perspectives across science, engineering, social science, and humanities to apply academic learning (courses) and experiential learning (projects) in an industrially-relevant context to train HQP in both research and professional skills.
The SWaGUR CREATE initiative addresses the Human Interaction with Digital Information research topic within the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) target area. With many computing applications (advancing game technology), the proposed program will generate technologies and provide training in the deployment of technologies that change how people interact with digital information, both for entertainment games and for the rapidly growing serious games sector.
People
Lead
Participants
Rina WehbePh.D. Student, Errors, Perception of AI, Health Games 
Colin WhaleyUndergraduate Researcher, Biomedical Sciences, Older Adults and Technology 
Dennis KappenPh.D. Graduate, Game Design and User Interaction for Older Adults 
Julia BrichVisiting Ph.D. Student, Game Development for Human Emotions 
Joseph TuMaster's Student, Game Design Research, Emotion in Games 
Kenny FungMaster's Student, Unity and Angular Development
Publications
Year 2019
Rina R. Wehbe,
Giovanni Ribeiro,
Kin Pon Fung,
Lennart E. Nacke, and Edward Lank. 2019. Biologically-Inspired Gameplay: Movement Algorithms for Artificially Intelligent (AI) Non-Player Characters (NPC). In
Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2019. Kingston, ON, Canada. CHCCS.
doi:10.20380/GI2019.28 @inproceedings{Wehbe:2019:10.20380/GI2019.28,
author = {Wehbe, Rina and Riberio, Giovanni and Fung, Kin and Nacke, Lennart and Lank, Edward},
title = {Biologically-Inspired Gameplay: Movement Algorithms for Artificially Intelligent (AI) Non-Player Characters (NPC)},
booktitle = {Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2019},
series = {GI 2019},
year = {2019},
issn = {0713-5424},
isbn = {978-0-9947868-4-5},
location = {Kingston, Ontario},
numpages = {9},
doi = {10.20380/GI2019.28},
publisher = {Canadian Information Processing Society},
keywords = {Games User Research (GUR), Biological Algorithms, Non-player Characters (NPCs), Artifical Intelligence (AI), Movement in Games},
}In computer games, designers frequently leverage biologicallyinspired movement algorithms such as flocking, particle swarm optimization, and firefly algorithms to give players the perception of intelligent behaviour of groups of enemy non-player characters (NPCs). While extensive effort has been expended designing these algorithms, a comparison between biologically inspired algorithms and naive directional algorithms (travel towards the opponent) has yet to be completed. In this paper, we compare the biological algorithms listed above against a naive control algorithm to assess the effect that these algorithms have on various measures of player experience. The results reveal that the Swarming algorithm, followed closely by Flocking, provide the best gaming experience. However, players noted that the firefly algorithm was most salient. An understanding of the strengths of different behavioural algorithms for NPCs will contribute to the design of algorithms that depict more intelligent crowd behaviour in gaming and computer simulations.
Gustavo F. Tondello and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2019. Player Characteristics and Video Game Preferences. In
Proceedings of the 2019 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '19. Barcelona, Spain. ACM.
doi:10.1145/3311350.3347185 @inproceedings{Tondello2019c,
abstract = {The Games User Research literature has advanced considerably on understanding why people play games and what different types of games or mechanics they prefer. However, what has been less studied is how models of player preferences explain their game choices. In this study, we address this question by combining and analyzing two datasets (N = 188 and N = 332) containing data about the games that participants enjoy, their player trait scores, and their preferred game elements and playing styles. The results provide evidence that these scores can significantly explain participants' preferences for different games. Additionally, we provide information about the characteristics of players who enjoy each game.},
address = {Barcelona, Spain},
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F. and Nacke, Lennart E.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2019 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '19},
doi = {10.1145/3311350.3347185},
isbn = {9781450366885},
keywords = {game elements,games user research,personalization,player preferences,player traits,video games},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {{Player Characteristics and Video Game Preferences}},
year = {2019}
}The Games User Research literature has advanced considerably on understanding why people play games and what different types of games or mechanics they prefer. However, what has been less studied is how models of player preferences explain their game choices. In this study, we address this question by combining and analyzing two datasets (N = 188 and N = 332) containing data about the games that participants enjoy, their player trait scores, and their preferred game elements and playing styles. The results provide evidence that these scores can significantly explain participants’ preferences for different games. Additionally, we provide information about the characteristics of players who enjoy each game.
Gustavo F. Tondello,
Karina Arrambide,
Giovanni Ribeiro,
Andrew Cen, and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2019. “I don't fit into a single type”: A Trait Model and Scale of Game Playing Preferences. In
Proceedings of INTERACT 2019, LNCS 11747. Springer.
doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29384-0_23 @inproceedings{Tondello2019b,
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F. and Arrambide, Karina and Ribeiro, Giovanni and Cen, Andrew and Nacke, Lennart E.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of INTERACT 2019, LNCS 11747},
publisher = {Springer},
title = {{“I don't fit into a single type”: A Trait Model and Scale of Game Playing Preferences}},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-29384-0_23}
}Player typology models classify different player motivations and behaviours. These models are necessary to design personalized games or to target specific audiences. However, many models lack validation and standard measurement instruments. Additionally, they rely on type theories, which split players into separate categories. Yet, personality research has lately favoured trait theories, which recognize that people's preferences are composed of a sum of different characteristics. Given these shortcomings of existing models, we developed a player traits model built on a detailed review and synthesis of the extant literature, which introduces five player traits: aesthetic orientation, narrative orientation, goal orientation, social orientation, and challenge orientation. Furthermore, we created and validated a 25-item measurement scale for the five player traits. This scale outputs a player profile, which describes participants' preferences for different game elements and game playing styles. Finally, we demonstrate that this is the first validated player preferences model and how it serves as an actionable tool for personalized game design.
Year 2018
Gustavo F. Tondello, Hardy Premsukh, and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2018. A Theory of Gamification Principles Through Goal-Setting Theory. In
Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). IEEE, 1118-1127. Online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10125/50027 @inproceedings{Tondello2018a,
abstract = {Goal-setting theory has been used for decades to explain how to motivate people to perform better in work-related tasks, but more recently gamification has also gained attention as an alternative method to increase engagement and performance in many contexts. However, despite goals and feedback being common elements of gameful implementations, there is a lack of literature explaining how gamification works through the lens of goal-setting theory or suggesting how goal-setting concepts and recommendations can be employed to improve gameful systems. Therefore, we present a literature review and a conceptual framework that establishes a relationship between goal-setting and gamification concepts. Next, we describe how this framework can help explain gamification principles and suggest potential improvements to current gameful design methods. Finally, we propose directions for future empirical research aimed to apply this conceptual framework in practice.},
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F. and Premsukh, Hardy and Nacke, Lennart E.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS)},
publisher = {IEEE},
title = {{A Theory of Gamification Principles Through Goal-Setting Theory}},
year = {2018}
}Goal-setting theory has been used for decades to explain how to motivate people to perform better in work-related tasks, but more recently gamification has also gained attention as an alternative method to increase engagement and performance in many contexts. However, despite goals and feedback being common elements of gameful implementations, there is a lack of literature explaining how gamification works through the lens of goal-setting theory or suggesting how goal-setting concepts and recommendations can be employed to improve gameful systems. Therefore, we present a literature review and a conceptual framework that establishes a relationship between goal-setting and gamification concepts. Next, we describe how this framework can help explain gamification principles and suggest potential improvements to current gameful design methods. Finally, we propose directions for future empirical research aimed to apply this conceptual framework in practice.
Year 2017
Mike Schäkermann,
Giovanni Ribeiro, Guenter Wallner, Simone Kriglstein, Daniel Johnson, Anders Drachen, Rafet Sifa, and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2017. Curiously Motivated: Profiling Curiosity with Self-Reports and Behaviour Metrics in the Game “Destiny”. In
Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '17. Amsterdam, Netherlands. ACM, 143-156 .
doi:10.1145/3116595.3116603 @inproceedings{Schaekermann2017,
abstract = {Identifying player motivations such as curiosity could help game designers analyze player profiles and substantially improve game design. However, research on player profiling focuses on generalized personality traits, not specific aspects of motivation. This study examines how player behaviour indicates constructs of curiosity-related motivation. It contributes a more discriminating operationalization of game-related curiosity. We derive a curiosity measure from established self-report survey methodologies relating to social capital, behavioural activation, obsessive/harmonious passion, and BrainHex player types. We present the results of a cross-sectional study with data from 1,745 players of Destiny—a popular shared-world first-person shooter (FPS) game. Behaviour metrics were paired with four curiosity factors: ‘social' curiosity, ‘sensory/cognitive' curiosity, ‘novelty-seeking' curiosity, and ‘explorative' curiosity. Our findings provide key insights into the relationships between players curiosity and their in-game behaviour. We infer curiosity-related motivational profiles from behaviour metrics, and discuss how this may impact game design and player-computer interaction.},
author = {Schaekermann, Mike and Ribeiro, Giovanni and Wallner, Guenter and Kriglstein, Simone and Johnson, Daniel and Drachen, Anders and Sifa, Rafet and Nacke, Lennart E},
booktitle = {The ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY 2017)},
doi = {10.1145/3116595.3116603},
isbn = {9781450348980},
mendeley-groups = {HCI Games Group Publications},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {{Curiously Motivated: Profiling Curiosity with Self-Reports and Behaviour Metrics in the Game "Destiny"}},
year = {2017}
}Identifying player motivations such as curiosity could help game designers analyze player profiles and substantially improve game design. However, research on player profiling focuses on generalized personality traits, not specific aspects of motivation. This study examines how player behaviour indicates constructs of curiosity-related motivation. It contributes a more discriminating operationalization of game-related curiosity. We derive a curiosity measure from established self-report survey methodologies relating to social capital, behavioural activation, obsessive/harmonious passion, and BrainHex player types. We present the results of a cross-sectional study with data from 1,745 players of Destiny—a popular shared-world first-person shooter (FPS) game. Behaviour metrics were paired with four curiosity factors: ‘social’ curiosity, ‘sensory/cognitive’ curiosity, ‘novelty-seeking’ curiosity, and ‘explorative’ curiosity. Our findings provide key insights into the relationships between players curiosity and their in-game behaviour. We infer curiosity-related motivational profiles from behaviour metrics, and discuss how this may impact game design and player-computer interaction.
Lennart E. Nacke, Zachary O. Toups, and Daniel Johnson. 2017. From Joysticks to Pokémon Go: Games and Play Research in SIGCHI. In
Proceeding of the 2017 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI 2017. Denver, CO, USA. ACM, 1330-1333.
doi:10.1145/3027063.3049284 @inproceedings{Nacke2017c,
address = {Denver, CO, USA},
author = {Nacke, Lennart E and Toups, Zachary O and Johnson, Daniel},
booktitle = {Proceeding of the 2017 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI 2017},
doi = {10.1145/3027063.3049284},
isbn = {9781450346566},
pages = {1330--1333},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {{From Joysticks to Pok{\'{e}}mon Go : Games and Play Research in SIGCHI}},
year = {2017}
}At CHI 2016, a record number of games-related papers were accepted into the conference proceedings and the SIG meeting for games attracted almost 100 people. The games and play subcommittee remained strong at CHI 2017 and showed a variety of submissions. In addition, we see games practitioners within the SIGCHI community running workshops and taking part in the CHI conference. This SIG will continue to be an important forum for everyone doing games research at CHI. We want to engage the community in a discussion about the directions that games research at CHI should take and gather feedback about current HCI research trends for games. To expand this community, we plan to discuss current HCI and games trends, academic dissemination, community outreach, and collaborations with practitioners.
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