Publications: Article

Year 2017

The maturing of gamification research

@article{Nacke2017,
author = {Nacke, Lennart E. and Deterding, Sebastian},
doi = {10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.062},
journal = {Computers in Human Behavior},
title = {{The maturing of gamification research}},
year = {2017},
volume = {71}
}

Year 2014

BrainHex: A Neurobiological Gamer Typology Survey

@article{nacke2014brainhex,
abstract = {This paper briefly presents a player satisfaction model called BrainHex, which was based on insights from neurobiological findings as well as the results from earlier demographic game design models (DGD1 and DGD2). The model presents seven different archetypes of players: Seeker, Survivor, Daredevil, Mastermind, Conqueror, Socialiser, and Achiever. We explain how each of these player archetypes relates to older player typologies (such as Myers-Briggs), and how each archetype characterizes a specific playing style. We conducted a survey among more than 50,000 players using the BrainHex model as a personality type motivator to gather and compare demographic data to the different BrainHex archetypes. We discuss some results from this survey with a focus on psychometric orientation of respondents, to establish relationships between personality types and BrainHex archetypes.},
author = {Nacke, Lennart E and Bateman, Chris and Mandryk, Regan L},
doi = {10.1016/j.entcom.2013.06.002},
journal = {Entertainment Computing},
mendeley-groups = {HCI Games Group Publications},
number = {1},
pages = {55--62},
publisher = {Elsevier},
title = {{BrainHex: A Neurobiological Gamer Typology Survey}},
url = {https://hcigames.com/download/brainhex-a-neurobiological-gamer-typology-survey},
volume = {5},
year = {2014}
}

This paper briefly presents a player satisfaction model called BrainHex, which was based on insights from neurobiological findings as well as the results from earlier demographic game design models (DGD1 and DGD2). The model presents seven different archetypes of players: Seeker, Survivor, Daredevil, Mastermind, Conqueror, Socialiser, and Achiever. We explain how each of these player archetypes relates to older player typologies (such as Myers-Briggs), and how each archetype characterizes a specific playing style. We conducted a survey among more than 50,000 players using the BrainHex model as a personality type motivator to gather and compare demographic data to the different BrainHex archetypes. We discuss some results from this survey with a focus on psychometric orientation of respondents, to establish relationships between personality types and BrainHex archetypes.

Year 2013

A Regression-Based Method for Lightweight Emotional State Detection in Interactive Environments

@article{nogueira2013regression,
Abstract = {With the popularity increase in affective computing techniques the number of emotion detection and recognition systems has risen considerably. However, despite their steady accuracy improvement, they are yet faced with application domain transferability and practical implementation issues. In this paper, we present a novel methodology for modelling individuals' emotional states in multimedia interactive environments, while addressing the aforemen- tioned transferability and practical implementation issues. Our method relies on a two-layer classification process to classify Arousal and Valence based on four distinct physiological sensor inputs. The first classification layer uses several regression models to normalize each of the sensor inputs across participants and experimental conditions, while also correlating each input to either Arousal or Valence. The second classification layer then employs decision trees to merge the various regression outputs into one optimal Arousal/Valence classification. The presented method not only exhibits convincing accuracy ratings -- 89\% for Arousal and 84\% for Valence - but also presents an adaptable and practical ap- proach at emotional state detection in interactive environment experiences.},
Address = {Angra do Heroísmo, Açores, Portugal},
Author = {P. A. Nogueira, R. A. Rodrigues, E. Oliveira, and L. E. Nacke},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A-Regression-Based-Method-for-Lightweight-Emotional-State-Detection-in-Interactive-Environments.png},
Journal = {Proceedings of epia 2013},
Publisher = {Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg},
Title = {A Regression-Based Method for Lightweight Emotional State Detection in Interactive Environments},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/a-regression-based-method-for-lightweight-emotional-state-detection-in-interactive-environments},
Year = {2013},

With the popularity increase in affective computing techniques the number of emotion detection and recognition systems has risen considerably. However, despite their steady accuracy improvement, they are yet faced with application domain transferability and practical implementation issues. In this paper, we present a novel methodology for modelling individuals' emotional states in multimedia interactive environments, while addressing the aforemen- tioned transferability and practical implementation issues. Our method relies on a two-layer classification process to classify Arousal and Valence based on four distinct physiological sensor inputs. The first classification layer uses several regression models to normalize each of the sensor inputs across participants and experimental conditions, while also correlating each input to either Arousal or Valence. The second classification layer then employs decision trees to merge the various regression outputs into one optimal Arousal/Valence classification. The presented method not only exhibits convincing accuracy ratings -- 89\% for Arousal and 84\% for Valence - but also presents an adaptable and practical ap- proach at emotional state detection in interactive environment experiences.

Contextual Influences on Mobile Player Experience--A Game User Experience Model

@article{engl2012contextual,
Abstract = {In this paper we are discussing a new model of mobile gameplay experience with a special focus on contextual influences of play in ubiquitous environments. The model was developed based on prior general gameplay models which were extended and refined based on the results and personal experiences taken from several evaluative user field studies with mobile games. The experimental results point to two different playing contexts: home and mobile, which were evaluated with a gameplay experience questionnaire (GEQ). The GEQ showed significant difference in negative affect and immersion between mobile and home setting, which are moderated by several influencing contextual factors. This leads us to propose a contextual gameplay experience model that accounts for spatial, temporal, social, cultural, and psychological influences in an external context. The implications of the contextual gameplay model are discussed in light of future research.},
Author = {S. Engl and L. E. Nacke},
Doi = {10.1016/j.entcom.2012.06.001},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Contextual-Influences-on-Mobile-Player-Experience–A-Game-User-Experience-Model.png},
Journal = {Entertainment Computing},
Number = {1},
Pages = {83-91},
Publisher = {Elsevier},
Title = {Contextual Influences on Mobile Player Experience--A Game User Experience Model},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/contextual-influences-on-mobile-player-experience-a-game-user-experience-model},
Volume = {4},
Year = {2013},

In this paper we are discussing a new model of mobile gameplay experience with a special focus on contextual influences of play in ubiquitous environments. The model was developed based on prior general gameplay models which were extended and refined based on the results and personal experiences taken from several evaluative user field studies with mobile games. The experimental results point to two different playing contexts: home and mobile, which were evaluated with a gameplay experience questionnaire (GEQ). The GEQ showed significant difference in negative affect and immersion between mobile and home setting, which are moderated by several influencing contextual factors. This leads us to propose a contextual gameplay experience model that accounts for spatial, temporal, social, cultural, and psychological influences in an external context. The implications of the contextual gameplay model are discussed in light of future research.

The Effect of Sound on Visual Fidelity Perception in Stereoscopic 3-D

@article{rojas2013effect,
Abstract = {Visual and auditory cues are important facilitators of user engagement in virtual environments and video games. Prior research supports the notion that our perception of visual fidelity (quality) is influenced by auditory stimuli. Understanding exactly how our perception of visual fidelity changes in the pres- ence of multimodal stimuli can potentially impact the design of virtual environments, thus creating more engaging virtual worlds and scenarios. Stereoscopic 3-D display technology provides the users with additional visual information (depth into and out of the screen plane). There have been relatively few studies that have investigated the impact that auditory stimuli have on our perception of visual fidelity in the presence of stereoscopic 3-D. Building on previous work, we examine the effect of auditory stimuli on our perception of visual fidelity within a stereoscopic 3-D environment.},
Author = {D. Rojas, B. Kapralos, A. Hogue, K. Collins, L. E. Nacke, S. Cristancho, C. Conati, and A. Dubrowski},
Doi = {10.1109/TCYB.2013.2269712},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/The-Effect-of-Sound-on-Visual-Fidelity-Perception-in-Stereoscopic-3-D.png},
Journal = {IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics},
Number = {6},
Pages = {1572-1583},
Publisher = {IEEE},
Title = {The Effect of Sound on Visual Fidelity Perception in Stereoscopic 3-D},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/the-effect-of-sound-on-visual-fidelity-perception-in-stereoscopic-3-d},
Volume = {43},
Year = {2013},

Visual and auditory cues are important facilitators of user engagement in virtual environments and video games. Prior research supports the notion that our perception of visual fidelity (quality) is influenced by auditory stimuli. Understanding exactly how our perception of visual fidelity changes in the pres- ence of multimodal stimuli can potentially impact the design of virtual environments, thus creating more engaging virtual worlds and scenarios. Stereoscopic 3-D display technology provides the users with additional visual information (depth into and out of the screen plane). There have been relatively few studies that have investigated the impact that auditory stimuli have on our perception of visual fidelity in the presence of stereoscopic 3-D. Building on previous work, we examine the effect of auditory stimuli on our perception of visual fidelity within a stereoscopic 3-D environment.

Year 2012

Analysing Social Metrics in an Online Game Site

@article{mcewan2012analysing,
Abstract = {Understanding real-time coordination behaviour around multiplayer games is important as it allows designers to make informed decisions about supporting player communities. However, studying existing sites is difficult because of the amounts and range of data involved. In this paper, we argue for using social accounting metrics to investigate large game sites.},
Address = {Montréal, QC, Canada},
Author = {G. McEwan, C. Gutwin, R. L. Mandryk, and L. E. Nacke},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Analysing-Social-Metrics-in-an-Online-Game-Site.png},
Journal = {Proceedings of grand 2012},
Publisher = {GRAND},
Title = {Analysing Social Metrics in an Online Game Site},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/analysing-social-metrics-in-an-online-game-site},
Year = {2012},
BdskUrl1 = {https://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Analysing-Social-Metrics-in-an-Online-Game-Site.pdf}}

Understanding real-time coordination behaviour around multiplayer games is important as it allows designers to make informed decisions about supporting player communities. However, studying existing sites is difficult because of the amounts and range of data involved. In this paper, we argue for using social accounting metrics to investigate large game sites.

Year 2011

Developing a Triangulation System for Digital Game Events, Observational Video, and Psychophysiological Data to Study Emotional Responses to a Virtual Character

@article{matias2011developing,
Abstract = {Game researchers are currently lacking comprehensive data analysis tools that triangulate game events, event-related survey data, and psychophysiological data. Such a tool would allow a comprehensive analysis of player engagement in digital games. The development of this tool was motivated by an experimental psychology study that asked whether emotional reactions to congruent and incongruent emotional stimuli within an intrinsically motivated game task are the same as within the traditional experimental picture-viewing paradigm. To address the needs of our study, we used the Source SDK (Valve Corporation) for creating a system that automates event logging, video management psychophysiological data markup. The system also allowed recording of self-report measures at individual play events without interrupting the game activity.},
Author = {J. M. Kivikangas, L. E. Nacke, and N. Ravaja},
Doi = {10.1016/j.entcom.2011.03.006},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Developing-a-Triangulation-System-for-Digital-Game-Events-Observational-Video-and-Psychophysiological-Data-to-Study-Emotional-Responses-to-a-Virtual-Character.png},
Issn = {18759521},
Journal = {Entertainment computing},
Number = {1},
Pages = {11-16},
Publisher = {Elsevier},
Title = {Developing a Triangulation System for Digital Game Events, Observational Video, and Psychophysiological Data to Study Emotional Responses to a Virtual Character},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/developing-a-triangulation-system-for-digital-game-events-observational-video-and-psychophysiological-data-to-study-emotional-responses-to-a-virtual-character},
Volume = {2},
Year = {2011},
BdskUrl1 = {https://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Developing-a-Triangulation-System-for-Digital-Game-Events-Observational-Video-and-Psychophysiological-Data-to-Study-Emotional-Responses-to-a-Virtual-Character.pdf},
BdskUrl2 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2011.03.006}}

Game researchers are currently lacking comprehensive data analysis tools that triangulate game events, event-related survey data, and psychophysiological data. Such a tool would allow a comprehensive analysis of player engagement in digital games. The development of this tool was motivated by an experimental psychology study that asked whether emotional reactions to congruent and incongruent emotional stimuli within an intrinsically motivated game task are the same as within the traditional experimental picture-viewing paradigm. To address the needs of our study, we used the Source SDK (Valve Corporation) for creating a system that automates event logging, video management psychophysiological data markup. The system also allowed recording of self-report measures at individual play events without interrupting the game activity.

LAIF: A Logging and Interaction Framework for Gaze-Based Interfaces in Virtual Entertainment Environments

@article{nacke2011laif,
Abstract = {Eye tracking is starting to be used for evaluation and interaction in virtual environments. Especially digital games can benefit from an integrated approach, using eye tracking technology for analysis and interaction. One benefit is faster development of gaze interaction games, which can be automatically evaluated in iterative development cycles. For this purpose, we present a framework of programming libraries that enables rapid game development and gameplay analysis within an experimental research environment. The framework presented here is extensible for different kinds of logging (e.g., psychophysiological and in-game behavioral data) and facilitates studies using eye-tracking technology in digital entertainment environments. An experimental study using gaze-only interaction in a digital game is presented and highlights the framework's capacity to create games and evaluate novel entertainment interfaces.},
Author = {L. E. Nacke, S. Stellmach, D. Sasse, J. Niesenhaus, and R. Dachselt},
Doi = {10.1016/j.entcom.2010.09.004},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LAIF-A-Logging-and-Interaction-Framework-for-Gaze-Based-Interfaces-in-Virtual-Entertainment-Environments.png},
Journal = {Entertainment computing},
Keywords = {digital games,eye tracking,gameplay logging,interactive techniques,software tool,xna},
Number = {4},
Pages = {265-273},
Publisher = {Elsevier},
Title = {LAIF: A Logging and Interaction Framework for Gaze-Based Interfaces in Virtual Entertainment Environments},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/laif-a-logging-and-interaction-framework-for-gaze-based-interfaces-in-virtual-entertainment-environments},
Volume = {2},
Year = {2011},
BdskUrl1 = {https://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/LAIF-A-Logging-and-Interaction-Framework-for-Gaze-Based-Interfaces-in-Virtual-Entertainment-Environments.pdf},
BdskUrl2 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2010.09.004}}

Eye tracking is starting to be used for evaluation and interaction in virtual environments. Especially digital games can benefit from an integrated approach, using eye tracking technology for analysis and interaction. One benefit is faster development of gaze interaction games, which can be automatically evaluated in iterative development cycles. For this purpose, we present a framework of programming libraries that enables rapid game development and gameplay analysis within an experimental research environment. The framework presented here is extensible for different kinds of logging (e.g., psychophysiological and in-game behavioral data) and facilitates studies using eye-tracking technology in digital entertainment environments. An experimental study using gaze-only interaction in a digital game is presented and highlights the framework's capacity to create games and evaluate novel entertainment interfaces.

Towards a Framework of Player Experience Research

@article{nacke2011towards,
Abstract = {Player Experience (PX), user experience in the specific context of digital games, is currently a nebulous term with no commonly accepted definition or coherent backing theory. In this paper, a brief overview of the current stateof-the-art of PX knowledge is presented, with a specific emphasis on comparing PX research with the massive amount of knowledge currently being generated about user experience in other areas of HCI, notably productivity applications. Furthermore, to outline the current gaps in the knowledge of PX and integrate current research into a unified theoretical framework, creating a shared point of reference for the decidedly multi-disciplinary PX research.},
Address = {Bordeaux, France},
Author = {L. E. Nacke and A. Drachen},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Towards-a-Framework-of-Player-Experience-Research.png},
Journal = {Proceedings of the international workshop on evaluating player experience in games at fdg 2011},
Title = {Towards a Framework of Player Experience Research},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/towards-a-framework-of-player-experience-research},
Year = {2011},
BdskUrl1 = {https://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Towards-a-Framework-of-Player-Experience-Research.pdf}}

Player Experience (PX), user experience in the specific context of digital games, is currently a nebulous term with no commonly accepted definition or coherent backing theory. In this paper, a brief overview of the current stateof-the-art of PX knowledge is presented, with a specific emphasis on comparing PX research with the massive amount of knowledge currently being generated about user experience in other areas of HCI, notably productivity applications. Furthermore, to outline the current gaps in the knowledge of PX and integrate current research into a unified theoretical framework, creating a shared point of reference for the decidedly multi-disciplinary PX research.

Year 2017

Games User Research and Gamification in Human-Computer Interaction

@article{Nacke2017xrds,
author = {Nacke, Lennart E.},
doi = {10.1145/3123748},
issn = {15284972},
journal = {XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students},
mendeley-groups = {HCI Games Group Publications},
number = {1},
pages = {48--51},
title = {{Games User Research and Gamification in Human-Computer Interaction}},
url = {http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=3140569.3123748},
volume = {24},
year = {2017}
}

The Impact of Health-Related User Interface Sounds on Player Experience

@article{Robb2017,
abstract = {Background. Understanding how sound functions on informational and emotional levels within video games is critical to understanding player experience of games. User interface sounds, such as player-character health, are a pivotal component of gameplay across many video game genres, yet have not been studied in detail. Method. To address this research gap in user interface sounds, we present two studies: The first study examines the impact of the presence or absence of player-health sounds on player experience. The second study explores the impact of the types of sound used to indicate player health. We use mixed methods with qualitative and physiological measures. Results. Our results reveal that despite the presence of visual cues, sound is still important to game design for conveying health-related information and that the type of sound affects player experience.},
author = {Robb, James and Garner, Tom and Collins, Karen and Nacke, Lennart E.},
doi = {10.1177/1046878116688236},
journal = {Simulation {\&} Gaming},
month = {jun},
number = {3},
pages = {402--427},
publisher = {SAGE Publications},
title = {{The Impact of Health-Related User Interface Sounds on Player Experience}},
url = {http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046878116688236},
volume = {48},
year = {2017}
}

Background. Understanding how sound functions on informational and emotional levels within video games is critical to understanding player experience of games. User interface sounds, such as player-character health, are a pivotal component of gameplay across many video game genres, yet have not been studied in detail. Method. To address this research gap in user interface sounds, we present two studies: The first study examines the impact of the presence or absence of player-health sounds on player experience. The second study explores the impact of the types of sound used to indicate player health. We use mixed methods with qualitative and physiological measures. Results. Our results reveal that despite the presence of visual cues, sound is still important to game design for conveying health-related information and that the type of sound affects player experience.

Year 2018

Online-only friends, real-life friends or strangers? Differential associations with passion and social capital in video game play

@article{PERRY2018,
title = "Online-only friends, real-life friends or strangers? Differential associations with passion and social capital in video game play",
journal = "Computers in Human Behavior",
year = "2018",
volume = "79",
issn = "0747-5632",
doi = "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.032",
url = "http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217306052",
author = "Ryan Perry and Anders Drachen and Allison Kearney and Simone Kriglstein and Lennart E. Nacke and Rafet Sifa and Guenter Wallner and Daniel Johnson",
keywords = "Video games, Passion, Social capital, Relationships, Online, Multiplayer"
}

The present study tests a recently proposed model in which social video game play supports wellbeing by contributing to a harmonious type of engagement with the game. Players (N = 2030) of the online-only multiplayer first-person shooter game, Destiny, reported the frequency they played with real-life friends, online-only friends and strangers, their type of engagement with the game – measured as harmonious and obsessive passion, and completed a wellbeing measure of social capital. Telemetry data also recorded their total time playing over the duration of the study. A structural equation model supported the prediction that harmonious – but not obsessive – passion would mediate the positive association between playing with others and social capital. The findings also supported a supplementary hypothesis that the three types of social relationships would be differentially associated with two forms of social capital – bridging versus bonding – as a function of the closeness of social ties. Real-life friends was positively associated with bonding, strangers with bridging, and online-only friends with both. Overall, these results emphasise that social interactions in (and around) online multiplayer video games are effective for building social capital, and do so by ensuring game play is in harmony with other goals and values.

Towards a Trait Model of Video Game Preferences

@article{Tondello2018d,
abstract = {Typologies for understanding players' preferences towards different gameplay styles have gained popularity in research. However, attempts to model players' preferences are based on type models instead of trait models, contrary to the latest personality research. One such model, BrainHex, was designed as an interim model to enable investigations towards a definitive player trait model. However, it lacks empirical validation in support of its psychometric properties. The present work analysed a dataset with over 50,000 respondents to devise a player traits model based off the BrainHex scale. Results indicate three player traits: action, aesthetic, and goal orientation. Furthermore, we analysed the games listed by participants as examples of what they enjoy, to understand which factors influence player preferences. Results illustrate that the emergent player traits and participants' genders and attitudes towards story can partially explain player preferences towards certain games. Finally, we present the implications towards a definitive player traits model.},
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F. and Valtchanov, Deltcho and Reetz, Adrian and Wehbe, Rina R. and Orji, Rita and Nacke, Lennart E.},
doi = {10.1080/10447318.2018.1461765},
journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction},
keywords = {BrainHex,Games,Games User Research,Motivation,Player Traits,Player Typology,Scale Design},
title = {{Towards a Trait Model of Video Game Preferences}},
volume = {34},
number = {8},
pages = {732--748},
year = {2018}
}

Typologies for understanding players’ preferences toward different gameplay styles have gained popularity in research. However, attempts to model players’ preferences are based on type models instead of trait models, contrary to the latest personality research. One such model, BrainHex, was designed as an interim model to enable investigations toward a definitive player trait model. However, it lacks empirical validation in support of its psychometric properties. The present work analyzed a dataset with over 50,000 respondents to devise a player traits model based off the BrainHex scale. Results indicate three player traits: action, esthetic, and goal orientation. Furthermore, we analyzed the games listed by participants as examples of what they enjoy, to understand which factors influence player preferences. Results illustrate that the emergent player traits and participants’ genders and attitudes toward story can partially explain player preferences toward certain games. Finally, we present the implications toward a definitive player traits model.

Year 2019

Older Adults’ Physical Activity and Exergames: A Systematic Review

@article{Kappen2019a,
abstract = {Exertion games, also referred to as exergames, have become popular because they combine physical activity (PA) with game mechanics, such as actions, challenges, and achievements. Exergames have been also used to encourage PA among older adults, as technological interventions to help achieve the latters' health and wellness goals and as aids to rehabilitation. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review of empirical studies on exergaming and older adults' PA has been reported in the literature. Our review indicates that exergames make a measurable contribution to the improvement of health and wellness goals of older adults. Our systematic review identifies 9 categories and 19 themes of exergame applications in the domain of older adults' PA. We aggregate these categories and themes into three broader exergaming clusters, of “training,” “rehabilitation,” and “wellness.” Additionally, we outline pathways for future empirical research into applying exergames as health and wellness interventions...},
author = {Kappen, Dennis L. and Mirza-Babaei, Pejman and Nacke, Lennart E.},
doi = {10.1080/10447318.2018.1441253},
issn = {15327590},
journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction},
publisher = {Taylor {\&} Francis},
title = {{Older Adults' Physical Activity and Exergames: A Systematic Review}},
volume = {35},
number = {2},
pages = {140--167},
year = {2019}
}

Exertion games, also referred to as exergames, have become popular because they combine physical activity (PA) with game mechanics, such as actions, challenges, and achievements. Exergames have been also used to encourage PA among older adults, as technological interventions to help achieve the latters’ health and wellness goals and as aids to rehabilitation. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review of empirical studies on exergaming and older adults’ PA has been reported in the literature. Our review indicates that exergames make a measurable contribution to the improvement of health and wellness goals of older adults. Our systematic review identifies 9 categories and 19 themes of exergame applications in the domain of older adults’ PA. We aggregate these categories and themes into three broader exergaming clusters, of “training,” “rehabilitation,” and “wellness.” Additionally, we outline pathways for future empirical research into applying exergames as health and wellness interventions for older adults through physical activities.

Defining Gameful Experience as a Psychological State Caused by Gameplay: Replacing the Term ‘Gamefulness’ with Three Distinct Constructs

@article{Landers2018,
title = {Defining Gameful Experience as a Psychological State Caused by Gameplay: Replacing the Term ‘Gamefulness’ with Three Distinct Constructs},
author = {Richard N. Landers and Gustavo F. Tondello and Dennis L. Kappen and Andrew B. Collmus and Elisa D. Mekler and Lennart E. Nacke},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.08.003},
year = {2019},
volume = {127},
pages = {81--94},
date = {2018-08-28},
journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies},
abstract = {Background and Aim: Gamefulness is commonly cited as the primary goal of gamification, a family of approaches employed in education, business, healthcare, government, and elsewhere. However, gamefulness is defined imprecisely across the literature. To address this, we present a theory of gamefulness that splits gamefulness into more specific constructs and outlines their effects in a process model.
Method: We integrate extant literature from psychology, human-computer interaction, and other fields to define gameful design, systems, and experiences. Most critically, we argue that gameful experience is the core focal construct of this theory and define it as an interactive state occurring when a person perceives non-trivial achievable goals created externally, is motivated to pursue them under an arbitrary set of behavioral rules, and evaluates that motivation as voluntary.
Results: We present six resulting propositions: (1) gameful systems lead to gameful experiences, (2) gameful systems impact psychological characteristics, (3) effective gameful design leads to a gameful system, (4) gameful systems lead to behavioral change, (5) behavioral change causes the distal outcomes gamification designers target, and (6) individual differences moderate the effectiveness of gameful systems.
Conclusion: Gameful experience theory provides researchers with a unified foundation to study gamification from any social scientific lens.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

Background and Aim: Gamefulness is commonly cited as the primary goal of gamification, a family of approaches employed in education, business, healthcare, government, and elsewhere. However, gamefulness is defined imprecisely across the literature. To address this, we present a theory of gamefulness that splits gamefulness into more specific constructs and outlines their effects in a process model. Method: We integrate extant literature from psychology, human-computer interaction, and other fields to define gameful design, systems, and experiences. Most critically, we argue that gameful experience is the core focal construct of this theory and define it as an interactive state occurring when a person perceives non-trivial achievable goals created externally, is motivated to pursue them under an arbitrary set of behavioral rules, and evaluates that motivation as voluntary. Results: We present six resulting propositions: (1) gameful systems lead to gameful experiences, (2) gameful systems impact psychological characteristics, (3) effective gameful design leads to a gameful system, (4) gameful systems lead to behavioral change, (5) behavioral change causes the distal outcomes gamification designers target, and (6) individual differences moderate the effectiveness of gameful systems. Conclusion: Gameful experience theory provides researchers with a unified foundation to study gamification from any social scientific lens.

Empirical Validation of the Gamification User Types Hexad Scale in English and Spanish

@article{Tondello2018e,
abstract = {Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game systems, is now established as a relevant research field in human-computer interaction (HCI). Several empirical studies have shown that gameful interventions can increase engagement and generate desired behavioural outcomes in HCI applications. However, some inconclusive results indicate that we need a fuller understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gamification. The Gamification User Types Hexad scale allows us to parse different user motivations in participants‘ interactions with gameful applications, which are measured using a self-report questionnaire. Each user type represents a style of interaction with gameful applications, for example, if the interactions are more focused on achievements, socialization, or rewards. Thus, by scoring an individual in each one of the user types of the Hexad model, we can establish a profile of user preferences for gameful interactions. However, we still lack a substantial empirical validation of this scale. Therefore, we set out to validate the factor structure of the scale, in both English and Spanish, by conducting three studies, which also investigated the distribution of the Hexad‘s user types in the sample. Our findings support the structural validity of the scale, as well as suggesting opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, we demonstrate that some user types are more common than others and that gender and age correlate with a person‘s user types. Our work contributes to HCI research by further validating the utility of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale, potentially affording researchers a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gameful interventions.},
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F. and Mora, Alberto and Marczewski, Andrzej and Nacke, Lennart E.},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.10.002},
issn = {10715819},
journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies},
keywords = {Gameful Design,Gamification,Hexad,User Types},
publisher = {Elsevier},
title = {{Empirical Validation of the Gamification User Types Hexad Scale in English and Spanish}},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.10.002},
year = {2019},
volume = {127},
pages = {95--111},
}

Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game systems, is now established as a relevant research field in human-computer interaction (HCI). Several empirical studies have shown that gameful interventions can increase engagement and generate desired behavioural outcomes in HCI applications. However, some inconclusive results indicate that we need a fuller understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gamification. The Gamification User Types Hexad scale allows us to parse different user motivations in participants’ interactions with gameful applications, which are measured using a self-report questionnaire. Each user type represents a style of interaction with gameful applications, for example, if the interactions are more focused on achievements, socialization, or rewards. Thus, by scoring an individual in each one of the user types of the Hexad model, we can establish a profile of user preferences for gameful interactions. However, we still lack a substantial empirical validation of this scale. Therefore, we set out to validate the factor structure of the scale, in both English and Spanish, by conducting three studies, which also investigated the distribution of the Hexad's user types in the sample. Our findings support the structural validity of the scale, as well as suggesting opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, we demonstrate that some user types are more common than others and that gender and age correlate with a person's user types. Our work contributes to HCI research by further validating the utility of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale, potentially affording researchers a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gameful interventions.

Year 2016

"It was Colonel Mustard in the Study with the Candlestick": Using Artifacts to Create An Alternate Reality Game-The Unworkshop

@article{striner2018colonel,
  title={" It was Colonel Mustard in the Study with the Candlestick": Using Artifacts to Create An Alternate Reality Game-The Unworkshop},
  author={Striner, Alina and Nacke, Lennart E and Bonsignore, Elizabeth and Mauriello, Matthew Louis and Toups, Zachary O and Holl-Jensen, Carlea and Kelley, Heather},
  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:1804.08737},
  year={2018}
}

Workshops are used for academic social networking, but connections can be superficial and result in few enduring collaborations. This unworkshop offers a novel interactive format to create deep connections, peer- learning, and produces a technology-enhanced experience. Participants will generate interactive technological artifacts before the unworkshop, which will be used together and orchestrated at the unworkshop to engage all participants in an alternate reality game set in local places at the conference.

Year 2020

Development and validation of the player experience inventory: A scale to measure player experiences at the level of functional and psychosocial consequences

@article{Abeele2020,
abstract = {Games User Research (GUR) focuses on measuring, analysing and understanding player experiences to optimise game designs. Hence, GUR experts aim to understand how specific game design choices are experienced by players, and how these lead to specific emotional responses. An instrument, providing such actionable insight into player experience, specifically designed by and for GUR was thus far lacking. To address this gap, the Player Experience Inventory (PXI) was developed, drawing on Means-End theory and measuring player experience both at the level of Functional Consequences, (i.e., the immediate experiences as a direct result of game design choices, such as audiovisual appeal or ease-of-control) and at the level of Psychosocial Consequences, (i.e., the second-order emotional experiences, such as immersion or mastery). Initial construct and item development was conducted in two iterations with 64 GUR experts. Next, the scale was validated and evaluated over five studies and populations, totalling 529 participants. Results support the theorized structure of the scale and provide evidence for both discriminant and convergent validity. Results also show that the scale performs well over different sample sizes and studies, supporting configural invariance. Hence, the PXI provides a reliable and theoretically sound tool for researchers to measure player experience and investigate how game design choices are linked to emotional responses.},
author = {Abeele, Vero Vanden and Spiel, Katta and Nacke, Lennart and Johnson, Daniel and Gerling, Kathrin},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2019.102370},
issn = {10959300},
journal = {International Journal of Human Computer Studies},
keywords = {GUR,Game experience,Games user research,Means-End theory,Measurement instrument,PX,Player experience,Scale development,Scale validation},
number = {October 2019},
pages = {102370},
publisher = {Elsevier},
title = {{Development and validation of the player experience inventory: A scale to measure player experiences at the level of functional and psychosocial consequences}},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2019.102370},
volume = {135},
year = {2020}
}

Games User Research (GUR) focuses on measuring, analysing and understanding player experiences to optimise game designs. Hence, GUR experts aim to understand how specific game design choices are experienced by players, and how these lead to specific emotional responses. An instrument, providing such actionable insight into player experience, specifically designed by and for GUR was thus far lacking. To address this gap, the Player Experience Inventory (PXI) was developed, drawing on Means-End theory and measuring player experience both at the level of Functional Consequences, (i.e., the immediate experiences as a direct result of game design choices, such as audiovisual appeal or ease-of-control) and at the level of Psychosocial Consequences, (i.e., the secondorder emotional experiences, such as immersion or mastery). Initial construct and item development was conducted in two iterations with 64 GUR experts. Next, the scale was validated and evaluated over five studies and populations, totalling 529 participants. Results support the theorized structure of the scale and provide evidence for both discriminant and convergent validity. Results also show that the scale performs well over different sample sizes and studies, supporting configural invariance. Hence, the PXI provides a reliable and theoretically sound tool for researchers to measure player experience and investigate how game design choices are linked to emotional responses.

Validation of User Preferences and Effects of Personalized Gamification on Task Performance

@article{Tondello2020a,
abstract = {Personalized gamification is the tailoring of gameful design elements to user preferences to improve engagement. However, studies of user preferences have so far relied on self-reported data only and few studies investigated the effects of personalized gameful systems on task performance. This study shows that personalized gamification works in practice as predicted by survey studies and leads to higher task performance. We asked 252 participants in two studies to interact with a customized (experimental) or a generic (control) online gameful application to classify images. In the customized version, they could select the game elements that they wanted to use for their experience. The results showed significant correlations between participants' choice of gameful design elements and their Hexad user type scores, which partly support existing user preference models based on self-reported preferences. On the other hand, user type scores were not correlated with participants' preferred game elements rated after interacting with the gameful system. These findings demonstrate that the Hexad user types are a viable model to create personalized gameful systems. However, it seems that there are other yet unknown factors that can influence user preferences, which should be considered together with the user type scores. Additionally, participants in the experimental condition classified more images and rated their experience of selecting the game elements they wanted to use higher than in the control, demonstrating that task performance improved with personalization. Nonetheless, other measures of task performance that were not explicitly incentivized by the game elements did not equally improve. This contribution shows that personalized gameful design creates systems that are more successful in helping users achieve their goals than generic systems. However, gameful designers should be aware that they must balance the game elements and how much they incentivize each user behavior, so that the business goals can be successfully promoted. Finally, we analyzed participants' qualitative answers about their experience with the generic and the customized gameful applications, extracting useful lessons for the designers of personalized gameful systems.},
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F and Nacke, Lennart E},
doi = {10.3389/fcomp.2020.00029},
keywords = {Hexad user types,adaptation,customization,gameful design,gamification,hexad user types,personalization},
pages = {29},
title = {{Validation of User Preferences and Effects of Personalized Gamification on Task Performance}},
volume = {2},
year = {2020}
}

Personalized gamification is the tailoring of gameful design elements to user preferences to improve engagement. However, studies of user preferences have so far relied on self-reported data only and few studies investigated the effects of personalized gameful systems on task performance. This study shows that personalized gamification works in practice as predicted by survey studies and leads to higher task performance. We asked 252 participants in two studies to interact with a customized (experimental) or a generic (control) online gameful application to classify images. In the customized version, they could select the game elements that they wanted to use for their experience. The results showed significant correlations between participants' choice of gameful design elements and their Hexad user type scores, which partly support existing user preference models based on self-reported preferences. On the other hand, user type scores were not correlated with participants' preferred game elements rated after interacting with the gameful system. These findings demonstrate that the Hexad user types are a viable model to create personalized gameful systems. However, it seems that there are other yet unknown factors that can influence user preferences, which should be considered together with the user type scores. Additionally, participants in the experimental condition classified more images and rated their experience of selecting the game elements they wanted to use higher than in the control, demonstrating that task performance improved with personalization. Nonetheless, other measures of task performance that were not explicitly incentivized by the game elements did not equally improve. This contribution shows that personalized gameful design creates systems that are more successful in helping users achieve their goals than generic systems. However, gameful designers should be aware that they must balance the game elements and how much they incentivize each user behavior, so that the business goals can be successfully promoted. Finally, we analyzed participants' qualitative answers about their experience with the generic and the customized gameful applications, extracting useful lessons for the designers of personalized gameful systems.

Demystifying the First-Time Experience of Mobile Games: The Presence of a Tutorial Has a Positive Impact on Non-Expert Players’ Flow and Continuous-Use Intentions

@article{passalacqua2020demystifying,
  title={Demystifying the First-Time Experience of Mobile Games: The Presence of a Tutorial Has a Positive Impact on Non-Expert Players’ Flow and Continuous-Use Intentions},
  author={Passalacqua, Mario and Morin, Rapha{\"e}l and S{\'e}n{\'e}cal, Sylvain and Nacke, Lennart E and L{\'e}ger, Pierre-Majorique},
  journal={Multimodal Technologies and Interaction},
  volume={4},
  number={3},
  pages={41},
  year={2020},
  publisher={Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute}
}

The purpose of video game tutorials is to help players easily understand new game mechanics and thereby facilitate chances of early engagement with the main contents of one’s game. The mobile game market (i.e., phones and tablets) faces important retention issues caused by a high number of players who abandon games permanently within 24 h of downloading them. A laboratory experiment with 40 players tested how tutorial presence and player expertise impact on users’ psychophysiological states and continuous-use intentions (CUIs). The results suggest that in a simple game context, tutorials have a positive impact on non-expert players’ perceived state of flow and have no effect on expert players’ perceived flow. The results also suggest that flow has a positive impact on CUIs for both experts and non-experts. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of these results are discussed.

Playing in the backstore: interface gamification increases warehousing workforce engagement

@article{passalacqua2020playing,
  title={Playing in the backstore: interface gamification increases warehousing workforce engagement},
  author={Passalacqua, Mario and L{\'e}ger, Pierre-Majorique and Nacke, Lennart E and Fredette, Marc and Labont{\'e}-Lemoyne, {\'E}lise and Lin, Xinli and Caprioli, Tony and S{\'e}n{\'e}cal, Sylvain},
  journal={Industrial Management \& Data Systems},
  year={2020},
  publisher={Emerald Publishing Limited}
}

In a warehouse setting, where hourly workers performing manual tasks account for more than half of total warehouse expenditure, a lack of employee engagement has been directly linked to company performance. In this article, the authors present a laboratory experiment in which two gamification elements, goal setting and feedback, are implemented in a wearable warehouse management system (WMS) interface to examine their effect on user engagement and performance in an item picking task. Both implicit (neurophysiological) and explicit (self-reported) measures of engagement are used, allowing for a richer understanding of the user's perceived and physiological state.

Me, Myself, and Not-I: Self-Discrepancy Type Predicts Avatar Creation Style

@article{loewen2021me,
  title={Me, Myself, and Not-I: Self-Discrepancy Type Predicts Avatar Creation Style},
  author={Loewen, Mitchell GH and Burris, Christopher T and Nacke, Lennart E},
  journal={Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume={11},
  pages={1902},
  year={2021},
  publisher={Frontiers}
}

In video games, identification with avatars—virtual entities or characters driven by human behaviour—has been shown to serve many interpersonal and intraindividual functions (like social connection, self-expression, or identity exploration) but our understanding of the psychological variables that influence players’ avatar choices remains incomplete. The study presented in this paper tested whether players’ preferred style of avatar creation is linked to the magnitude of self-perceived discrepancies between who they are, who they aspire to be, and who they think they should be. One-hundred-and-twenty-five undergraduate gamers indicated their preferred avatar creation style and completed a values measure from three different perspectives: their actual, ideal, and ought selves. The average actual/ideal values discrepancy was greater among those who preferred idealized avatars versus those who preferred …

What is it Like to Be a Game?-Object Oriented Inquiry for Games Research, Design and Evaluation

@article{spiel2020like,
  title={What is it Like to Be a Game?-Object Oriented Inquiry for Games Research, Design and Evaluation},
  author={Spiel, Katta and Nacke, Lennart},
  journal={Frontiers in Computer Science},
  volume={2},
  pages={18},
  year={2020},
  publisher={Frontiers}
}

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers more and more challenge the notion of technologies as objects and humans as subjects. This conceptualization has led to various approaches inquiring into object perspectives within HCI. Even though the development and analysis of games and players is filled with notions of intersubjectivity, games research has yet to embrace an object oriented perspective. Through an analysis of existing methods, we show how Object-Oriented Inquiry offers a useful, playful, and speculative lens to pro-actively engage with and reflect on how we might know what it is like to be a game. We illustrate how to actively attend to a game's perspective as a valid position. This has the potential to not only sharpen our understanding of implicit affordances but, in turn, about our assumptions regarding play and games more generally. In a series of case studies, we apply several object-oriented methods across three methodological explorations on becoming, being, and acting as a game, and illustrate their usefulness for generating meaningful insights for game design and evaluation. Our work contributes to emerging object-oriented practices that acknowledge the agency of technologies within HCI at large and its games-oriented strand in particular.

Year 2015

Collaborative Multi-Touch Clinical Handover System for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

@article{kamaleswaran2015collaborative,
  title={Collaborative Multi-Touch Clinical Handover System for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit},
  author={Kamaleswaran, Rishikesan and Wehbe, Rina R and Pugh, J Edward and Lennart, Lennart and McGregor, Carolyn and James, Andrew},
  journal={electronic Journal of Health Informatics},
  volume={9},
  number={1},
  pages={5},
  year={2015}
}

A critically ill infant admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit requires complex, critical,
and coordinated care performed by multidisciplinary healthcare teams. Since the infant’s care is
not provided by a single, individual physician during the infant’s hospital stay, clinical handover
is essential to enable the transfer of health information between physicians involved in the infant’s
care. O

Vanishing scares: biofeedback modulation of affective player experiences in a procedural horror game

@article{nogueira2016vanishing,
  title={Vanishing scares: biofeedback modulation of affective player experiences in a procedural horror game},
  author={Nogueira, Pedro A and Torres, Vasco and Rodrigues, Rui and Oliveira, Eug{\'e}nio and Nacke, Lennart E},
  journal={Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces},
  volume={10},
  number={1},
  pages={31--62},
  year={2016},
  publisher={Springer}
}

To understand the impact of emotionally driven
games on player experience, we developed a procedural horror game (Vanish) capable of run-time level, asset, and event
generation. Vanish was augmented to interpret players’ physiological data as a simplified emotional state, mapping it to
a set of adaptation rules that modify the player experience.
To explore the effects of adaptation mechanisms on player
experience, we conducted a mixed-methods study on three
different versions of the game, two of which integrated varying biofeedback mechanisms. Players’ affective experiences
were objectively measured by analysing physiological data.
Additionally, subjective experience was recorded through
the use of the Game Experience Questionnaire. Our study
confirmed that biofeedback functionality had a statistically
significant effect on the ratings of player experience dimensions: immersion, tension, positive affect, and negative affect.
Furthermore, participants reported noticeable differences in
player experience, favouring the added depth present in the
biofeedback-enabled iterations of the game. In the future,
these conclusions will help to develop more immersive and
engaging player experiences.

Modelling human emotion in interactive environments: Physiological ensemble and grounded approaches for synthetic agents

@inproceedings{nogueira2015modelling,
  title={Modelling human emotion in interactive environments: Physiological ensemble and grounded approaches for synthetic agents},
  author={Nogueira, Pedro A and Rodrigues, Rui and Oliveira, Eug{\'e}nio and Nacke, Lennart E},
  booktitle={Web Intelligence},
  volume={13},
  number={3},
  pages={195--214},
  year={2015},
  organization={IOS Press}
}

With the rising research in emotionally believable agents, several advances in agent technology have been made, ranging from interactive virtual agents to emotional mechanism simulations and emotional agent architectures. However, creating an emotionally believable agent capable of emotional thought is still largely out of reach. It has been proposed that being able to accurately model human emotion would allow agents to mimic human behaviour while these models are studied to create more accurate theoretical models. In light of these challenges, we present a general method for human emotional state modelling in interactive environments. The proposed method employs a three-layered classification process to model the arousal and valence (i.e., hedonic) emotional components, based on four selected psychophysiological metrics. Additionally, we also developed a simplified version of our system for use in real-time systems and low-fidelity applications. The modelled emotional states by both approaches compared favourably with a manual approach following the current best practices reported in the literature while also improving on its predictive ability. The obtained results indicate we are able to accurately predict human emotional states, both in offline and online scenarios with varying levels of granularity; thus, providing a transversal method for modelling and reproducing human emotional profiles.

Year 2017

A comparison of system-controlled and user-controlled personalization approaches

@inproceedings{10.1145/3099023.3099116,
author = {Orji, Rita and Oyibo, Kiemute and Tondello, Gustavo F.},
title = {A Comparison of System-Controlled and User-Controlled Personalization Approaches},
year = {2017},
isbn = {9781450350679},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3099023.3099116},
doi = {10.1145/3099023.3099116},
abstract = {Personalizing interactive systems including games increases their effectiveness. This paper explores and compares two main approaches to personalization: system-controlled and user-controlled adaptation. The results of large-scale exploratory studies of 1768 users show that both techniques to personalizing systems share seven common strengths of increasing users' perception of a system's relevance, usefulness, interactivity, ease of use, credibility and trust, and also increases users' self-efficacy. The results also reveal some unique strengths and weaknesses peculiar to each of the approaches that designers should take into consideration when deciding on a suitable adaptation technique to use in personalizing their systems. Users prefer system- over user-controlled adaptation.},
booktitle = {Adjunct Publication of the 25th Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization},
pages = {413–418},
numpages = {6},
keywords = {persuasive technology, user-control, tailoring, adaptation, behaviour change, health, hci, personalization, system-control},
location = {Bratislava, Slovakia},
series = {UMAP '17}
}

Personalizing interactive systems including games increases their effectiveness. This paper explores and compares two main approaches to personalization: system-controlled and user-controlled adaptation. The results of large-scale exploratory studies of 1768 users show that both techniques to personalizing systems share seven common strengths of increasing users' perception of a system's relevance, usefulness, interactivity, ease of use, credibility and trust, and also increases users' self-efficacy. The results also reveal some unique strengths and weaknesses peculiar to each of the approaches that designers should take into consideration when deciding on a suitable adaptation technique to use in personalizing their systems. Users prefer system-over user-controlled adaptation.

Year 2023

Comprehending the Crypto-Curious: How Investors and Inexperienced Potential Investors Perceive and Practice Cryptocurrency Trading

@article{Hadan2023a,
author = {Hadan,Hilda and Zhang-Kennedy,Leah and Nacke,Lennart E. and Mäkelä,Ville},
title = {Comprehending the Crypto-Curious: How Investors and Inexperienced Potential Investors Perceive and Practice Cryptocurrency Trading},
journal = {International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1080/10447318.2023.2239556},

}

Year 2020

Game Atmosphere: Effects of Audiovisual Thematic Cohesion on Player Experience and Psychophysiology

@inproceedings{10.1145/3410404.3414245,
author = {Ribeiro, Giovanni and Rogers, Katja and Altmeyer, Maximilian and Terkildsen, Thomas and Nacke, Lennart E.},
title = {Game Atmosphere: Effects of Audiovisual Thematic Cohesion on Player Experience and Psychophysiology},
year = {2020},
isbn = {9781450380744},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3410404.3414245},
doi = {10.1145/3410404.3414245},
abstract = {Game atmosphere and game audio are critical factors linked to the commercial success of video games. However, game atmosphere has been neither operationalized nor clearly defined in games user research literature, making it difficult to study. We define game atmosphere as the emerging subjective experience of a player caused by the strong audiovisual thematic cohesion (i.e., the harmonic fit of sounds and graphics to a shared theme) of video game elements. We studied players' experience of thematic cohesion in two between-subjects, independent-measures experiments (N=109) across four conditions differing in their level of audiovisual thematic fit. Participants' experiences were assessed with physiological and psychometric measurements to understand the effect of game atmosphere on player experience. Results indicate that a lack of thematic fit between audio and visuals lowers the degree of perceived atmosphere, but that while audiovisual thematic dissonance may lead to higher-intensity negative-valence facial events, it does not impact self-reported player experience or immersion.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play},
pages = {107–119},
numpages = {13},
keywords = {music, player experience, games, dissonance, audio, atmosphere},
location = {Virtual Event, Canada},
series = {CHI PLAY '20}
}

Game atmosphere and game audio are critical factors linked to the commercial success of video games. However, game atmosphere has been neither operationalized nor clearly defined in games user research literature, making it difficult to study. We define game atmosphere as the emerging subjective experience of a player caused by the strong audiovisual thematic cohesion (i.e., the harmonic fit of sounds and graphics to a shared theme) of video game elements. We studied players' experience of thematic cohesion in two between-subjects, independent-measures experiments (N=109) across four conditions differing in their level of audiovisual thematic fit. Participants' experiences were assessed with physiological and psychometric measurements to understand the effect of game atmosphere on player experience. Results indicate that a lack of thematic fit between audio and visuals lowers the degree of perceived atmosphere, but that while audiovisual thematic dissonance may lead to higher-intensity negative-valence facial events, it does not impact self-reported player experience or immersion.

Personal Space in Play: Physical and Digital Boundaries in Large-Display Cooperative and Competitive Games

@inproceedings{10.1145/3313831.3376319,
author = {Wehbe, Rina R. and Dickson, Terence and Kuzminykh, Anastasia and Nacke, Lennart E. and Lank, Edward},
title = {Personal Space in Play: Physical and Digital Boundaries in Large-Display Cooperative and Competitive Games},
year = {2020},
isbn = {9781450367080},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376319},
doi = {10.1145/3313831.3376319},
abstract = {As multi-touch displays grow in size and shrink in price, they are more commonly used as gaming devices. When co-located users play games on a single, large display, establishing and maintaining their physical and digital territories poses a social challenge to their interaction. To gain insight into the mechanisms of establishing and maintaining users' physical and digital territories, we analyze territorial interactions in cooperative and competitive multiplayer gameplay. Participants reported weighing each game interaction based on perceived intent to determine how socially acceptable they deemed each behaviour. In light of our observations, we contribute and discuss implications for the design of multi-user, large display, co-located, touchscreen games that consider display properties, digital and physical space, permeability of boundaries, and asymmetry of play to create interactions between players.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
pages = {1–14},
numpages = {14},
keywords = {collaboration and group work, digital territory, loosely-coupled interaction, shared spaces, large displays, games and entertainment software, physical territory},
location = {Honolulu, HI, USA},
series = {CHI '20}
}

As multi-touch displays grow in size and shrink in price, they are more commonly used as gaming devices. When co-located users play games on a single, large display, establishing and maintaining their physical and digital territories poses a social challenge to their interaction. To gain insight into the mechanisms of establishing and maintaining users' physical and digital territories, we analyze territorial interactions in cooperative and competitive multiplayer gameplay. Participants reported weighing each game interaction based on perceived intent to determine how socially acceptable they deemed each behaviour. In light of our observations, we contribute and discuss implications for the design of multi-user, large display, co-located, touchscreen games that consider display properties, digital and physical space, permeability of boundaries, and asymmetry of play to create interactions between players.

Year 2014

Design guidelines for Gamifying reading applications

@inproceedings{7405433,
  author={R. R. {Wehbe} and J. {Robb} and J. {Clarke} and J. {Costa} and L. E. {Nacke}},
  booktitle={2014 IEEE Games Media Entertainment}, 
  title={Design guidelines for Gamifying reading applications}, 
  year={2014},
  volume={},
  number={},
  pages={1-4},
  doi={10.1109/GEM.2014.7405433}}

Reading competes with an increasing number of leisure activities like video games. Consequently, written language skills are receding. Thus, motivating people to read is a problem that seems well-suited to gamification (i.e., the use of game design to motivate people to read). To investigate ways in which to gamify reading, we conducted a survey pilot study about how adding game mechanics to reading would encourage people to read more. We investigated the social nature of people talking about reading and the process of recommending books. We interviewed a gender-balanced group of participants to obtain more information about their reading habits for leisure, work, or academia. Our results indicate that people are reading for self-improvement purposes and not primarily for social reasons.

Year 2020

Technology Facilitates Physical Activity Through Gamification: A Thematic Analysis of an 8-Week Study

@article{DBLP:journals/fcomp/KappenMN20,
  author    = {Dennis L. Kappen and
               Pejman Mirza{-}Babaei and
               Lennart E. Nacke},
  title     = {Technology Facilitates Physical Activity Through Gamification: {A}
               Thematic Analysis of an 8-Week Study},
  journal   = {Frontiers Comput. Sci.},
  volume    = {2},
  pages     = {530309},
  year      = {2020},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2020.530309},
  doi       = {10.3389/fcomp.2020.530309},
  timestamp = {Fri, 23 Oct 2020 15:51:32 +0200},
  biburl    = {https://dblp.org/rec/journals/fcomp/KappenMN20.bib},
  bibsource = {dblp computer science bibliography, https://dblp.org}
}
a service of Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz Center for Informatics	homebrowsesearchabout
w3c valid html l

Gamification has enabled technology to facilitate behavior change through increasing the engagement and motivation of people in health and wellness domains. While research on physical activity (PA) and why older adults engage in PA exists, there are not many long-term studies on how gamification influences technology use and adherence to PA by older adults. We conducted a synchronous, 8-week, experimental study with older adults in the 50+ age group. Participants were randomized into three groups: Gamified technology, non-gamified technology and a control group. We conducted a weekly semi-structured interview with them focused on their PA motivations, setting up goals, accomplishments, fears or barriers, (immediate and long-term) rewards, and tracking in PA. Thematic analysis (TA) of the interview data showed these distinct variations in themes for the three groups over the 8-week period. This indicates that motivational affordances or gamification elements can be customized for older adults to suit their current health conditions and PA participation barriers. We define gamification design guidelines for PA motivation of older adults based on self-determination theory, setting up progressive goals, accomplishments to track PA quality, intangible rewards, and activity tracking.

Gamification of Older Adults’ Physical Activity: Thematic Analysis of an Eight-Week Experimental Study

@article{kappen2020gamification,
  title={Gamification of Older Adults’ Physical Activity: Thematic Analysis of an Eight-Week Experimental Study},
  author={Kappen, Dennis L and Mirza-Babaei, Pejman and Nacke, Lennart E},
  journal={Frontiers in Computer Science},
  volume={2},
  pages={44},
  year={2020},
  publisher={Frontiers}
}

Gamification technology has served as behaviour change mechanism for increasing the engagement and motivation of consumers in many areas including health and wellness domains. While research on physical activity (PA) and motivation to participate in PA in the context of older adults exist, there are fewer studies on the usage of gamified technology by older adults over longer periods of time. We conducted a mixed-method, eight-week, synchronous, three-condition experimental study with older adults in the 50+ age group. Participants were randomized into Group 1 (gamified), Group 2 (non-gamified) and a control group. The weekly semi-structured interview questions focused on their motivation for PA, setting up goals, accomplishments, fears or barriers, rewards and tracking in PA. Thematic analysis of the interview data showed distinct variations in emergent themes for the three groups over an eight-week …

Year 2011

Evaluating Player Experience in Games

Year 2013

Social Player Analytics in a Facebook Health Game

@article{nacke2014social,
  title={Social player analytics in a Facebook health game},
  author={Nacke, Lennart E and Klauser, Matthias and Prescod, Paul},
  journal={한국 HCI 학회 학술대회},
  pages={180--187},
  year={2014}
}

Year 2021

Revealing the hotspots of educational gamification: An umbrella review

With gamification flourishing in popularity in educational research, it is essential to synthesize the expanding literature on educational gamification. The current umbrella review aims to comprehensively canvas the disparate findings and conflicting conclusions by critically examining educational gamification reviews. We included 46 reviews of state-of-the-art gamification published between 2016 and 2020. The critical analysis of these studies resulted in extracting six fundamental gamification research areas in education, namely: (1) concept and theoretical knowledge, (2) design, (3) development, (4) impact, (5) personalization, and (6) higher education. It also revealed that systematic reviews were the predominant analysis type. Our umbrella review illustrates the ongoing need in educational research for carefully structured examinations and rigorous methods that validate gamification's instructional advantages.

Investigating the effects of individual cognitive styles on collaborative gameplay

@article{Alharthi21,
author = {Alharthi, Sultan A. and Raptis, George E. and Katsini, Christina and Dolgov, Igor and Nacke, Lennart E. and Toups, Z O.},
title = {Investigating the Effects of Individual Cognitive Styles on Collaborative Gameplay},
year = {2021},
issue_date = {August 2021},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
volume = {28},
number = {4},
issn = {1073-0516},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3445792},
doi = {10.1145/3445792},
abstract = {In multiplayer collaborative games, players need to coordinate their actions and synchronize their efforts effectively to succeed as a team; thus, individual differences can impact teamwork and gameplay. This article investigates the effects of cognitive styles on teams engaged in collaborative gaming activities. Fifty-four individuals took part in a mixed-methods user study; they were classified as field-dependent (FD) or independent (FI) based on a field-dependent–independent (FD-I) cognitive-style-elicitation instrument. Three groups of teams were formed, based on the cognitive style of each team member: FD-FD, FD-FI, and FI-FI. We examined collaborative gameplay in terms of team performance, cognitive load, communication, and player experience. The analysis revealed that FD-I cognitive style affected the performance and mental load of teams. We expect the findings to provide useful insights on understanding how cognitive styles influence collaborative gameplay.},
journal = {ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.},
month = {aug},
articleno = {23},
numpages = {49},
keywords = {multiplayer games, teamwork, collaboration, team coordination, gameplay, Cognitive styles, teams}
}

In multiplayer collaborative games, players need to coordinate their actions and synchronize their efforts effectively to succeed as a team; thus, individual differences can impact teamwork and gameplay. This article investigates the effects of cognitive styles on teams engaged in collaborative gaming activities. Fifty-four individuals took part in a mixed-methods user study; they were classified as field-dependent (FD) or independent (FI) based on a field-dependent–independent (FD-I) cognitive-style-elicitation instrument. Three groups of teams were formed, based on the cognitive style of each team member: FD-FD, FD-FI, and FI-FI. We examined collaborative gameplay in terms of team performance, cognitive load, communication, and player experience. The analysis revealed that FD-I cognitive style affected the performance and mental load of teams. We expect the findings to provide useful insights on understanding how cognitive styles influence collaborative gameplay.