Evaluating commercial game design decisions via the scientification of games: Asymmetrical task switching errors predict self-reported fun in Ghost Blitz

IF 2.8 1区 心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL
Benjamin James Dyson
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Abstract

By decomposing the structure, rule set and stimuli of games, it becomes possible to examine the impact of specific choices made by designers and publishers: not the ‘gamification of science’ but rather the ‘scientification of games.’ Here, the card game Ghost Blitz was analysed using both commercialized (cartoon illustrations) and a more ‘experiment-like’ (abstract shapes) format, where each card required players to search according to either the presence (Task A) or absence (Task B) of visual features. Thus, this game can be used to both demonstrate and study the cognitive phenomena of visual search asymmetry and task switching. The commercial format generated more fun and produced faster reaction times than the ‘experiment-like’ format, demonstrating the importance of surface characteristics. The original version of Ghost Blitz (where Task B was more frequent) was rated as less fun than an inversed version (where Task A was more frequent), highlighting the importance of structural characteristics. This surprising result was explained via multiple regression, where the frequency with which players experience accuracy loss during Task B to Task A switching predicted the reduction in self-reported fun. By meeting people where they are, games allow the public to have increased connection with psychological theory and enable the empirical validation of choices made during commercial game design.
通过游戏科学化评估商业游戏设计决策:非对称任务切换错误预测《Ghost Blitz》的自我报告乐趣
通过分解游戏的结构、规则集和刺激元素,我们便能够检查设计师和发行商所做出的特定选择所带来的影响:不是“科学的游戏化”,而是“游戏的科学化”。“在这里,纸牌游戏《幽灵闪电战》的分析使用了商业化(卡通插图)和更‘实验性’(抽象形状)两种格式,即每张纸牌都要求玩家根据其视觉特征的存在(任务a)或缺失(任务B)进行搜索。因此,这个游戏可以用来展示和研究视觉搜索不对称和任务切换的认知现象。商业模式比“实验式”模式更有趣,反应时间也更快,这证明了表面特征的重要性。《幽灵闪电战》的最初版本(游戏邦注:其中任务B更频繁)被认为不如相反版本(游戏邦注:其中任务A更频繁)有趣,这突出了结构特征的重要性。这一令人惊讶的结果可以通过多元回归来解释,即玩家在任务B到任务A转换过程中经历准确性损失的频率预示着自我报告乐趣的减少。通过与人们见面,游戏让公众能够与心理学理论建立更紧密的联系,并能够在商业游戏设计过程中对所做的选择进行实证验证。
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来源期刊
Cognition
Cognition PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL-
CiteScore
6.40
自引率
5.90%
发文量
283
期刊介绍: Cognition is an international journal that publishes theoretical and experimental papers on the study of the mind. It covers a wide variety of subjects concerning all the different aspects of cognition, ranging from biological and experimental studies to formal analysis. Contributions from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, computer science, mathematics, ethology and philosophy are welcome in this journal provided that they have some bearing on the functioning of the mind. In addition, the journal serves as a forum for discussion of social and political aspects of cognitive science.
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