Teaching the Learner to Play: Lessons From Commercial Games for Learning Game Designers (Poster 27)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Seven
  In Poster Session: Learning in Digital Environments

Abstract

This review explores visual support in several commercial games when the player first encounters and begins mastering core mechanics and game actions. Thirty-two commercial games were selected spanning twelve genres and a broad age range. Visual prompts related to mechanics/actions were recorded, and observations revealed three main axes along which the commercial games varied concerning the presentation of game actions: (1) fixedness of the sequence, (2) visual medium of explanation given the player, and (3) impact on gameplay flow (e.g., interruptive vs. ongoing). Based on successful commercial games, we recommend that designers (1) sequence learning of game actions more freely for exploratory games, (2) display visual representations of game actions, and (3) preserve gameplay continuity through minimally interruptive visual prompting.

Authors

• Luke West, Florida State University
  Presenting Author

• Renata Kuba, Florida State University
  Non-Presenting Author