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The Untapped Potential of Escape Rooms as Gamified Research Environments
Authors: Kleinman, E., Harteveld, C.
Year: 2024
Venue: CHIPLAY
Abstract: While it is long established that games are excellent environments for studying facets of human behavior and human-computer interaction, escape rooms, a type of immersive puzzle game, have seen less attention in this context. Despite this, we argue that escape rooms have much untapped potential as opportunities to research complex problem solving, learning, and reflection in a gamified environment. In this perspectives on play paper, we make the case that escape rooms should receive more consideration as research environments by discussing how their design creates opportunities to study complex human decision making, learning, and behavior.
“Trust the Process”: An Exploratory Study of Process Visualizations for Self-Reflection in League of Legends
Authors: Kleinman, E., Xu, J., Pfau, J., Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2024
Venue: CHIPLAY
Abstract: Self-reflection, a process consisting of evaluation, attribution, and adaptation, is recognized as key to learning in esports games. To better facilitate self-reflection, many games and third-party tools feature retrospective visualizations that provide players with details about their performance. However, previous work suggested that existing visualizations, which typically aggregate data, do not present sufficient information to players. In this work, we explore the impact of process visualizations, which present gameplay as a sequence of actions, on self-reflection and performance in a League of Legends training exercise through a mixed-methods study. Our results found that players who reflected using a process visualization significantly improved their performance and demonstrated significant differences in how they evaluated themselves compared to those who reflected using an aggregate visualization. We discuss what these results mean in relation to self-reflection and learning in esports and how they impact the future use of process visualizations in games.
“Backseat Gaming” A Study of Co-Regulated Learning within a Collegiate Male Esports Community
Authors: Kleinman, E., Habibi, R., Powell, GB., Reeves, B., Prather, J., Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2024
Venue: CHI
Abstract: Previous work demonstrated that esports players often leverage insights from other players and communities to learn and improve. However, little research examined social learning in esports, over time, in granular detail. Understanding the role of others in the esports learning process has implications for the design of computational support systems that can help esports players learn and make the games more accessible. Therefore, we perform an exploration of this topic using Co-Regulated Learning as a theoretical lens. In doing so, we hope to enrich existing knowledge on social learning in esports, provide insights for the future development of computational support, and a road-map for future work. Through an interview study of an esports community consisting of 14, college-aged, male players, we uncovered 10 themes regarding how Co-Regulated learning occurs within their teams. Based on these, we discuss three main takeaways and their implications for future research and development.
RePresent: Enabling Access to Justice for Pro Se Litigants via Co-Authored Serious Games
Authors: Harteveld, C., Javvaji, N., Mohaddesi, O., Kleinman, E., Daniels, K., Jackson, D., & Troiano, G. M.
Year: 2024
Venue: DIS
Abstract: Increasing numbers of people represent themselves in legal disputes—known as pro se litigants. Many lack the skills, experience, or knowledge to navigate legal proceedings without a lawyer, resulting in limited access to justice. Serious games may provide an effective, interactive, and engaging way of educating pro se litigants about the law and enabling their access to justice. Through participatory design with legal experts and an authoring tool, we co-designed RePresent, a serious game that helps individuals with limited access to legal support prepare for pro se litigation. A total of 965 people played RePresent, and 149 provided feedback on their player experience. Results show that RePresent was engaging and valuable for learning about the law and pro se litigation. Our work highlights avenues for co-design methodologies with co-creative authoring tools that facilitate serious game design, contributing a potentially scalable solution to enable access to justice via co-authored serious games.
“Ah! I see”-Facilitating Process Reflection in Gameplay through a Novel Spatio-Temporal Visualization System
Authors: Maram, S., Kleinman, E., Villareale, J., Zhu, J., Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2024
Venue: CHI
Abstract: Educational games have emerged as potent tools for helping students understand complex concepts and are now ubiquitous in global classrooms, amassing vast data. However, there is a notable gap in research concerning the effective visualization of this data to serve two key functions: (a) guiding students in reflecting upon their game-based learning and (b) aiding them in analyzing peer strategies. In this paper, we engage educators, students, and researchers as essential stakeholders. Taking a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach, we incorporate UX design methods to develop an innovative visualization system that helps players learn through gaining insights from their own and peers’ gameplay and strategies.
Damage Optimization in Video Games: A Player-Driven Co-Creative Approach
Authors: Pfau, J., Charan, M., Kleinman, E., Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2024
Venue: CHI
Abstract: The concept of dealing damage is established and widespread in video games. With growing complexity and countless interactions in modern games, capturing how damage unfolds becomes an intricate problem – for developers just as for players. Misunderstanding how to optimize damage potentials includes risks of game imbalances, game-breaking exploits, mismatches between player skill and challenge (harming flow), and impaired perceived competence. All of these considerably impact player experience, game reception, success, and retention, yet polishing optimal strategies remains often a player community effort. To accelerate, inform and ease this process, we implemented an interactive tool capable of simulating, visualizing, planning and comparing damage strategies in video games. Following a case study within the Guild Wars 2 community, we contribute a player-driven perspective on the problem of damage optimization, as well as an artifact that resulted in empirical improvements – advancing the fields of game analytics, game evaluation methods and self-regulated learning.
GPT for Games: A Scoping Review (2020-2023)
Authors: Yang, D., Kleinman, E., Harteveld, C.
Year: 2024
Venue: Conference on Games (COG)
Abstract: This paper introduces a scoping review of 55 articles to explore GPT’s potential for games, offering researchers a comprehensive understanding of the current applications and identifying both emerging trends and unexplored areas. We identify five key applications of GPT in current game research: procedural content generation, mixed-initiative game design, mixed-initiative gameplay, playing games, and game user research. Drawing from insights in each of these application areas, we propose directions for future research in each one. This review aims to lay the groundwork by illustrating the state of the art for innovative GPT applications in games, promising to enrich game development and enhance player experiences with cutting-edge AI innovations.
Snake Story: Exploring Game Mechanics for Mixed-Initiative Co-creative Storytelling Games
Authors: Yang, D., Kleinman, E., Troiano, GM., Tochilnikova, E., Harteveld, C.
Year: 2024
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: Mixed-initiative co-creative storytelling games have existed for some time as a way to merge storytelling with play. However, modern mixed-initiative co-creative storytelling games predominantly prioritize story creation over gameplay mechanics, which might not resonate with all players. As such, there is untapped potential for creating mixed-initiative games with more complex mechanics in which players can engage with both co-creation and gameplay goals. To explore the potential of more prominent gameplay in mixed-initiative co-creative storytelling games, we created Snake Story, a variation of the classic Snake game featuring a human-AI co-writing element. To explore how players interact with the mixed-initiative game, we conducted a qualitative playtest with 11 participants. Analysis of both think-aloud and interview data revealed that players’ strategies and experiences were affected by their perception of Snake Story as either a collaborative tool, a traditional game, or a combination of both. Based on these findings, we present design considerations for future development in mixed-initiative co-creative gaming.
“What else can I do?” Examining the Impact of Community Data on Adaptation and Quality of Reflection in an Educational Game
Authors: Kleinman, E., Villareale, J., Shergadwala, M., Teng, Z., Bryant, A., Zhu, J., Seif El-Nasr, M
Year: 2023
Venue: CHI
Abstract: Adaptation, or ability and willingness to consider an alternative approach, is a critical component of learning through reflection, especially in educational games, where there are often multiple avenues to success. As a domain, educational games have shown increased interest in using retrospective visualizations to promote and support reflection. Such visualizations, which can facilitate comparison with peer data, may also have an impact on adaptation in educational games. This has, however, not been empirically examined within the domain. In this work, we examine how comparison with other players’ data influenced adaptation, a part of reflection, in the context of a game that teaches parallel programming. Our results indicate that comparison with peers does significantly impact willingness to try a different approach, but suggest that there may also be other ways. We discuss what these results mean for future use of retrospective visualizations in educational games and present opportunities for future work.
Towards a Human-in-the-Loop System for Authoring Game AI
using Behavior Languages
Authors: Kleinman, E., Lynn, S., Loyall, B., Seif El-Nasr, M
Year: 2023
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: As games get more complicated, Artificially Intelligent (AI) agents need to be better developed to understand and replicate complex, goal-oriented, reactive behaviors. Many existing behavior language approaches do not often make the AI’s behavior transparent and readable to the human, making it difficult to debug and update the behavioral model. In this workshop paper, we present a prototype visualization system that uses a tree-based abstraction to present complex agent behavior to a human user, allowing them to understand and edit the agent’s behavioral logic in a visual manner.
“A Time and Phase for Everything” – Towards A Self-Regulated Learning Perspective on Computational Support for Esports
Authors: Kleinman, E., Habibi, R., Yao, Y., Gayle, C., Seif El-Nasr, M
Year: 2022
Venue: Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHIPlay)
Abstract: Computational support for learning in the domain of esports has seen a great deal of attention in recent years as an effective means of helping players learn and reap the benefits of play. However, previous work has not examined the tools from a learning theory perspective to assess if learning is prompted and supported in the right place and time. As a first step towards addressing this gap, this paper presents the results of two studies: a review of existing computational tools, and an online survey of esports’ players’ learning needs supplemented with qualitative interviews. Using Zimmerman’s Cyclical Phase Model of Self-Regulated Learning as a lens, we identify patterns in the types of support offered by existing tools and players’ support interests during different learning phases. We identify 11 opportunities for future research and development to better support self-regulated learning in esports.
Towards an Understanding of how Players Make Meaning from Post-Play Process Visualizations
Authors: Kleinman, E., Villareale, J., Shergadwala, M., Teng, Z., Bryant, A., Zhu, J., Seif El-Nasr, M
Year: 2022
Venue: International Conference of Entertainment Computing (ICEC)
Abstract: Player-facing, retrospective gameplay visualizations help players track progress and learn from others. Visualizations of a user’s step-by-step process may be able to advance retrospective visualization. However, we currently do not know how players make meaning from process-visualizations of game data. In this work, we take a first step toward addressing this gap by examining how players make meaning from process-visualizations of other players’ gameplay. We identify two interpretation methods comprised of six techniques and discuss what these results mean for future use of player-facing process visualizations.
Analyzing Students’ Problem-Solving Sequences: A Human-in-the-Loop Approach
Authors: Kleinman, E., Shergadwala, M., Teng, Z., Villareale, J., Bryant, A., Zhu, J., and Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2022
Venue: Journal of Learning Analytics (Journal)
Abstract: Educational technology is shifting toward facilitating personalized learning. Such personalization, however, requires a detailed understanding of students’ problem-solving processes. Sequence analysis (SA) is a promising approach to gaining granular insights into student problem solving; however, existing techniques are difficult to interpret because they offer little room for human input in the analysis process. Ultimately, in a learning context, a human stakeholder makes the decisions, so they should be able to drive the analysis process. In this paper, we present a human-in-the-loop approach to SA that uses visualization to allow a stakeholder to better understand both the data and the algorithm. We illustrate the method with a case study in the context of a learning game called Parallel. Results reveal six groups of students organized based on their problem-solving patterns and highlight individual differences within each group. We compare the results to a state-of-the-art method run with the same data and discuss the benefits of our method and the implications of this work.
Kills, Deaths, and (Computational) Assists: Identifying Opportunities for Computational Support in Esport Learning
Authors: Kleinman, E., Shergadwala, M., and Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2022
Venue: CHI
Abstract: Esports play can cultivate real world skills. However, the path to mastery is not easy, and difficulty progressing can result in discontinuation. In the absence of a human coach, computational tools may provide much-needed guidance. However, the specific improvement activities that players engage in and the exact challenges they face are not well defined in the context of computational support. As such, most tools can only support players based on a high level understanding of their practices. We present the results of an interview study (n=17) that identified four improvement activities: practicing, leveraging the knowledge of others, tracking performance, and reflecting on gameplay and setting goals for the future, and four challenges: coordinating and collaborating with teammates, knowing what to do next, tracking game state, and tracking skill and improvement. We discuss six implications for future design and development based on these results.
“Because I’m Bad at the Game!” A Microanalytic Study of Self Regulated Learning in League of Legends
Authors: Kleinman, E., Gayle, C., and Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2021
Venue: Frontiers in Psychology (Journal)
Abstract: Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a form of learning guided by the student’s own meta-cognition, motivation, and strategic action, often in the absence of an educator. The use of SRL processes and skills has been demonstrated across numerous academic and non-academic contexts including athletics. However, the manifestation of these processes within esports has not been studied. Similar to traditional athletes, esports players’ performance is likely correlated with their ability to engage SRL skills as they train. Thus, the study of SRL in the context of esports would be valuable in supporting players’ learning and mastery of play through specialized training and computational support. Further, an understanding of how SRL manifests in esports would highlight new opportunities to use esports in education. Existing work on SRL in games, however, predominantly focuses on educational games. In this work, we aim to take a first step in the study of SRL in esports by replicating Kitsantas and Zimmerman’s (2002) volleyball study in the context of League of Legends. We compared the self-regulatory processes of expert, non-expert, and novice League of Legends players, and found that there were significant differences for processes in the forethought phase. We discuss three implications of these findings: what they mean for the development of future computational tools for esports players, implications that esports may be able to teach SRL skills that transfer to academics, and what educational technology can learn from esports to create more effective tools.
“What Happened Here!?” A Taxonomy for User Interaction with Spatio-Temporal Game Data Visualization
Authors: Kleinman, E., Preetham, N., Teng, Z., Bryant, A., and Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2021
Venue: Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHIPlay)
Abstract: Currently, there is no formal taxonomy for the activities that users engage in when interacting with and making meaning from spatio-temporal game data visualizations. As data visualization, especially spatio-temporal visualization, becomes more popular for game data analytics, it becomes increasingly crucial that we develop a formal understanding of how users, especially players, interact with and extract meaning from game data using these systems. However, existing taxonomies developed for InfoVis are not directly applicable due to domain differences and a lack of consensus within the literature. This paper presents the beginnings of a taxonomy for user interaction with spatio-temporal data specific to the domain of games, developed from the results of a qualitative user study (n=7) in which experienced players were tasked with using a spatio-temporal visualization system to explore and understand telemetry data from Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2). The taxonomy includes seven activities organized into three categories: Data Interaction, Sense Making, and Validation. We discuss the implications of these activities on design and future research.
Design-Driven Requirements for Computationally Co-Creative Game AI Design Tools
Authors: Partlan, N., Kleinman, E., Howe, J., Ahmad, S., Marsella, S., and Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2021
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: Game AI designers must manage complex interactions between the AI character, the game world, and the player, while achieving their design visions. Computational co-creativity tools can aid them, but first, AI and HCI researchers must gather requirements and determine design heuristics to build effective co-creative tools. In this work, we present a participatory design study that categorizes and analyzes game AI designers’ workflows, goals, and expectations for such tools. We evince deep connections between game AI design and the design of co-creative tools, and present implications for future co-creativity tool research and development.
Using Data to “Git Gud”: A Push for a Player-Centric approach to the Use of Data in Esports
Authors: Kleinman, E., Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2021
Venue: EHPHCI: Esports and High Performance HCI Workshop at CHI
Abstract: The rapid increase in the availability of player data and the advancement of player modeling technologies have resulted in an abundance of data-driven systems for the domain of esports, both within academia and the industry. However, there is a notable lack of research exploring how players use their data to gain expertise in the context of esports. In this position paper we discuss the current state of the field and argue that there is a need for further research into how players use their data and what they want from datadriven systems. We argue that such knowledge would be invaluable to better design data-driven systems that can aid players in gaining expertise and mastering gameplay
“Naked and on fire”: Examining Player Agency Experiences in Narrative-Focused Gameplay
Authors: Carstensdottir, E., Kleinman, E., Williams, R., and Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2021
Venue: CHI
Abstract: Player agency is central to interactive narrative and games. While previous work focuses on analyzing player perception of agency through various lenses and phenomena, like meaningful choice and expectations, it is largely theoretical. Few user studies within games explore how players reason about and judge their own agency within interactive narratives. We present an interview study where participants rated their agency experiences within narrative-focused games and described their reasoning. The analysis suggests that agency perception depends on multiple factors beyond meaningful choice, such as social investment and genre conventions. Participants described varying preferences and value judgments for different factors, indicating that individual differences have a deep impact on agency perception in narrative-focused gameplay. We discuss the implications of these cognitive variables on design, how they can be leveraged with other factors, and how our findings can help future work enhance and measure player agency, within interactive narrative and beyond.
The Gangs All Here: How People Used Games to cope with COVID19 Quarantine
Authors: Kleinman, E., Chojnacki, S., and Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2021
Venue: CHI
Abstract: In 2020, the rapid spread of COVID-19 forced many people to self-isolate, resulting in struggles with mental health [60], and an increase in gaming [3]. In this paper, we seek to examine how individuals used digital games during the quarantine. We conducted a two-tier qualitative study where we used a thematic analysis of tweets to derive questions for an online survey that we distributed. Results of thematic analysis of survey responses identified 15 themes. Some themes confirm previous works’ findings, particularly how games are used to increase social connection or distract oneself from unpleasant situations. We also found new themes unique to the quarantine, such as interactions with non-player characters used as a surrogate for real-world interaction and using in-game routines as a substitute to real-world routines lost due to the pandemic. This work discusses the use of games during the pandemic and can be seeds for future studies.
“And then they died”: Using Action Sequences for Data-Driven, Context-Aware Gameplay Analysis
Distinctions: FDG 2020 Exceptional Paper Recipient
Authors: Kleinman, E., Ahmad, S., Teng, Z., Bryant, A., Nguyen, T. H. D., Harteveld, C., & El-Nasr, M.S.
Year: 2020
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: Many successful games rely heavily on data analytics to understand players and inform design. Popular methodologies focus on machine learning and statistical analysis of aggregated data. While effective in extracting information regarding player action, much of the context regarding when and how those actions occurred is lost. Qualitative methods allow researchers to examine context and derive meaningful explanations about the goals and motivations behind player behavior, but are difficult to scale. In this paper, we build on previous work by combining two existing methodologies: Interactive Behavior Analytics (IBA) [2] and sequence analysis (SA), in order to create a novel, mixed methods, human-in-the-loop data analysis methodology that uses behavioral labels and visualizations to allow analysts to examine player behavior in a way that is context-sensitive, scalable, and generalizable. We present the methodology along with a case study demonstrating how it can be used to analyze behavioral patterns of teamwork in the popular multiplayer game Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2).
Data-Driven Game Development: Ethical Considerations
Authors: El-Nasr, M.S., Kleinman, E.
Year: 2020
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: In recent years, the games industry has made a major move towards data-driven development, using data analytics and player modeling to inform design decisions. Data-driven techniques are beneficial as they allow for the study of player behavior at scale, making them very applicable to modern digital game development. However, with this move towards data-driven decision-making comes a number of ethical concerns. Previous work in player modeling as well as work in the fields of AI and machine learning have demonstrated several ways in which algorithmic decision-making can be flawed due to data or algorithmic bias or lack of data from specific groups. Further, black-box algorithms create a trust problem due to lack of interpretability and transparency of the results or models developed based on the data, requiring blind faith in the results. In this position paper, we discuss several factors affecting the use of game data in the development cycle. In addition to issues raised by previous work, we also raise issues with algorithms marginalizing certain player groups and flaws in the resulting models due to their inability to reason about situational factors affecting players’ decisions. Further, we outline some work that seeks to address these problems and identify some open problems concerning ethics and game data science.
Interactive Visualization For Strategy Acquisition In Esports Spectatorship
Authors: Kleinman, E., Seif El-Nasr, M.
Year: 2020
Venue: SEEGames Workshop at CHI
Abstract: Professional esports teams develop strategies in order to achieve goals and emerge successful in the complex and dynamic environments of their respective games. Understanding and learning such strategies, often in order to recreate them, is a core component of esport spectatorship. However, esports streams move fast, and it is often difficult for viewers to grasp the intricacies of complex strategies. In this paper, we present an interactive data visualization tool that can allow users to play back and label data. We argue that such a tool can allow esports spectators to learn advanced strategies from professional gameplay by facilitating the interactive exploration of replay data.
MAADS: Mixed-Methods Approach for the Analysis of Debugging Sequences of Beginner Programmers
Authors: Jemmali, C., Kleinman, E., Bunian, S.,Almeda, M.V., Rowe, E., & El-Nasr, M.S.
Year: 2020
Venue: Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
Abstract: Debugging is a cornerstone of programming and has been shown to be especially problematic for beginners. While there has been some work trying to understand the difficulties that beginners face with debugging, investigating common mistakes or specific error types they struggle with, there is little work that focuses on in-depth analysis of how novice programmers approach debugging, and how it changes over time. In this paper, we present MAADS (MixedMethods Approach for the Analysis of Debugging Sequences), a scalable and generalizable approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods by using a state/action representation and visualization to gain knowledge about the debugging process through a step by step analysis. To demonstrate the utility of MAADS, we analyzed the debugging processes of middle school students who developed code within May’s Journey, a game designed to teach basic programming principles. The approach showed great utility in identifying differences in students’ debugging techniques and learning paths.
Labeling Debugging in May’s Journey Gameplay
Authors: Almeda, M.V., Kleinman, E., Jemmali, C., Ithier, C., Rowe, E., & El-Nasr, M.S.
Year: 2020
Venue: Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
Abstract: Debugging is an integral part of programming and is difficult to master among novice programmers. We examine how middle-school learners approach debugging within a puzzle game, May’s Journey, using a Playback Tool that provides a replay of student gameplay to support teacher practice and research. Teachers and researchers can use our labeling system and Playback Tool to observe students’ debugging process and identify those who are struggling to learn how to debug their code.
A Model for Analyzing Diegesis in Digital Narrative Games
Authors: Kleinman, E., Carstensdottir, E., & El-Nasr, M.S.
Year: 2019
Venue: International Conference on Interactive Storytelling (ICIDS)
Abstract: Effectively communicating information about the diegetic boundary of a story world is critical to interactive narratives in games. It is crucial to the player’s ability to reason about how the game establishes and limits their options for interaction. However, games have proven difficult to apply traditional models of diegesis to, due to their interactive nature. Having a model for analyzing diegesis in interactive storytelling games could prove beneficial for the examination of communication between designer and player. In this paper, we present possible foundations of such a model, using film theory and the Interaction Model for Interactive Narratives as a lens. We define constructs and components that can be used to identify, isolate, and examine elements of a narrative game that define its diegetic experience and, through four case studies, demonstrate the utility of the model in analyzing the effects of diegesis and include observations on how to improve communication about diegetic boundaries between designer and player.
From Immersion to Metagaming: Understanding Rewind Mechanics in Interactive Storytelling
Authors: Kleinman, E., Karo, K., & Zhu, J.
Year: 2019
Venue: Entertainment Computing (Journal)
Abstract: An increasing number of recent narrative games have incorporated the metagaming elements of rewinding and remaking choices as their core mechanics. Traditionally, narrative game designers were concerned that rewinding would break immersion and negatively affect players’ narrative experience. Although there has been research on metagaming as a whole, relatively little has been focused on the design of the rewinding mechanics and even less on empirical data regarding their impact on players. In this article, we present a theoretical framework on the structure of rewinding in narrative games, consisting of Restricted Rewind, Unrestricted Rewind, and External Rewind. To evaluate the impact of some of the main types of rewind structure, we developed three versions of an interactive narrative game called Rough Draft: a restricted rewind version, a parallel unrestricted rewind version, and a traditional no-rewind version. In a user study (n=60), we evaluated the player experience of these three versions of Rough Draft in terms of gameplay engagement, narrative engagement, narrative transportation, and overall perceptions. Our results indicate that rewind mechanics do not negatively affect player engagement as previously believed. We also present our reflections and suggest design considerations for narrative games around rewind mechanics.
Modeling Individual and Team Behavior through Spatio-Temporal Analysis
Authors: Ahmad, S., Bryant, A., Kleinman, E., Teng, Z., Nguyen, T. H. D., & El-Nasr, M.S.
Year: 2019
Venue: Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHIPlay)
Abstract: Modeling players’ behaviors in games has gained increased momentum in the past few years. This area of research has wide applications, including modeling learners and understanding player strategies, to mention a few. In this paper, we present a new methodology, called Interactive Behavior Analytics (IBA), comprised of two visualization systems, a labeling mechanism, and abstraction algorithms that use Dynamic Time Warping and clustering algorithms. The methodology is packaged in a seamless interface to facilitate knowledge discovery from game data. We demonstrate the use of this methodology with data from two multiplayer team-based games: BoomTown, a game developed by Gallup, and DotA 2. The results of this work show the effectiveness of this method in modeling, and developing human-interpretable models of team and individual behavior.
Player Interaction in Narrative Games: Structure and Narrative Progression Mechanics
Authors: Carstensdottir, E., Kleinman, E., & El-Nasr, M. S.
Year: 2019
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: When studying the impact of interactive narratives, especially in high impact, sensitive domains such as education and health, it is important that the narrative design as a whole is reported in sufficient detail to allow for analysis and replication. However, the design of interactive narrative applications is often insufficiently documented and reported, despite being a central component and, often, a focus of study. This is due, in part, to a lack of a common lexicon that allows designers and practitioners to describe and compare their designs. This paper examines interaction design in interactive narrative games, specifically structure and progression mechanics, from the perspective of establishing common ground between designer and player. Using the interaction model for interactive narratives to guide our analysis, we found patterns of structure and narrative progression mechanics that offer insight into commercial design practices, which can inform and guide interaction design choices for narrative games.
Using Game Design Mechanics as Metaphors to Enhance Learning of Introductory Programming Concepts
Authors: Jemmali, C., Kleinman, E., Bunian, S., Almeda, M. V., Rowe, E., & El-Nasr, M. S.
Year: 2019
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: There are several educational games and tools that teach programming. However, very few offer a deep understanding of Computer Science concepts such as Abstraction, Modularity, Semantics, and Debugging. We present May’s Journey, an educational game that supports learning of basic programming concepts, where players solve puzzles and interact with the environment by typing in a custom programming language. The game design seamlessly integrates learning goals, core mechanics, and narrative elements. We discuss how we integrate the CS concepts mentioned above using game mechanic metaphors.
Evaluation of a Graph-Based Representation for Interactive Narrative
Authors: Partlan, N., Carstensdottir, E., Kleinman, E., Snodgrass, S., Harteveld, C.,Smith, G., Matuk, C., Sutherland, S. C., & El-Nasr, M. S.
Year: 2019
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: Interactivity and player experience are inextricably entwined with the creation of compelling narratives for interactive digital media. Narrative shapes and buttresses many such experiences, and therefore designers must construct compelling narrative arcs while carefully considering the effects of interaction on both the story and the player. As the narrative becomes more structurally complex, due to choice-based branching and other player actions, designers need to employ commensurately capable models and visualizations to keep track of that growing complexity. However, previous models of interactive narrative have failed to fully capture interactive elements with automated, operationalized visualizations. In this paper, we describe an algorithm for automated construction of a framework-driven, graph-based representation of interactive narrative. This representation more fully and transparently models structural and interactive features of the narrative than did prior approaches. We present an initial evaluation of this representation, based on modified cognitive walkthroughs performed by interactive narrative design and research experts from our research team, and we describe the takeaways for future improvement on interactive narrative modeling and analysis.
Teamwork and Adaptation in Games (TAG): A Survey to Gauge Teamwork
Distinctions: FDG 2019 Best Paper Nominee
Authors: Harteveld, C., Kleinman, E., Rizzo, P., Schouten, D., Nguyen, T.H., Liberty, S., Kimbrough, W., Fombelle, P., & El-Nasr, M. S.
Year: 2019
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: Teamwork is becoming an important element of gameplay. Many games nowadays incorporate teamwork in one form or another. As a result, many game researchers have investigated aspects of teamwork. However, we have yet to develop effective surveys to gauge how people strategize or problem solve together within different games, and how such games enable these activities. In this paper, we propose the Teamwork and Adaptation in Games (TAG) survey. We developed this survey using theories of team adaptation, a process of how teams work together and adapt their strategies to changes in environments. Through three separate studies, the TAG survey was used to gauge team adaptation. Our results show that the TAG survey is an effective instrument allowing us to gauge team adaptation in different game environments. We further found that the instrument can be effectively used to compare games.
Going Forward by Going Back: Re-defining Rewind Mechanics in Narrative Games
Authors: Kleinman, E., Carstensdottir, E., & El-Nasr, M. S.
Year: 2018
Venue: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Abstract: A growing number of new games utilize rewind as a narrative mechanic and there is an increasing need for a reliable way to understand and evaluate storytelling in such games. This paper builds on previous work by conducting narrative interaction focused analysis on rewind mechanics in commercial video games, and focuses on rewind as a form of narrative progression. The analysis resulted in updated definitions of rewind mechanic types originally defined by Kleinman et al. [13]. An updated framework is proposed where rewind is described in terms of control, scope, initiation, presentation, story structure, and structure traversal. Common design patterns associated with rewind, such as narrative justification and feedback, are also discussed. This expanded framework can be used to better understand rewind mechanics, and evaluate storytelling and user experience in the video games that utilize them.
Exploratory Automated Analysis of Structural Features of Interactive Narrative
Authors: Partlan, N., Carstensdottir, E., Snodgrass, S., Kleinman, E., Smith, G., Harteveld, C., & El-Nasr, M. S.
Year: 2018
Venue: Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference (AIIDE)
Abstract: Analysis of interactive narrative is a complex undertaking, requiring understanding of the narrative’s design, its affordances, and its impact on players. Analysis is often performed by an expert, but this is expensive and difficult for complex interactive narratives. Automated analysis of structure, the organization of interaction elements, could help augment an expert’s analysis. For this purpose we developed a model consisting of a set of metrics to analyze interactive narrative structure, enabled by a novel multi-graph representation. We implemented this model for an interactive scenario authoring tool called StudyCrafter and analyzed 20 student-designed scenarios. We show that the model illuminates the structures and groupings of the scenarios. This work provides insight for manual analysis of attributes of interactive narratives and a starting point for automated design assistance.
Towards an Interaction Model for Interactive Narratives
Authors: Carstensdottir, E., Kleinman, E., El-Nasr, M. S.
Year: 2017
Venue: International Conference on Interactive Storytelling (ICIDS)
Abstract: In the discussion of interactive narrative experiences and story-driven games, much of the current work has focused on analyzing and proposing models and frameworks based on narrative theory and ludology. However, the players’ experience and interaction with such narrative structure and content is a topic that is currently understudied in the field. Specifically, questions regarding how the player interacts and perceives the impact of their interaction on the story are currently unanswered. This paper presents a step towards defining an interaction model that can be used to design and compare how a user participates in an interactive narrative.
Rough Draft: Towards a Framework for Metagaming Mechanics of Rewinding in Interactive Storytelling
Authors: Kleinman E., Fox V., Zhu J.
Year: 2016
Venue: International Conference on Interactive Storytelling (ICIDS)
Abstract: Recently an increasing number of narrative games have incorporated the metagaming elements of rewinding as their core mechanics. Although there has been research on metagaming as a whole, there is little that focuses on interactive storytelling and on the act of rewinding to remake a choice. In this paper, we present two main contributions. First, we propose a theoretical framework on the structure of rewinding. Based on our survey of related games, we categorize common designs into Restricted Rewind, the Unrestricted Rewind and the External Rewind. Second, we created an rewind-based interactive story called Rough Draft and we report the design lessons we learned.
Matsya: A Cultural Game of Flow and Balance
Distinctions: CHIPlay 2015 Student Game Design Competition Finalist and Runner Up
Authors: Baranoski, J., Kleinman, E., Wang, Z., Tucker, M., Ahnert, J., Schell, J., Doshi, R., Rank, S., & Zhu, J.
Year: 2015
Venue: Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHIPlay)
Abstract: Matsya is a group project developed by seven students over two terms in a course on game design at Drexel University. Inspired by the Hindu Flood Myth, all art assets were developed to reflect design styles found in Indian culture. Intended to be played on iPad and to evoke a sense of balance and flow, the player must spin rings of water to help a fisherman catch fish and survive, while making sure not to overfish in the process. One of the primary intentions of the game’s design is to introduce the player to aspects of a culture under-represented in Western games.