Enhancing social exergames through idle game design

Abstract

This paper recognizes idle games as a promising direction for exergames and other games designed for behavioral change. Based on a survey of 11 popular idle games, we extend existing literature by identifying the common core gameplay loop (active participation, inactive progress, and return reward) as well as the design patters used to support the loop. Furthermore, we propose an initial approach to extending idle game patterns to social exergames, focusing on improving player adherence.