A preliminary evaluation of a participation-centered gameplay experience design model

Abstract

In this paper we report on evaluation experiments from a Participation-Centered Gameplay Experience Design and operationalising instrument following a Design Science Research approach. The proposed model aims to contribute to an informed game design process by giving center stage to the notion of participation - the way players take part in the gameplay activity - from which a gameplay experience emerges and is interpreted by players. In order to achieve such an outcome, the model proposes six lenses for participation: Playfulness, Challenge, Embodiment, Sociability, Sensemaking and Sensoriality, to be able to rationalize and reflect on different forms of playing. To operationalise the model we present a design instrument consisting of a set of guiding questions, designed to elicit the main gameplay experience features, which strengthen each form of participation. We report on the evaluation of the model and instrument based on their introduction and use by 15 teams of game design students during their conceptualization phases, on 8 different project themes. We further present an analysis of students classification of the instruments, on understandability, productiveness and relevance, crossed with an analysis of the notebooks produced during the concept creation, to discuss and decide different ways to improve the model. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.