The collaborative nature of many modern multiplayer games raises a lot of questions in cooperative game design. We address one of them in this paper by analyzing cooperative game patterns in remote gameplay in order to define benefits and drawbacks for each one. With the help of a user experiment, we analyzed player experience in a set of existing cooperative patterns for games played remotely without communication. By comparing patterns, supporting closely-and looselycoupled collaboration, we discovered that the first type provided a more enjoyable experience but introduced additional challenges in case of a lack of communication. By analyzing patterns for both closely-and loosely-coupled interaction, we determined the most beneficial pattern within each type. We concluded with the results of a pattern comparison in colocated and remote setups.

Like most applications deployed on the Internet, modern multiplayer games are subject to the impact of transmission delays and the variability thereof. These delays can be introduced either by the physical limitations of signal transmission speed or overload and queuing problems in intermediate nodes. The influence of this delay is far-reaching and impacts most interactive applications. More specifically, quantitative and qualitative studies have been conducted on competitive game genres, such as first person shooter and racing games. In contrast, this work investigates how network delay affects player experience in cooperative games, where players have to interact with shared objects and obstacles. In this game genre, one might expect an increased sensitivity to detrimental network factors due to the reliance on the (near-)perfect synchronization of actions between participants. In this paper, a series of consecutive user tests were carried out with one of the most recent games, Little Big Planet 2; which focuses primarily on the cooperative aspect. Analysis has shown that delays over 100 ms significantly decrease player performance and the way in which network quality is perceived. At the same time jitter negatively affects user performance, though players do not perceive this impairment as disturbing.

Abstract-Cloud gaming, in which the processing power of a datacenter-based infrastructure is utilized versus local resources, is a popular topic in research. This technology is successfully applied by vendors to enable low-end hardware to deliver a similar gameplay experience to state of the art consoles. Many works in literature have focused on the quantitative aspects of the technology (i.e. delay measurements, visual quality determination etc), but the qualitative factors have not received a similar systematic treatment. Games are typically classified in terms of their gameplay into a distinct category or genre, including action, puzzle, strategy and racing games. In this work, a qualitative comparison of these genres is presented based on a common testing methodology which combines both objective (based on physiological measurements) and subjective (based on user evaluation) approaches. While in normal networked games, only multiplayer experiences are subject to the detrimental effect of delay, the nature of cloud gaming may result in an impact on singleplayer experiences as well. Results from this analysis hint at the fact that there is a similarity in delay-sensitiveness over the different genres in both singleplayer cloud gaming setups and traditional networked multiplayer games. More in particular, results show that action-oriented games are more sensitive to network delay in both setups when compared to other genres.

Abstract. This paper presents a study investigating cooperation between players in casual games. Although widely used in co-located or asynchronous settings, cooperative gameplay elements are not popular in networked synchronous casual games. In our study, we have analyzed different types of cooperation between players in casual games. Each of these is based on a certain cooperative game design pattern, and can be classified as either closely-or loosely-coupled. Six game patterns have been selected and an equal number of games developed, each targeting one pattern. By means of a user experiment we have investigated which cooperation types fit most of the criteria that define casual games. More specifically, we have focused on the applicability of close coupling between players. Based on the games used in the experiment, most patterns with closely-coupled interaction have shown an overall higher user evaluation than loosely-coupled, satisfying criteria of casual games. These results indicate that introducing close coupling in the casual games under consideration is a potential way to increase the player experience.