In recent years, the fields of Interactive Storytelling and Player Modelling have independently enjoyed increased interest in both academia and the computer games industry. The combination of these technologies, however, remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we present PaSSAGE (Player-Specific Stories via Automatically Generated Events), an interactive storytelling system that uses player modelling to automatically learn a model of the player's preferred style of play, and then uses that model to dynamically select the content of an interactive story. Results from a user study evaluating the entertainment value of adaptive stories created by our system as well as two fixed, pre-authored stories indicate that automatically adapting a story based on learned player preferences can increase the enjoyment of playing a computer role-playing game for certain types of players.

BackgroundPostoperative pain is a persistent problem after surgery and can delay recovery and develop into chronic pain. Better patient education has been proposed to improve pain management of patients. Serious games have not been previously developed to help patients to learn how to manage their postoperative pain.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to describe the development of a computer-based game for surgical patients to learn about postoperative pain management and to evaluate the usability, user experience, and efficacy of the game.MethodsA computer game was developed by an interdisciplinary team following a structured approach. The usability, user experience, and efficacy of the game were evaluated using self-reported questionnaires (AttrakDiff2, Postoperative Pain Management Game Survey, Patient Knowledge About Postoperative Pain Management questionnaire), semi-structured interviews, and direct observation in one session with 20 participants recruited from the general public via Facebook (mean age 48 [SD 14]; 11 women). Adjusted Barriers Questionnaire II and 3 questions on health literacy were used to collect background information.ResultsTheories of self-care and adult learning, evidence for the educational needs of patients about pain management, and principles of gamification were used to develop the computer game. Ease of use and usefulness received a median score between 2.00 (IQR 1.00) and 5.00 (IQR 2.00) (possible scores 0-5; IQR, interquartile range), and ease of use was further confirmed by observation. Participants expressed satisfaction with this novel method of learning, despite some technological challenges. The attributes of the game, measured with AttrakDiff2, received a median score above 0 in all dimensions; highest for attraction (median 1.43, IQR 0.93) followed by pragmatic quality (median 1.31, IQR 1.04), hedonic quality interaction (median 1.00, IQR 1.04), and hedonic quality stimulation (median 0.57, IQR 0.68). Knowledge of pain medication and pain management strategies improved after playing the game (P=.001).ConclusionsA computer game can be an efficient method of learning about pain management; it has the potential to improve knowledge and is appreciated by users. To assess the game’s usability and efficacy in the context of preparation for surgery, an evaluation with a larger sample, including surgical patients and older people, is required.

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Agency, being one's ability to perform an action and have some influence over the world, is fundamental to interactive entertainment. Although much of the games industry is concerned with providing more agency to its players, what seems to matter more is how much agency each player will actually perceive. In this paper, we present a computational model of this phenomena, based on the notion that the amount of agency that one perceives depends on how much they desire the outcomes that result from their decisions. Using a structure for high-agency stories that we designed specifically for this intent, we present the results of a 141-participant user study that tests our model's ability to select subsequent events in an original interactive story. Using a newly validated survey instrument for measuring both agency and fun, we found with a high degree of confidence that event sequences selected by our model result in players perceiving more agency than players who experience event sequences that our model does not recommend.