In this article, the authors examine iterative design methods for experimental game prototype development. They recognize the area of game design as a wicked problem space, that is, an area where attempts at producing solutions change the understanding of the problems. They argue that it is vital in game-design research to build and test designs in order to explore how certain game mechanics can result in different play dynamics and play experiences. Depending on the scope of research questions and available resources, it is important to carefully plan the design process of prototypes, their development, and the testing of them. It is also important to consider what types of data to obtain, and how to treat the data, in order to acquire materials for analysis that can support the exploration of the research questions of a study. The purpose of this article is to provide a navigation aid through this process. Various methods of prototyping and types of prototypes are described, along with considerations regarding the type of game that is developed. Then, various types of play tests are presented along with recommendations, depending on timing within the production cycle and availability of test-players. Also, an overview of potential methods of obtaining data from play tests is provided.This article is about the development of experimental research prototypes, sometimes also called demonstrators or sketches. A commonly used and recommended (see, for example, Wenzler, 2009) development method is iterative design, which, as described by Salen and Zimmerman (2001), is a play-based design process. A prototype is played, evaluated, adjusted and played again, allowing the designer or design team to base decisions on the successive iterations or versions of the game. Iterative design is a cyclic process that alternates between prototyping, play testing, evaluation, and refinement. (Salen & Zimmerman, 2001, p. 11) In game research, methods from social sciences, humanities, and technological fields are used commonly. In social sciences, the effects of games on people are studied, using the methodological body of the field. Common questions concern learning processes in games. Humanities-oriented researchers commonly study the meaning and context of games, studying the games as artifacts, using the plethora of methods, such as critical analysis of the field of humanities. In the fields of engineering and industry, approaches often concern the understanding of design and developing of games. The focus is typically on how to make better games; at other times games are used as drivers of technological innovations.It is vital for the future of the field of game research that methods from other fields of study are adapted to the nature and essence of games, and that new methods are developed for this research field. It is important to discuss the methodological challenges in the field of research, where it is not uncommon that success criteria are imported from other fields, sometimes not considering the profound aesthetic na...
Abstract. In story-making games, players create stories together by using narrative tokens. Often there is a tension between players playing to win using the rules of a story-making game, and collaboratively creating a good story. In this paper, we introduce a competitive story-making game prototype coupled with computational methods intended to be used for both supporting players' creativity and narrative coherence.
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