An exploratory study of the relationship between meaning-making and quality in games

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying and interpreting relevant relationships between players' perceptions of meaning-making affordances and: 1) players' reported quality of the gameplay experience; 2) general player game ratings; 3) expert game ratings. The theoretical framework underpinning this study conceptualized gameplay as an iterative and contextualized activity driven by meaning-making processes that integrate rational interpretation and affective valorization of key game aspects. This was used to evaluate 14 games using an ad-hoc questionnaire that was completed by experienced players and compared to scores of game quality provided by the players and by external sources. The results of this exploration suggest an association between meaning-making affordances and critics' evaluations, but not with players' game experience and player ratings. The analysis revealed that key methodological issues should be accounted for when investigating game features and their affective meaningmaking implications on the perceived quality of a game and the gameplay experience. Insights on important theoretical and methodological issues that may orient and support future research are discussed.

Features of Entertainment Digital Games for Learning and Developing Complex Problem-Solving Skills: A Protocol for a Systemic Review

“…The systematic review will adopt an integrative approach to analyze the gameplay features proposed by the selected methodological frameworks, since these tend to be either game-centric or player-centric (Fabricatore, 2018; Fabricatore et al, 2019). Game-centric frameworks emphasize structural elements of a gameplay environment that affect player engagement by defining gameplay objectives, tasks, challenges, and means provided to the player, and the mechanics by which these elements interact with each other (Fabricatore, 2018; Fabricatore et al, 2019; Larsen & Schoenau-Fog, 2016; Sicart, 2008). Player- centric frameworks focus on the psychological processes that drive player engagement, and the aspects of player activities that make them comprehensible, meaningful, motivating, and therefore engaging (Bernhaupt, 2010; Fabricatore, 2018; Fabricatore et al, 2019; Ryan et al, 2006).…”

“…The proposed systematic review will therefore complement and expand the existing knowledge body provided by previous reviews of game analysis and design frameworks, which have been focused on either general gameplay features (Almeida & Silva, 2013; Caroux et al, 2015), isolated factors of the player experience (Avila-Pesantez et al, 2017; Boyle et al, 2016), or game-based learning in specific domains such as history courses (Ghulamani et al, 2020) and science education (Tsai & Tsai, 2020). It is therefore expected that the proposed systematic review will be useful to facilitate the comparison and selection of appropriate methodological frameworks for analyzing and designing entertainment games that may foster the development of cognitive CPS capabilities through gameplay learning , which is of great importance in research and practice (Caroux et al, 2015; Fabricatore et al, 2019; Natucci & Borges, 2021; Neil, 2012; Neves & Zagalo, 2021; Tahir & Wang, 2018).…”

“…Game research provides a variety of methodological frameworks for developing engaging entertainment games and facilitates the analysis of gameplay features that can promote or hinder player enjoyment (e.g., Avedon, 1981; De Byl, 2015; Hunicke et al, 2004; Kiili et al, 2014; Raybourn, 1997; Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005). To our knowledge, however, only a few of these frameworks have considered the impact of such gameplay features on learning (e.g., Deterding, 2015; Fabricatore, 2018; Fabricatore et al, 2019), and none of them have specifically addressed CPS.…”

“…Game-centric frameworks emphasize structural elements of a gameplay environment that affect player engagement by defining gameplay objectives, tasks, challenges, and means provided to the player, and the mechanics by which these elements interact with each other (Fabricatore, 2018; Fabricatore et al, 2019; Larsen & Schoenau-Fog, 2016; Sicart, 2008). Player- centric frameworks focus on the psychological processes that drive player engagement, and the aspects of player activities that make them comprehensible, meaningful, motivating, and therefore engaging (Bernhaupt, 2010; Fabricatore, 2018; Fabricatore et al, 2019; Ryan et al, 2006). In any problem scenario, the structural elements that define a problem environment and the psychological processes involved in a problem-solving activity interact, and are equally important to define demands, dynamics, and outcomes of a problem- solving process (D’zurilla & Goldfried, 1971; Newell &Simon, 1972).…”

Special Issue on Advances in Human-Computer Interaction

“…In particular, they have tackled the meaning-making in games and the difficulties that human brain has to overcome when mapping human movement on traditional interfaces for games. In the paper "An exploratory study of the relationship between meaning-making and quality in games" [4], the authors investigated an intriguing topic: trying to identify and understand relationships among players' perceptions of meaning-making affordances in games, and the quality of the experience lived by the player, her rating of the game and the experts rating. The underlying assumption is the conceptualization of gameplay as "an iterative and contextualized activity driven by meaning-making processes that integrate rational interpretation and affective valorization of key game aspects".…”