Experience in Serious Games: Between Positive and Serious Experience

Beyond Enjoyment: A Cognitive-Emotional Perspective of Gamification

“…A call for "serious experience" in serious games provides one example of this need [41]. Similar calls have been made for the design of everyday objects [18] and persuasive health messages [48].…”

“…More emotional than software and more interactive than films, games manipulate player affect to create poignant experiences" [38, p. 156]. This need for emotional depth also applies to the interrelated notions of a serious game [41], which is a full-fledged game designed for non-entertainment purposes [70], and gamification, which is defined as "the incorporation of game design elements into a target system while retaining the target system's instrumental functions" [40, p. 4]. Gamification seeks to enhance software and services through a "gameful" experience [28], in which some combination of conditions results in the subject perceiving that she or he is playing a game, whether or not the activity is normally associated with games [44].…”

Designing for Emotional Complexity in Games

“…Emotionally challenging and uncomfortable game play experiences have been largely neglected, as they are seemingly at odds with the field's focus on fun and positive affect [4,17]. We argue that the positively-biased perspective on desirable emotions in games misses out on opportunities that the interplay between positive and negative emotions offers.…”

“…People play games for the experience [13,15], and one of the aims of player experience research is to understand what constitutes and contributes to positive gaming experiences [17]. Emotionally challenging and uncomfortable game play experiences have been largely neglected, as they are seemingly at odds with the field's focus on fun and positive affect [4,17].…”

“…In games research less attention has been paid to how different, oftentimes mixed positive-negative emotions evolve and interact with each other during play; particularly in relation to contrasting effects [10], or how emotions shift from negative to positive (or vice versa) [17]. As argued by Marsh and Costello [17] an appropriate rhythm between positive and serious experiences may well be crucial when designing for games to be most impactful.…”