Student Game Design Competition

The Student Game Design Competition provides an opportunity for students and recent graduates to showcase their interactive play systems and designs to conference attendees and receive recognition for their work. The competition has two phases. In the first phase students submit extended abstracts, 3-minute game play videos, and optional playable games for consideration. The conference chairs reviewed these submissions and selected finalists to be showcased and considered for awards. This year, we received 17 submissions and selected 9 finalists to be shown during the event. During the event, all finalist games will be presented and an expert jury panel, with people from academia and industry, will be convened to consider each of the finalists and select winners. The awards will be announced at the end of the conference. We would like to thank all of the students who submitted their work for consideration and also thank our jury for their time and expertise in helping to select finalists and winners.

AWARDS

ENTRIES

Foldiverse: Augmenting Paper Folding Physiotherapy for Children with Autism via Family-Centered Mixed Reality Design

• Jianan Johanna Liu China Academy of Art, HangZhou, China
• Danlin Huang Chinese Academy of Art, HangZhou, China
• Yuqi Song China Academy of Art, HangZhou, China
• Shan Luo China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
• Botao Amber Hu Reality Design Lab, Holo Interactive, New York City, New York, United States

 Therapy involving paper folding-based fine motor activities has proven effective for children with autism. However, the lack of professional special education training makes it challenging for parents to create suitable guided activities that motivate their children during home sessions. To address this, we introduce Foldiverse, an AR game-based solution. Providing paper folding tutorials and real-time interactive feedback, it transforms paper folding into an interactive virtual life. The gamification approach stimulates children’s interest and enables parents to easily accompany the training at home. User experiments have shown that Foldiverse significantly increases children’s engagement and anticipation, providing a more gamified and family-inclusive training method for autism rehabilitation.

Error 409: The Portable Phygital Game Based on Binary to Decimal Number Conversion

• Vijayanand Banahatti IDC School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
• Yash Karanjavkar IDC School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
• Hayat Tamboli IDC School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
• Deekshaa Nim IDC School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
• Prasad Bokil IDC School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

There are games designed to teach binary to decimal number conversion; however, this is typically done through single-player games or multiplayer games that focus on solving puzzles faster or playing against the systems. However, these games do not focus on creating conflict to generate challenges, which in turn aid in achieving the flow state. Thus, we designed ‘Error 409’, a multiplayer endogenous game, by introducing challenges through conflict. Our design goal was to mix physical and digital environments to create a portable game that can be played anywhere. ‘Error 409’ requires players to achieve their secret number(s) given by the Console to each player by switching bits (on/off) using a common switch panel available for both players. ‘Error 409’ will improve students’ knowledge and understanding of conversions from binary to decimal. This portable game may act as a catalyst to spark children’s interest in fundamental computer science concepts through meaningful physical interactions.

“NEXT!”: An Interactive Exploration of Familial Duty and Personal Desires through Computer Vision-Powered Gameplay

• Bryce Arthur Moore University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
• Ming Yau Chan University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
• Isabella Patricia Mulles Ocampo University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
• Karen Anne Cochrane University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

‘NEXT!’ is an interactive installation and video game inspired by the personal ancestry of one of our team members. The game explores themes of family obligations, filial piety, and the sacrifices made for love within the context of traditional Chinese culture. Utilizing computer vision and original audiovisual media, ‘NEXT!’ guides players through an emotional journey based on real-life experiences. This paper details the game’s concept, interactive and technological innovations, and research findings. Through user testing and iterative design, we examine the alignment between the impact of the game mechanics on the perceived user experience and the designed narrative arc, transitioning from anxiety and duty to fun and emotional confrontation. The game effectively combines various design elements while addressing important cultural themes.

Playing Esker Formations: Additive Games with a 3D Printer

• Linas K. Gabrielaitis Gamification Group, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
• Oğuz ‘Oz’ Buruk Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communications, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

An esker is a geological formation created by a melting glacier, as subglacial streams of meltwater continuously add layers of gravel. A 3D printer crafts by adding layers of molten streams of plastic, in a continuous additive fabrication process. We designed the game ‘Playing Esker’, a strategy game where two players compete over the gradual printing of esker formations. Following a research-through-game-design approach, we document how additive material fabrication processes can be used as gamespaces, highlighting 3 themes for Additive Games: (1) Additive turn-taking, where we explored playful turn-based interactions with the printer. (2) Material constraints, where we treated material limitations as game mechanics. (3) Earth-procedurality, where we used procedural generation in combination with additive games to engage players with the unpredictable formations of the esker. Lastly, we reflect on geophilosophical and geological ideas, which we used as generative lenses to inspire new and alternative forms of world-building. By emphasising the earth and world-formation processes through gameplay, geophilosophy can inspire new modes of non-human world-building, agency and territoriality in games.

Hearing the Bullseye: An Auditory-Cued Archery Exergame for the Visually Impaired and Their Sighted Family and Friends

• Shan Luo China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
• Jianan Johanna Liu China Academy of Art, HangZhou, China
• Botao Amber Hu Reality Design Lab, New York City, New York, United States

How can blind and sighted individuals play together? The natural disparity in visual abilities often poses challenges for fair competition in social play. This can diminish the confidence of visually impaired (VI) individuals and reduce engagement for sighted players. While previous literature has incorporated fairness design strategies for the VI, we additionally aim to address the potential problem of boredom for sighted players by providing enhanced visual feedback without compromising fairness as a novel design strategy. We present “Hearing the Bullseye”, an archery exergame designed for harmonious play between VI individuals and their sighted family and friends. Players use a bow equipped with an infrared sensor, allowing them to target an unseen bullseye using sound rather than sight. An empirical study involving 18 sighted and VI participants demonstrated that the design strategies used in “Hearing the Bullseye” effectively promote social engagement among both groups while ensuring fair competition.

Bogtactics: Enhancing Environmental Awareness Through Serious Gaming

• Maximilian von Detten Hochschule der Medien, Stuttgart, Germany
• Kevin Pakula Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

Games have the potential to educate about environmental issues through interactivity, employing various elements from non-formal educational components to intentional educational experiences. In this paper, we introduce “Bogtactics,” a strategy game developed to highlight the significance of wetlands for our ecosystems, utilizing generative AI for content creation. Developed as part of a Master Study program, “Bogtactics” integrates educational elements seamlessly through interactions and meaningful choices based on real data. The development process included three expert interviews, three paper prototypes, and seven digital prototypes, followed by 10 playtests focusing on players’ experiences. The current state of “Bogtactics” demonstrates its capability to disseminate information and raise awareness about peatlands using diverse learning methods. Initial playtest results indicate promising user experience and gameplay elements, providing valuable feedback for future development.

SoundTrek: A Virtual Reality Audio Perspective-Switching Game

• Isak de Villiers Bosman Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
• Ross Tordiffe Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria , Gauteng, South Africa
• Tianyou “Jackie” Huang Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
• Oğuz ‘Oz’ Buruk Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communications, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
• Professor Kristine Jørgensen Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
• Juho Hamari Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

Virtual reality technologies allow new ways of creating a sense of space not only through sight but also through sound. We present SoundTrek, a game about using listening perspective for navigating through environments in VR. In SoundTrek, the player needs to switch between listening to spatialized sounds from the first- and third-person perspectives to navigate through obstacles. SoundTrek also employs sound design strategies, such as spatialized soundtracks and near-field audio to aid spatial navigation in the absence of visual cues and to create unique aesthetic experiences through sound. We present new ways of utilizing sound in virtual reality game design that highlights design considerations for audio-focused gameplay and diversifies the opportunities for creating rich, interactive soundscapes.

C.A.L.Y.P.S.O.: Designing Gameplay Features for Improving Player’s Cybersecurity Self-Efficacy

• Isadora Krsek Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
• Shuyang Chen Human Computer Interaction Institute , Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, United States
• Sauvik Das Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
• Jason I. Hong Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
• Laura Dabbish Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Cybersecurity campaigns often fail because tools and practices, like password managers, appear too daunting or difficult to implement. While prior work has shown that transformational game design approaches to improving players’ security self-efficacy can show promise in encouraging more secure behaviors in players, we still lack a systematic understanding of how and why these features work, or how these approaches differ in their impact on players’ behavior change. This paper presents and describes the design and implementation of a transformational game called C.A.L.Y.P.S.O., incorporating 12 dynamically toggle-able design patterns inspired by Bandura’s principles for self-efficacy design in order to encourage users’ adoption of expert-recommended cybersecurity tools and best practices. These 12 design patterns consist of self-efficacy design features explored in other work, and other techniques of the authors’ own design. The goal of this work is to draw on psychological theories of self-efficacy to develop design patterns that can be translated to other contexts to enhance end-user cybersecurity behaviors and to build a game that will enable researchers to assess the effectiveness of these design patterns in comparison to one another.

Edutainment in the Context of Science Communication in Virtual Reality

• Prajwal DSouza Gamification Group, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
• Daniel Fernández Galeote Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
• Dr. Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
• Professor Juho Hamari Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

As social media becomes increasingly integral to science communication, there is a rising interest in blending education with entertainment to captivate the public. This paper presents the design of a virtual reality (VR) experience that strategically employs engagement strategies such as anticipation, surprise, juiciness, and agency, aimed at enhancing learning within science education. Leveraging the immersive capabilities of VR, the virtual environment seeks to adapt these social media elements to examine their potential in boosting engagement and learning. The VR experience will be used in an experiment featuring a controlled design, varying levels of interaction and sensory feedback to evaluate their influence on participants’ understanding of scientific concepts. By integrating these engaging elements, the experiment anticipates enhancing the educational utility of VR, guiding the development of more effective VR educational tools and broadening the appeal and accessibility of science learning for diverse audiences.

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