Journal of Game Development

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION KITS FOR KIDS: NEW MODELS FOR GAME DESIGN IN THE ERA OF MYSPACE AND DISNEYMOBILE™
Martin Brynskov

ABSTRACT

Mobile and networked technologies coupled with children's popular culture are spawning new genres and blends of play and games that challenge the way we understand games and game design. This article presents our efforts toward understanding how children's play is changing, and how we can design pervasive computing systems that empower and engage children, especially tween girls (7- to 12-year-olds), to create and manipulate game-like social activities. The purpose is to use the somewhat formalized model of habitats. We use habitats in two ways: directly as an analytical tool to describe games, and indirectly as a structuring principle for the design of our early prototype of a "social construction kit," DARE!. The outcome is (1) a simple set of concepts and diagram notations for analyzing play and games, and (2) a very simple "language" that allows children to construct playful pervasive computing activities themselves, involving their friends and other people and things in their environment. The intended audience is academics and game designers who wish to take both a theoretical and practical approach to formalizing observations into models and tools. Although our focus is on tweens, the overall perspective is general in nature.

EFFECTIVE USE OF ASYMMETRICAL INFORMATION IN GAME DESIGN FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
Darla V. Lindberg
Carla K. Miller

ABSTRACT

Denizens of the early 21st century have advantaged, even championed, the realization that information is asymmetrical. The co-winner of the Nobel Prize in 2001 established how markets—as in “lemon” used car markets— malfunction when buyers and sellers operate from different information. This development has been studied in such diverse markets as healthcare, real estate, finance, and the Internet. And what about in computer games for education, a growing market? Orson Welles’ famous radio show “War of the Worlds” relied on listeners to trust the radio for the delivery of viable information about the world around them. Therefore, when the broadcast announced the arrival of aliens to planet Earth on October 30, 1938, the United States experienced immediate mass hysteria. The genius of using media to present asymmetrical information has become a model for military information against enemy troops and civilians back home, to the stock market, and even scientific journals. This article contributes to advancing game interactivity research in a game to teach users about the glycemic index (GI). The game was successful where traditional efforts in education failed. Why? Experimental data confirm novelty, fun, and reward are important. However, the bluff, the timely use of asymmetrical information, is the hunch held here.

EXPLORATIONS IN GAMEPLAY: BIMANUAL INPUT
Frank J. Lee
Louis A. Kratz
William B. Morgan

ABSTRACT

In this article, we explore gameplay built around the natural movement of the human body. Rather than having the player adapt to the abstract controls of a game, we explore games that adapt to the natural movements of the player. In particular, we examine the kinesthetics of two-handed motion as a fundamental game mechanic. We explore this idea in a series of experimental games, and discuss the successes and lessons learned from our exploration into gameplay using bimanual input.