CGSA 2014 - Engaging Civic Literacy: Directions for Player-Centred Design of Games for Change

Emily Sheepy

David I. Waddington

Concordia University, Montreal

DIRECTIONS FOR PLAYER-CENTRED

DESIGN OF GAMES FOR CHANGE:

ENGAGING CIVIC LITERACY

CGSA

May 29, 2014

SOCIAL CHANGE GAMES PRESENT

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INFORMAL CIVIC

EDUCATION.

We believe that games foster civic

learning when they help players to

develop knowledge, skills, and

dispositions that players then apply to

public matters in the world outside the

game (Raphael et al.,2010, p. 203).

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GET WATER! THE GAME

Get Water! Trailer (Decode Global, 2013)

Touch-based endless runner

Target amounts of water collected unlock narrative

(cut scenes)

Achievements

(short-term goals, e.g. “Find 3 mangos”)

Skill Upgrades

(earned in-game or purchased)

Gameplay

Dialogue box featuring quotes submitted by players

Facebook

Twitter

Social features

Players purchase “pencils”; these are in-game donations

Monetization

What’s the player experience like?

What are players learning?

How are players evaluating these games?

What are their expectations for a game with a social message?

What features do they notice?

How do players’ evaluations relate to later actions?

Do they try to learn more? Why?

Do they talk about the game? Why?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

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PLAYERS’ IDENTITIES LEAD THEM TO

PRIORITIZE DIFFERENT GOALS.

•Aesthetic appeal

•Usability

•Learnability

•Use of genre conventions

•Facilitation of play.

Gamers

• Clarity and credibility of information

• Facilitation of real-world attitudinal & behavioural change.

Active Citizens

•Correspondence between learning activity and content objectives

•Facilitation of learning.

Educators

Messaging problems are playability issues

for social change games.

DATA, DATA, AND MORE DATA

• Think-aloud protocol

• Play logs & observations

• Pre & post-play

questionnaires

• Semi-structured interview

• One-month follow-up

questionnaire

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22 adults aged 20-42 participated (15M: 8F)

20 completed the study

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THEME: OVERSIMPLIFICATION.

" ... gender roles, inequality, and

pollution to a certain extent, weren’t

really--they were either sort of lightly

touched on or not really touched on at

all ... [There are] other social issues

that just, from who I am, seem just as

important as the water."

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THEME: (IN)VISIBILITY OF GENDER

I would have just gone right off to … they’re trying to target a demographic of women ... I didn’t see her as, like, a voice for women.

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THEME: CREDIBILITY AND VOICE:

CONFLICTING VIEWS.

I like these blurbs.

They're cool ... they're

people who are

connected on the game

... what they think about

access to free education

... some people will read

that and ruminate on it.

Like, what's the credibility of

these people for me who have

played the game somewhere

else, ostensibly? ... I either like

to hear what experts have to

say … or also people that I

know …

… last time I checked, Seattle

or Tacoma didn’t look like that.

THEME:

‘TYPICAL’ PLAYER BEHAVIOR AS BARRIER

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I know that people will escape the

cinematics … they are not going to read the

quotes … I know because I've seen it--I

know my friends … they do this with Angry

Birds, the Simpsons' game …

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CONTENT-MECHANIC INTEGRATION MATTERS TO

CIVICALLY MOTIVATED PLAYERS.

I was interested in learning more about the issues …

I didn't quite understand, other than the experience

of the frustration of not being able to keep water in a

jug, I didn't really understand the purpose of the

peacocks …

None of the gameplay elements help the player

understand the character’s real-life dilemma. I’m not

sure how, if at all, the tools earned throughout the

game relate to any real situation involving water

gathering -- maybe the purification tablets.

POST-TEST RESULTS:

WHAT’S THE MESSAGE?

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1/3 water conservation

1/4 mentioned girls/women

3/4 didn't make the links between

girls, education & access to water

"... water scarcity is a big deal, and is a big

reason why girls miss out on school."

DELAYED POST-TEST RESULTS:

IT WORKED (KIND OF)

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• 17/20 discussed the

game with someone

• 5 discussed games with

social messages rather

than the target issue

• 8/20 tried to learn more

about girls' access to

education or water

scarcity

Discussion Learning more

THANK YOU

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QUESTIONS?

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Decode Global. (2013). Get Water! [Video game]. Montreal

Raphael, C., Bachen, C., Lynn, K. M., Baldwin-Philippi, J., &

McKee, K. A. (2010). Games for civic learning: A conceptual

framework and agenda for research and design. Games and

Culture, 5(2), 199-235.

REFERENCES

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