Recent research has begun exploring games as a medium for reflection due to their affordances as interactive systems of challenge. However, little effort has been put into (1) synthesizing insights across studies and disciplines and (2) translating the academic work on reflective play into practical takeaways for game developers. This article takes the first steps toward summarizing existing work on reflective play and translating insights for practical implementation by identifying key game elements present in games that evoke reflection. We divide these elements into five approaches: Disruptions, Slowdowns, Questioning, Revisiting, and Enhancers. Finally, we provide an actionable supplement for practicing game developers to apply these concepts to their games.

Citizen science games enable public participation in scientific research, yet these games often struggle to engage wide audiences. As a potential solution, some game developers look to narrative as an experience-enhancing feature. Yet the impacts and affordances of narrative in citizen science games remain understudied, especially for games that require significant onboarding. Therefore, we investigated the effects of wrapping a story around the tutorial puzzles of the citizen science game Foldit. We found that the narrative increased the time players spent engaging with the game’s tutorial and its scientific puzzles but did not substantially affect their progress through the tutorial. This article provides two major contributions: (1) empirical evidence detailing the impact of narrative on gameplay metrics in a citizen science game, including the relevant effects of genre preferences on engagement; and (2) recommendations on the use of narrative and its capacities in citizen science games. We conclude that the inclusion of a narrative can add valuable depth to the experience when designed thoughtfully and intentionally.

Expertise-centric citizen science games (ECCSGs) can be powerful tools for crowdsourcing scientific knowledge production. However, to be effective these games must train their players on how to become experts, which is difficult in practice. In this study, we investigated the path to expertise and the barriers involved by interviewing players of three ECCSGs: Foldit, Eterna, and Eyewire. We then applied reflexive thematic analysis to generate themes of their experiences and produce a model of expertise and its barriers. We found expertise is constructed through a cycle of exploratory and social learning but prevented by instructional design issues. Moreover, exploration is slowed by a lack of polish to the game artifact, and social learning is disrupted by a lack of clear communication. Based on our analysis we make several recommendations for CSG developers, including: collaborating with professionals of required skill sets; providing social features and feedback systems; and improving scientific communication.

Games can be a powerful medium for encouraging reflection. Game designers can elect to include reflective elements within games otherwise designed for the mass-market. In order to better understand how mass-market games encourage players to reflect and which game elements were successful or unsuccessful in aiding reflection, we conducted an online survey. This survey was exploratory in nature and asked participants about their feelings towards games that had attempted to include deeper messages as part of gameplay. Inductive thematic analysis on the 139 responses led to identification of elements players valued within games and the creation of four themes underlying the player experience. Beyond the themes, a key takeaway was that games encourage reflection when they provide a space for players to project and explore their own experiences and philosophies, or when games enable implicit conversation between the player and the designer on the message of the game.

Science is increasingly being achieved through citizen science (CitSci) — research conducted in part by non-professional scientists. In order to increase recruitment and retention, CitSci is sometimes gamified. Yet, research suggests that being a game does not alone make CitSci more enticing; rather, retention is dependent on the player’s experience. One recent trend in gaming is Augmented Reality (AR), as demonstrated by games like Pokémon Go. In this work, we examine the potential benefits of applying AR to CitSci gaming. We conducted a user study where we invited participants to play two citizen science adaptations (browser and AR) of the traditional game of Memory. We identified four major themes through thematic analysis. We conclude that AR is a leisurely toy: while the browser interface is better suited to rapid, accessible, productive play, AR is better suited to reflective, one-time, unstructured experiences. Our findings reveal potential towards future work on exploring AR in contexts such as museums and classrooms.

For citizen science games (CSGs) to be successful in advancing scientific research, they must effectively train players. Designing tutorials for training can be aided through developing a skill chain of required skills and their dependencies, but skill chain development is an intensive process. In this work, we hypothesized that free recall may be a simpler yet effective method of directly eliciting skill chains. We elicited 23 skill chains from players and developers and augmented our reflexive thematic analysis with 11 semi-structured interviews in order to determine how players and developers conceptualize skill trees and whether free recall can be used as an alternative to more resource-intensive cognitive task analyses. We provide three main contributions: (1) a comparison of skill chain conceptualizations between players and developers and across prior literature; (2) insights to the process of free recall in eliciting CSG skill chains; and (3) a preliminary toolkit of CSG skill-based design recommendations based on our findings. We conclude CSG developers should: give the big picture up front; embrace social learning and paratext use; reinforce the intended structure of knowledge; situate learning within applicable, meaningful contexts; design for discovery and self-reflection; and encourage practice and learning beyond the tutorial. Free recall was ineffective for determining a traditional skill chain but was able to elicit the core gameplay loops, tutorial overviews, and some expert insights.

Crowdsourcing games involving image labeling tasks are commonly digital, played online, and have rules set by designers. In this work we explore the potential of tabletop image labeling games, incorporating physical elements, in-person community-based gameplay, and support for customizable rules. We developed an augmented reality game toolkit called Tile-o-Scope AR and conducted two studies. The first study demonstrates how the toolkit can facilitate in-person discussions through collaborative image labeling, and the toolkit’s potential adaptability to other games and applications. The second study, using three different activities designed for the toolkit, demonstrates the toolkit’s flexibility for creating customized experiences for audiences of different backgrounds.

Many studies have already shown that games can be a useful tool to make boring or difficult tasks more engaging. However, with serious game design being a relatively nascent field, such experiences can still be hard to learn and not very motivating. In this paper, we explore the use of learning and motivation frameworks to improve player experience in the well-known citizen science game Foldit. Using Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and Self Determination Theory (SDT), we developed six interface and mechanical changes to the tutorial levels in Foldit designed to increase engagement and retention. We tested these features with new players of Foldit and collected both behavioral data, using game metrics, and prior experience data, using self-report measures. This study offers three major contributions: (1) we document the process of operationalizing CLT and SDT as new game features, a unique methodology not used in game design previously; (2) the user interface, specifically the level selection screen, significantly impacts how players progress through the game; and (3) a player's expertise, whether from prior domain knowledge or prior gaming experience, increases their engagement. We discuss both implications of these findings as well as how these implementations can generalize to other designs.