The peak-end rule is a psychological heuristic that describes how people remember experiences based on the most extreme or peak moment, and on the final moment. This experience tends to influence people in how they judge the overall quality of something, particularly in video games. The most intense and/or exciting moment of the game, and its conclusion, are the important factors in determining the player's willingness to continue playing, the memorization, and the dissemination. Through an exploratory analysis of the perceptions of players on social networks, regarding the video games "The Last of Us Part II" and "God of War", it was found that it is essential that the games have a peak and an ending to produce the positive effect and, consequently, be recognized by the gaming community, making these games as the most representative, remarkable and finished.

This research intends to clarify the difference between game mechanisms and mechanics. We propose the reinforcement of game mechanisms as building blocks for game design. After analyzing Board Game Geek (BGG) mechanisms databases and crossing it with the literature review and game examples, we provide a new classification for board game mechanisms. Departing from the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework, we propose the Mechanisms, Mechanics, Dynamics, and Experience (MMDE) approach to fit the different concepts of mechanics and mechanisms to analog game systems. These findings should clarify the concept of mechanisms as building blocks for analog game design, which is also useful for hybrid and digital game design.

The aim of the current paper is to report on the conceptualisation of visual methods and techniques that were adapted for the monitoring of community participation on Thinkster e-learning platform. This platform supported the research activities of Masters students in Multimedia Communication program at University of Aveiro (2008/2009 academic year). This research work implies two components, which are dependent. One of the components is related to the development of a Web based functional prototype in order to allow teachers and system administrators the visualisation and analysis of the users' interactions on Thinkster's communication and information system. The other component of this work is focused on the prototype evaluation with an analytical method that revealed some of the target users' expectations, opinions and their satisfaction level related to the application interface.