A Daily Dosage of Toxicity in Dota2
Our student Joe writes about his personal experiences with toxicity in Dota 2. “Hey you donkey, you’re a horrible carry,” I said. Oh boy, did it feel great saying that out loud via the in-game voice chat. It was
Lennart Nacke
Latest posts — page 3
Dungeon World’s Dice System Is The Core Of Good Game Design (And User Experience)
Dungeon World is a tabletop game by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel that uses an adapted version of the Powered by the Apocalypse RPG engine. Whenever a player character attempts to do a difficult task, they must roll two six-sided
Games as a Service – the model of Microtransactions
Written by Karina Arrambide of the HCI Games Group. It is no surprise that video games today offer players the opportunity to buy extra content, loot boxes, skins, DLC or expansion packs. It is common that after players buy a
Understanding Gamification Through Goal-Setting Theory
Written by Gustavo Tondello of the HCI Games Group. Goal-setting theory has been used for decades to explain how to motivate people to perform better in work-related tasks by setting and monitoring goals. Gamification is also inherently a goal-oriented activity,
‘Life is Strange: Before the Storm’ Episode 1: A poignant look into a damaged teenage mind
Mental health issues and the anguish they elicit is a topic seldom explored by video games. The concept of thoroughly dissecting the mind of the protagonist to reveal their deep-seated flaws is a task generally left to other mediums of
CHI PLAY 2017 in beautiful Amsterdam — the Venice of the North
CHI PLAY 2017 was held in Amsterdam, one of the most relaxed and serendipitous places on earth, where time and transit did wait for you to experience the grandeur of architecture, design and human connections. People were quite helpful, courteous
CHI 2017 Impressions
Attending conferences to present your own work and hear about the work of others is an important part of academic life. As HCI (human-computer interaction) researchers, one of the highlights of each one of our years is attending the top
International exchange project with Cyprus Interaction Lab
An Exchange with Europe’s Cyprus Interaction Lab Earlier this summer, SWaGUR professor Lennart Nacke visited the Cyprus Interaction Lab visited from the Cyprus University of Technology on an Erasmus exchange for teaching and training of students there and to
My Life Has Turned Into a Nintendo Commercial
By Colin Whaley of the HCI Games Group. The Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Wii U, despite having similar controllers and even some overlap in game libraries, are such fundamentally different experiences that I’ve bought the same game for it
The Five Gamification Languages: Gameful Experiences That Last
Written by Lennart Nacke, Director of the HCI Games Group. (Read on Medium or watch the Video.) Recently, I had the pleasure of being invited to give a keynote at the GamiLearn conference about the five gamification languages in Tenerife.
Designing Keyboards for an Aging Population
Written by Colin Whaley. For most people, physically using computer peripherals is not a usability barrier — a keyboard is a keyboard is a keyboard, right? However, for the elderly or those with nerve damage, both sensory and motor problems may
Collection Interfaces for Digital Game Objects
Written by Gustavo Tondello. The HCI Games Group collaborated with a research project that also involved the Play & Interactive Experiences for Learning Lab at the New Mexico State University and the University of California at Irvine to investigate player