Keywords

game design, serious games, casual games

Abstract

How can activists and scholars design serious game projects that attract and engage people, that are inviting for many types of players, and that empower players to create positive change? My hypothesis was that the Activist-Casual Game Design Framework I published in 2021 could facilitate this work. I took a design-based research approach to answer my research question by way of demonstration and self-reflection through a creative case study of the production of an activist-casual game called Climate Somnia. Chapter 1 explains the literature review and synthesis behind the creation of the original framework, and Chapter 2 reviews the first four major iterations of my prototype and the lessons I learned from the experience of making them. Chapter 3 details additional theoretical research that went deeper than my original review and synthesis, providing me with nuanced understandings of the meaning and importance of player agency, inclusivity, and optimism in the context of activist game design. That chapter then proceeds to describe the design and development of the "core game loop" prototype for my game, and the learnings from that experience informed the subsequent design of Climate Somnia version 0.6, the creative case study at the heart of my design-based research method and the subject of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 begins by revisiting the framework I published in 2021 to critique the text of its ten hybrid design principles in light of the experience I gained in the years since. After that critique, I present my revision — the Activist-Casual Framework for Game Design, Planning, and Development — and explain its reorganized design principles as well as the "descent-ascent" planning model that goes with it. I also propose a direction for future research, in light of the revolutionary advances in publicly available artificial intelligence tools that have happened during my dissertation work.

Completion Date

2023

Semester

Fall

Committee Chair

Salter, Anastasia

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Texts and Technology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

DP0028048

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0028048

Language

English

Release Date

December 2023

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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Included in

Game Design Commons

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