Identifying Game Mechanics for Integrating Fabrication Activities within Existing Digital Games

Title of the Paper

Identifying Game Mechanics for Integrating Fabrication Activities within Existing Digital Games

Paper Information

• Domain: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Game Design, Personalized Fabrication
• Keywords: Fabrication games, game design framework, digital games, physical fabrication, player experience, game mechanics, design methods, 3D printing, laser cutting, HCI
• Publication Details: CHI ’22, April 29-May 5, 2022, New Orleans, LA, USA
• Authors: Dishita Turakhia, Stefanie Mueller, Kayla DesPortes
• DOI: 10.1145/3491102.3517721

Research Background and Problem

• Problem or Challenge:

  • Integrating digital content within games with real-world fabrication activities poses challenges, particularly in embedding meaningful fabrication activities without compromising existing gameplay experiences.
  • Fabrication games often require designing from scratch, which is time-consuming and demands specialized game design expertise, while overlooking the potential of existing games.
  • There is a lack of in-depth analysis on how existing game mechanics can be effectively integrated with fabrication mechanics to enhance player experiences.

• Significance:

  • Fabrication games allow players to create physical objects, bridging digital game content with the real world and introducing novel interaction modes.
  • These games have the potential to boost player motivation (e.g., through commemorative physical outputs) and teach fabrication skills.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • The authors previously developed a toolbox to help designers incorporate fabrication activities into existing digital games.
  • This paper builds on prior research, further analyzing how integrating fabrication activities can enhance player experiences and establishing an optimized game design framework.

Solution

• Proposed Solution:

  • Modify the existing MDA (Mechanic-Dynamics-Aesthetics) framework by incorporating components related to fabrication activities, creating a new f-MDA framework for analyzing and designing game mechanics integrated with fabrication activities.
  • Identify and classify “Player-Object Aesthetics” resulting from the inclusion of fabrication activities through experimental analysis.

• Innovations:

  • Extension of the MDA framework: Adding “Fabrication Mechanics” and “Player-Object Aesthetics” components to form the f-MDA framework.
  • Proposal of five new types of “Player-Object Aesthetics” achieved through the integration of existing game mechanics with fabrication activities.
  • Development of a bidirectional mapping to assist designers in reverse-engineering integrated fabrication activities from the perspective of player experience or game mechanics.

• Implementation Steps and Methods:

  1. Toolbox Improvement and Usage:
     • Designers use the toolbox to select key moments in games and mark visual content on the screen (e.g., images or text) as cues for triggering fabrication events.
     • During gameplay, the toolbox employs computer vision techniques to recognize cues and prompt players to fabricate physical objects.
  2. Experimental Design:
     • The experiment recruited 12 participants, who were tasked with using the toolbox to design fabrication events in various games.
     • Data included participants’ selected games and events, fabricated object files, and semi-structured interviews.
  3. Data Analysis:
     • The f-MDA framework was used to analyze 47 fabrication events generated during the experiment.
     • New trends in Player-Object Aesthetics were distilled by combining game mechanics and player experiences.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Outcomes:

  1. New Framework f-MDA:
     • Developed the f-MDA framework for analysis and design, introducing new modules such as “Fabrication Mechanics,” “Fabricated Objects,” and “Player-Object Aesthetics.”
  2. Classification of Player-Object Aesthetics:
     • Proposed five new aesthetic experiences:
       • Objects of Pride
       • Objects of Creativity
       • Objects of Resource
       • Objects of Function
       • Objects of Shared Memory
  3. Bidirectional Mapping Table:
     • Constructed a mapping table linking existing game mechanics with potential Player-Object Aesthetics, enabling designers to identify the most promising game mechanics for fabrication activities.

• Advantages:

  • Integration of existing games with fabrication activities eliminates the need for redesign, reducing development costs and technical barriers.
  • Provides mechanisms for identifying complementary entry points for fabrication activities in game design.

• Experimental and Evaluation Results:

  • The 12 participants completed 47 integration tasks across 33 digital games, spanning genres such as action, adventure, and puzzle, generating various physical objects (e.g., souvenirs, functional tools).
  • Analysis revealed a strong alignment with player experiences, with most cases producing unexpected enhancements.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:
    • The study primarily focused on design outcomes and has yet to extensively evaluate players’ actual experiences.
    • Covered a limited range of game types and player samples; broader generalizability needs further validation.
  • Future Directions:
    • Conduct more in-depth user testing to validate the practicality of the new framework.
    • Explore how the f-MDA framework can be extended to analyze more complex digital games and physical interactions in non-game contexts.
    • Investigate how player behavior changes are influenced by fabrication activities within games.

Conclusion

This paper introduces the f-MDA framework and the novel concept of “Player-Object Aesthetics,” addressing theoretical and technical gaps in the integration of fabrication activities with existing digital games. The methodology provides powerful tools for future game design and interaction experience research, advancing the fields of HCI and personalized fabrication.