Toward Ludic Gerontechnology: a Review of Games for Dementia Care

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Dormann Claire
2016 DiGRA/FDG '16 - Proceedings of the First International Joint Conference of DiGRA and FDG

Due to the increase of the older population, dementia has become a growing societal problem. This has led to an increased interest in digital games to support dementia care, such as cognitive rehabilitation or reminiscence games. To facilitate the design of games for dementia and set a research agenda in this domain, we carried out a literature review of games designed more specifically for dementia. The review brought out a number of design issues and highlighted limitations of on-going development. Beyond cognitive rehabilitation, we should turn to affective game design as many emotional issues stem from the dementia condition. Finally, we advocate stepping out of the functionalistic approach taken in this domain to design enjoyable, emotional and fun game experiences.

 

Incongruous Avatars and Hilarious Sidekicks: Design Patterns for Comical Game Characters

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Dormann Claire Boutet Mish
2014 DiGRA '13 - Proceedings of the 2013 DiGRA International Conference: DeFragging Game Studies

Integrating humour in games or designing humorous games can be challenging but rewarding. Contributing to practical knowledge of these contexts, we examine the role and value of humour in game character design. We begin with a brief review of main theories of humour. Next, we outline our methodology, describing steps taken to develop game design patterns on humour. From our investigation, we present a classification of comic characters and discuss a sampling of patterns for characters, highlighting design considerations particular to these. Then we enrich our collection by situating our character patterns within the comic worlds the characters inhabit. Our intent is to create tools that game designers can use for laughter-inducing entertainment, to generate new, amusing gameplay experiences.