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.

 

Review of Social Features in Social Network Games

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Paavilainen Janne Alha Kati Korhonen Hannu
2016 DiGRA/FDG '16 - Proceedings of the First International Joint Conference of DiGRA and FDG

Although social network games on Facebook have become popular, their actual sociability has been questioned. In this paper we review the social features of 16 social games and as a result present a list of 30 social features in three categories: presence, communication, and interaction. A common set of features which were found from all examined games are mainly focused on presence and communication aspects, while neglecting player interaction. In addition, social features are primarily used for acquisition and retention purposes, rather than monetization. These findings are useful for the study and design of social features in social games and in other games with social network integration.

 

Review on psychophysiological methods in game research

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Ekman Inger Chanel Guillaume Järvelä Simo Cowley Ben Salminen Mikko Henttonen Pentti Ravaja Niklas
2010 DiGRA Nordic '10: Proceedings of the 2010 International DiGRA Nordic Conference: Experiencing Games: Games, Play, and Players

This paper reviews the psychophysiological method in game research. The use of psychophysiological measurements provides an objective, continuous, real-time, non-invasive, precise, and sensitive way to assess the game experience, but for best results it requires carefully controlled experiments, large participant samples and specialized equipment. We briefly explain the theory behind the method and present the most useful measures. We review previous studies that have used psychophysiological measures in game research, and provide future directions.