Shinobi Valley: Studying curiosity for virtual spatial exploration through a video game

Marcello A. Gómez Maureira, Isabelle Kniestedt, Max J. van Duijn, Carolien Rieffe, Aske Plaat

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Curiosity is a strong motivator for human action, but the circumstances under which one becomes curious are not clear. This paper builds on the assumption that video games can be used as a stimulus for the experimental study of curiosity, and forms a basis in examining the type of curiosity motivated by spatial exploration. A video game was created that incorporates five proposed ‘game design patterns’ that may induce curiosity in players. The game, Shinobi Valley, was tested in a pilot study with 24 participants. Participants responded positively to the game and exhibited exploratory behaviour while playing without specifically being prompted to do so. The presented results suggest which of the patterns are most promising in inducing curiosity, and show that the game is of sufficient quality to be used in larger studies.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCHI PLAY 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
EditorsJoan Arnedo, Lennart E. Nacke, Vero Vanden Abeele
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages421-428
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-4503-6871-1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Oct 2019
Externally publishedYes
Event6th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2019 - Poblenou Campus, Barcelona, Spain
Duration: 22 Oct 201925 Oct 2019
Conference number: 6
https://chiplay.acm.org/2019/

Conference

Conference6th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2019
Abbreviated titleCHI PLAY 2019
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBarcelona
Period22/10/1925/10/19
Internet address

Keywords

  • Affective game design
  • Design for curiosity
  • Game design
  • Game user research
  • Player motivation
  • n/a OA procedure

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