Games for Impact
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Item Exploring the Transformative Nature of Games via a Project Based Classroom with Games for Impact(2025-01-07) Tece Bayrak, Asli; Watson, Zac; Gray-Mason, Rourke; Teal, Jeremy; Piven, SofiaGame development curriculums across the world have diverse subject foci depending on the discipline such as game programming, game art, or game design. While specific objectives for each discipline within a game production lifecycle varies, a common understanding for the social and cultural spectrum of games carries importance. For that common understanding, the curriculum at Media Design School has a course where students are encouraged to discuss the potential of games beyond entertainment, social and cultural position of games, and ethical challenges present within the games ecosystem in relation to society. Teaching faculty’s practice with this component involves a project-based approach which presents students with a brief that frames what a games-for-impact project is and invites students to form teams and pitch projects. In this paper, we present a reflection on ten rounds of teaching this course with this project-based approach involving games for impact and showcase a catalogue of games to highlight the strengths of this practice.Item Database of Games for Evoking Emotions in Research (GEER)(2025-01-07) Jemioło, Paweł; Gujda, Mateusz; Storman, Dawid; Ligęza, AntoniThis paper introduces the first version of the Games for Evoking Emotions in Research (GEER) database, designed to provide researchers with a validated set of games to elicit specific emotional responses. The database includes five games, each designed to evoke one of Ekman’s basic negative emotions - anger, fear, disgust, and sadness - or maintain a neutral state. Developed using Unity 2020.3.25f1, these games incorporate mechanics, narratives, and audiovisual elements tailored to evoke targeted emotions. The games were validated via a survey with 30 participants, confirming their effectiveness in eliciting the desired emotional states. Statistical analyses, including ANOVA and Pearson correlation, demonstrated significant differences in emotional intensity between games. This initial version represents a foundational step towards creating an extensive database for emotional elicitation, with plans to expand the collection and include additional platforms like mobile and virtual reality.Item The Transformative Experience of Game Jams: How Game Making Improved Perceived Social Issue Understanding(2025-01-07) Grace, Lindsay; Sekhon, VijayendraThis case study investigates the value of game jams in enhancing the understanding of social impact topics, in addition to their well-documented benefits for learning technology and design. Unlike traditional game jams focused on developing game design skills, this study explores how participants' perceptions of both the game-making process and the selected social impact topics evolved. Given that game jams often center around specific themes, the insights from this research can guide the organization of future game jams, emphasizing their role in fostering deeper reflection on various social issues. The study aims to position game jams as a reflective educational tool, comparable to writing papers, creating videos, or other common educational activities. The findings from a 48-hour game jam involving 76 participants, primarily female-identifying with an average age of 21, indicate that the event significantly enhanced their perceived understanding of game design and deepened their knowledge of social impact topics. These results support the idea that game jams can broaden participants' knowledge beyond just game design and implementation.Item Introduction to the Minitrack on Games for Impact(2025-01-07) Tece Bayrak, Asli