Lasse Juel Larsen

Play and space – towards a formal definition of play

The aim of this article is to present a formal definition of the aspect of play generally known as ‘make-believe’. ‘Make-believe’ is defined in relation to theory of place and Dasein’s being-in-the-world as presented by Martin Heidegger in Being and time. From this point of view ‘make-believe’ can be defined as a uniform and situational spatial dyad where being is doubled, characterized by the presence of the physically absent. I will apply this definition after a survey of central and influential aspects of the history of the theory of play to demonstrate its relevance for a formal definition of play.

Juicing the game design process: Towards a content centric framework for understanding and teaching game design in higher education

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to advance a framework for understanding and teaching game design in higher education, in order to address complexities inherent in teaching game design courses. Everyday teaching and learning game design often deviate from the standard textbook model of game design. In reality everyday teaching and learning operate with handling game design curriculum, how to think games, and how to organise the development process. The presented framework merge curriculum, thinking, and process guided by the game design concept of juiciness. The framework will be presented by dismantling the standard textbook model of game design into three; game design (curriculum), game design thinking (thinking), and game development (organisation). In this perspective game design is concerned with game mechanics, game design thinking preoccupied with paper prototyping, metaphor, and framing, while game developments addresses player experience including play and game testing. This article will coin vertical design as juiciness as opposed to horizontal design understood as expanding system layout. Juiciness will be placed as a guiding principle in the relationship between designers and designed content as an aspect of designer intentions and motivations. Lastly, the content centric framework will be presented by merging game design, game design thinking, game development, vertical design with selected aspects of accepted software development strategies as an approach to teaching and learning game design in higher education.

Play and Gameful Movies: Ludification of Modern Cinema

The aim of this article is to advance a conceptual framework of ludification by separating out current thinking to incorporate two noninteractive cinematic areas—playful aesthetics and gameful narratives. Ludification is usually associated with the construction of ludic identities and cultural practices in the usage of new media or with application of game elements in nongame contexts known as gamification. This overlooks, on the one hand, the influence of cinematic aesthetics on computer games and, on the other hand, the extent to which play aspects and computer game elements imprint and transform the narrative compositional structures of modern cinema. The present study’s investigation will present an expanded conceptualization of ludification, classified by playfulness and gamefulness through interactive/noninteractive properties, aesthetic forms of expressions, and narrative compositions under the respective headings of gamification and cinemafication. These efforts unearth five traits of computer game influences on contemporary cinema presented under the headings, (1) play worlds, (2) ludified quests, (3) controller and interfaces, (4) play experience, and (5) game structure.

An Adaptation Framework for Turning Real Life Events into Games: The Design Process of the Refugee Game

Many games are inspired by real life events. The presented adaptation framework is based on the design of a board game with a companion app that addresses the Syrian refugee crisis. The aim of the game is to allow players to simulate the experience of being a Syrian refugee traveling through Europe. We applied an agile development method and participatory design to achieve our ambition. In conclusion we found that turning real life events into board games can be advanced by the following game design adaptation framework, which balances four interrelated layers: (1) real life events (game fiction), (2) game system (formal game elements), (3) movement system (game mechanisms), and (4) meaning (player choice) which prioritise game over story.

Pervasive Learning - A Question of Context (Pervasive Learning - Eine Frage des Kontexts).

Abstract Modern learners have access to almost unlimited resources of information and they can obtain, share and develop knowledge through a multitude of different media. Education is a way of accessing and developing knowledge and it has gotten a new meaning. Education is now about how you handle knowledge, it is not a specific place where you can access scarce information. Pervasive or ubiquitous communication opens up for taking the organizing and design of learning landscapes a step further. Furthermore it calls for theoretical developments, which can open up for a deeper understanding of the relationship between emerging contexts, design of contexts and learning.