Video games have become standard pastimes within the lives of modern children, thus educators have been seeking ways to use games to reach children. Games are engaging and make the player the driver of content instead of the teacher. Since games are experiences where players focus on completing objectives and growing, gameplay is an ideal…
Month: August 2016
The look of locomotion: animation’s role in immersion
The aesthetic and feel of locomotion in video games plays an important role in how the player feels about the pawn they control. Too repetitive and rigid, and it may become boring to watch. Too dynamic and artistic and it may encounter trouble with the responsiveness of the controls. Finding a happy mediums between responsiveness…
Rare spawns: treasure hunting in games
When a player gets immersed in a game world or experience they will spend countless hours exploring its lands and systems. As the player spends time in the game world they become accustomed to discovering new things until they eventually reach a point where they believe they have seen it all. However, there exists an experience…
The little AI probe that could: persistence in the face of failure
Within games, artificial intelligence opponents can teach us a lot about the folly of human behavior due to our emotions and a spiraling defeatist mindset. The computer only calculates the likelihood of victory, the risks involved, and always keeps their eye on the prize. This determination and commitment to their goal is astounding to observe….
Jenga: a lesson in structural integrity
Learning fundamental scientific concepts is often a matter of intense study, where principles are memorized and tested against in experiments to observe them in action. Few experiments create as lasting a memory on the pupil as the analogue game Jenga!. The games begins with a balanced and stable structure, which players must remove blocks from…
Skyrim Remastered: returning to an awe inspiring open world
With updates to graphical fidelity, performance, visual effects, access to mods, plus all of the original release’s DLC in one package Bethesda is ensuring that the remastered version of Skyrim will be the definitive open world experience. However, the reason it is poised to rock the world all over again is how excellent the game’s…
LEGO Pandora: the use and misuse of intellectual properties in video games
There is an ongoing discussion within the game development community on whether the core of a gameplay experience is the mechanics the player interacts with or the narrative the experience creates. Narratologists side with the story as an experience whereas ludologists (ludology being the study of games and / or play in general) state that…
Playing to a crowd: the social dynamics of Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity is a popular party game in which a player reads a card with a prompt containing fill-in-the-blank values for the other players to submit answers to anonymously. Its collection of answers include crass and dark humor, sophisticated social commentary, adult themes, and cites both pop culture references and philosophical concepts. The social dynamics…
Additional resources required: the crafting conundrum
Collecting items of interest is something we all participate in at some point or another in our lives. Whether it’s seashells at the beach or rare coins. Finding objects that mean something to us and creating a collection grants us a tangible reminder of the places we’ve explored and the times we’ve lived through. In…
Minecraft at my friend’s house: organic growth among children
When we think of how games get spread it is often a miscalculation to believe that parents get games for their children. Most games are adopted in much the same way toys are; children obtain games, play games, and share them with their friends. As a cultural touchstone children use games that they play in…
Aspirations & plans: lessons learned from The Sims
The Sims is a popular franchise which focuses on establishing a fulfilling home life while also creating goals for a lifetime. Players develop their Sims starting as young as children within a family all the way through the older stages of adulthood. Along the way they make decisions on whom to socialize with, what skills…
Game Terms: League of Legends
The following is a brief glossary of terms used in our other articles discussing the gameplay, terminology, and meta of League of Legends. If there are terms or concepts you would like us to discuss please leave a comment below and we will write about it. Abilities (noun): Actions that can be taken using mana or…
Play Professor 