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Designing games for chidren's rehabilitation.

Keetels, N., 2012. Designing games for chidren's rehabilitation. Masters Thesis (Masters). Bournemouth University.

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Abstract

The upsurge of video games applied to various contexts such as health care and education has led to an increased interest in strategies on how to design games that generate real-life outcomes, knowledge or skills useful outside of the game itself. However, the current state of game design research that borrows extensively from game studies is at the risk of inheriting a predisposition for descriptive over prescriptive theories, to the detriment of potential applicability and industrial relevance. This MPhil project explores a design strategy that is focused on producing and predicting real-life behavioural outcomes by emphasizing mechanics and interactions over rules and content. With the aim of scrutinizing this design strategy a multi-method case study was conducted during the concept phase of a video game that utilizes the Nintendo Wii’s motion-control capabilities, for the rehabilitation of children within the age range of 8 – 16 with an acquired brain injury (ABI). The action research method was used to explore the design thinking underpinning the mechanics and interactions that bring about behavioural outcomes; those which satisfy specific therapeutic needs in the areas of motor, socio-emotional, and cognitive skills. Design decisions were subsequently evaluated through a series of playtests performed with the purpose of tracing real-life behavioural outcomes back to their roots in mechanics and interactions. This study has led to a thorough understanding of the advantages and limitations of the applied game design strategy under scrutiny, and contributes to the field of game design studies by: 1) critically analysing some of the formal concepts that underpin our current understanding of applied game design; 2) promoting an applied game design strategy for therapeutic effect, that emphasizes mechanics and interactions over rules and content; 3) providing the basis for a playtest method for validating design decisions.

Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Additional Information:If you feel that this work infringes your copyright please contact the BURO Manager.
Group:Faculty of Media & Communication
ID Code:20981
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:26 Nov 2013 16:13
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 13:47

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