Reflective Game Design-Khaled

This note last modified June 4, 2022

#notesFromPaper Year : Tags : Authors: Khaled

conventional game design works against reflection

refers to reflection using the definition I usually ascribe to critical thinking

trivializing a game leads to worse learning outcomes

Crookall Hofstede: games need a debrief section for players to let the learning outcomes soak in.

immersion is counter to reflection, but maybe we are more likely to listen to a character we associate with

critical design is not “user friendly”, though avoid challenging to the point where the art is alienating.

cost and challenge: If we pay for a game, we’re far more annoyed if it’s subversive or not a straightforwardly entertaining experience.

some discussion on Art Game and how it doesn’t set goals for players / has “irritating” elements to aid in immersion and reflection triggering.

Also discussed the game Joust - game

transformational games shouldn't have safe environments
- games provide a safe space for experimentation, but maybe safe isn’t what we need since stress allows us to learn - Reflective Game Design-Khaled
stealth learning
- Reflective Game Design-Khaled makes the argument that designers are tempted to hide the educational aspects of their games because they see communicating values as a tradeoff with entertainment, however not only does this sabotage the larger meanings of their works, these two values can be intertwined with intentional design.
- I’m not actually convinced this is as large of an issue as Reflective Game Design-Khaled makes it out to be… The paper brings up an example of a spy game teaching cryptography that players don’t associate with the real world, but maybe they will? As long as the spy game accurately simulates real world cryptography enough that players can recognize the patterns, then learning is being done.
problems with design frameworks
- Reflective Game Design-Khaled is more a list of lenses, so it can work
how to design reflective games
- See: Reflective Game Design-Khaled
Reflective Elements In Mass-Market Games-Gandhi
- Khaled claims that reflection is under-represented within mainstream entertainment games. Perhaps this is because it’s hard to balance the conflicting needs of commercial viability and designing for reflection? This paper tackles this issue by analyzing player perceptions of reflective games in the specific context of mass-market oriented games.
- One of the big theoretical pieces of work is Khaled's Reflective Game Design. Specifically the idea that conventional game design works against reflection