The effectiveness of games for educational purposes: a review of recent research
Simulation and Gaming
What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy
Computers in Entertainment (CIE) - Theoretical and Practical Computer Applications in Entertainment
GameFlow: a model for evaluating player enjoyment in games
Computers in Entertainment (CIE) - Theoretical and Practical Computer Applications in Entertainment
TOWARDS OPTIMIZING ENTERTAINMENT IN COMPUTER GAMES
Applied Artificial Intelligence
Placing a value on aesthetics in online casual games
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
The art of game design: a book of lenses
The art of game design: a book of lenses
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Online games can serve as research instruments to explore the effects of game design elements on motivation and learning. In our research, we manipulated the design of an online math game to investigate the effect of challenge on player motivation and learning. To test the \'1cInverted-U Hypothesis\'1d, which predicts that maximum game engagement will occur with moderate challenge, we produced two large-scale (10K and 70K subjects), multi-factor (2x3 and 2x9x8x4x25) online experiments. We found that, in almost all cases, subjects were more engaged and played longer when the game was easier, which seems to contradict the generality of the Inverted-U Hypothesis. Troublingly, we also found that the most engaging design conditions produced the slowest rates of learning. Based on our findings, we describe several design implications that may increase challenge-seeking in games, such as providing feedforward about the anticipated degree of challenge.