DECKS: A Framework to Understand and Evaluate Game Mechanics
Thursday, 26 Jan 2023 at 6:00 pm – Sun Room, Memorial Union
Dr. Sercan Sengun is a researcher, teacher, and game designer, exploring phenomena at the intersections of video game studies, gamer communities, cultural informatics, virtual identities, and interactive narratives. He is currently the Harold Boyd Endowed Assistant Professor of Creative Technologies (Game Design) at Illinois State University and a research affiliate for MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality and MIT IDSS (Institute for Data, Systems, and Society) within the Antiracism, Games, and Immersive Media ICSR Project Team.This lecture will introduce a game design framework called DECKS (Short for Decisions versus Chance and Knowledge versus Skills) that builds upon the findings of previous research (see Adams, 2014; Schell, 2008; Rouse III, 2004). DECKS Framework presents theoretical and creative approaches to placing traditional game mechanics on two separate conceptual axes through questioning the actions taken by the players during gameplay. The framework helps game designers to understand game mechanics, foresee their effects on players, and come up with new and innovative ones on their own.
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