“It started as a joke”

Author(s)

Katta Spiel, Sultan A. Alharthi, Andrew Jian Lan Cen, Jessica Hammer, Lennart E. Nacke, Z. O. Toups, Tess Tanenbaum

Abstract

With idle games, active withdrawal from the game comprises an essential part of gameplay as players wait for the game state to change over time. This mode of interaction is paradigmatic for the change of roles technologies have in our lives. However, the design elements of idle games are less well understood, particularly from the perspectives of developers. We interviewed six designers of six different popular idle games and inquired into their individual approaches. Via thematic analysis, we refine and expand on existing definitions of idle games as a genre, shed light on ethically charged practices of care in their design, and identify shared core characteristics between the games and processes. We then generate intermediate-level knowledge on the design of idle games. Our work contributes designers’ perspectives on idle games and their design to a growing body of literature on the genre.

Organisation(s)

External organisation(s)

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, University of Waterloo (UW), New Mexico State University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of California, Irvine

Pages

495-508

No. of pages

14

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1145/3311350.3347180

Publication date

10-2019

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

509014 Game research, 604008 Design

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Human-Computer Interaction

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/37d2f5b2-6525-403a-b6c4-803e2f8680de