Work

Narrative in Exergames: Thoughts on Procedure, Mechanism, and Others

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Narratives are stories with a beginning, middle, and end that provide information about the characters and plot. Exergames are videogames that require players to move or exercise. Narratives and exergames have seldom been examined together. Based on my review of the literature, there are five potential opportunities narratives could bring to exergames: Enhanced engagement with characters and with the plot, increased motivation, repeated play sessions, and better behavioral consequence. However, the rewards offered by these possibilities may be offset by the challenges they pose. These challenges include the difficulty in fully integrating narratives into the gameplay, the players' limited information processing capacity, difficulty in measurement, the lack of full understanding of the player-character identification process, and the narrative saturation effects. Innovative research is needed to bridge the two potentially important domains.

Source: Games for Health Journal

DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2014.0090

Author: Amy Shirong Lu

Institution: Northeastern University

Language: English

Topic: Educational Games and Gamification

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Cancer Institute