Guest Editors’ Introduction to Meaningful Play Special Issue

On behalf of Meaningful Play 2012 organizing committee, we are grateful to Games and Culture and its editor Douglas Thomas for this opportunity to publish the four top articles and one keynote talk of the conference. Meaningful Play is a biannual conference, hosted by the Michigan State University’s Games for Entertainment and Learning Lab. The conference is a meeting hub of scholars and designers interested in serious games and Meaningful Play. The conference combines presentation of empirical research and game design innovations by scholars and industry professionals from the United States and around the world with the intention of understanding and refining the use of games beyond entertainment and learning to figure out how to change the world.

The four articles presented in this special issue reflect the nature of Meaningful Play as an amalgamation of theory and practice. Two of the articles explore the effects of learning games, while the other two articles argue for evidence-based frameworks to aid in game design.

Michelle Riconscente (2013) reported a controlled study of the effects of an iPad fractions game. Based on the literature of math education and the theory of embodied cognition, Motion Math was developed and tested with 122 fifth graders. The results are promising: Students’ fractions test scores improved an average of over 15% after playing Motion Math for 20 min daily over a 5-day period. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are critical areas of education. iPad has been adopted widely in the educational systems. This study provides initial evidence for the effectiveness of an iPad-based game with theory-informed design for math education.

Like other forms of artistic expression, video games have great potential to elicit emotions, which is evident in many successful commercial games. Claire Dormann and her colleagues (2013) proposed a framework for game design patterns related to understanding emotions, affective representation, and socioemotional interactions. These design patterns not only provide a more systematic guide for designers who intend to elicit emotions in their games but also enrich our understanding of emotions, affective representation, and socioemotional interactions, which are essential components of affective learning.

In their study, Lee and colleagues (2013) investigated the effects of regulatory fit on the time participants spend on game-based learning activities. They found that the fit between an individual’s regulatory focus (prevention vs. promotion) and instruction method (eager vs. vigilant) led participants to significantly spend more time playing the game in general, and on learning-related behaviors (i.e., reading learning materials and feedback). These findings, among others, provide theoretical explanation and practical solutions for why and how digital game-based learning would achieve the desired objectives.

In their essay, Cheung and colleagues (2013) proposed a five-principle framework for designing socially negotiated gameplay. The authors argued that the principles of flexibility: Dispensability, live-tweakability, tangibility, mobility, and value should be considered when designing games that support socially negotiated play. Their framework was explicated and tested through initial user sessions and highlighted challenges for supporting socially negotiated play.

This special issue also includes an edited transcript of a game industry professional keynote talk by John Ferrara (2013), who brings his user experience design perspective to the realms of game design and gamification.

In conclusion, these four articles and the keynote talk reflect the current nature of game studies and game design within the framework of Meaningful Play. Each of these articles provides answers to important questions about games, how they are designed, and how they affect players. They also pose an endless list of questions that can guide future studies in this arena. The validity of our field rests upon merging empirical and scientific methods with creative expressions of game design to achieve positive changes as a function of gameplay. The work of scholars and game designers is rather interdependent and guided by a yearning for large impact on individuals, societies, and the world. And to this we say … keep on playing!