Games research and industry have developed a solid understanding of how to design engaging, playful experiences that draws players in for hours and causes them to lose their sense of time. While these designs can provide enjoyable experiences, many individuals -- especially children -- may find it challenging to regulate their playing time, and often they struggle to turn off the game. In turn, this affords external regulation of children's playing behavior by limiting playing time or encouraging alternative activities, which frequently leads to conflicts between parents and the children. Here, we see an opportunity for game design to address player disengagement through design, facilitating a timely and autonomous exit from play. Hence, while most research and practitioners design for maximizing player engagement, we argue for a perspective shift towards disengagement as a design tool that allows for unobtrusive and smooth exits from the game. We advocate that interweaving disengagement into the game design could reduce friction within families, allowing children to finish game sessions more easily, facilitate a sense of autonomy, and support an overall healthier relationship with games. In this position paper, we outline a research agenda that examines how game design can address player disengagement, what challenges exist in the specific context of games for children, and how such approaches can be reconciled with the experiential, artistic, and commercial goals of games.
翻译:游戏研究和产业已经建立了如何设计吸引人的、充满乐趣的体验,能够让玩家投入数小时并让他们失去时间感的坚实理解。虽然这些设计可以提供愉快的体验,但许多人--特别是儿童--可能会发现调节其玩耍时间具有挑战性,并经常无法关闭游戏。反过来,这为限制游戏时间或鼓励其他活动提供了对儿童玩耍行为的外部调节,这经常导致父母和孩子之间的冲突。在这里,我们看到游戏设计可以通过设计来解决玩家的退出,促进及时和自主地退出游戏。因此,尽管大多数研究和从业者都致力于最大化玩家的参与度,但我们提倡把视角转向作为一种设计工具的退出,以实现从游戏中不显眼、顺畅地退出。我们认为,将退出嵌入游戏设计中可以减少家庭内的摩擦,让孩子更容易完成游戏会话,促进自主感,并支持与游戏的整体健康关系。在这个立场文件中,我们概述了一个研究议程,探讨游戏设计如何应对玩家的退出,儿童游戏的特定背景下存在哪些挑战,以及如何将这样的方法与游戏的体验性、艺术性和商业目标相协调。