Towards Accessibility of Games: Mechanical Experience, Competence Profiles and Jutsus
Towards Accessibility of Games: Mechanical Experience, Competence Profiles and Jutsus. Abstract Accessibility of games is a multi-faceted problem, one of which is providing mechanically achievable gameplay to players. Previous work focused on adapting games to the individual through either dynamic difficulty adjustment or providing difficulty modes; thus focusing on their failure to meet a designed task. Instead, we look at it as a design issue; designers need to analyse the challenges they craft to understand why gameplay may be inaccessible to certain audiences. The issue is difficult to even discuss properly, whether by designers, academics or critics, as there is currently no comprehensive framework for that. That is our first contribution. We also propose challenge jutsus – structured representations of challenge descriptions (via competency profiles) and player models. This is a first step towards accessibility issues by better understanding the mechanical profile of various game challenges and what is the source of difficulty for different demographics of players. 1.0 Introduction Different Types of Experience When discussing, critiquing, and designing games, we are often concerned with the “player experience” – but what this means is unsettled as games are meant to be consumed and enjoyed in various ways. Players can experience games mechanically (through gameplay actions), aesthetically (through the visual and audio design), emotionally (through the narrative and characters), socially (through the communities of players), and culturally (through a combination of cultural interpretations and interactions). Each aspect corresponds to different ways that the player engages with the game. We can map the different forms of experience to the Eight Types of Fun (Hunicke, LeBlanc, & Zubek, 2004) (Table 1).
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