Kandidatarbete i medieteknik, Institutionen för teknik och estetik, vårtermin 2017 Social Insecurity & Games: Games for self-reflection Douglas Gidlöf | Sebastian Hansson Aneer Pirjo Elovaara Peter Giger Abstract This is a study of how games can be used to encourage self-reflection. The study uses Everyday-Social Anxiety to establish a base point from which to make a game. During the study a game was developed using the research found. The game uses mechanics in order to link the player to the games protagonist. This link is then used in an attempt to encourage the player to self-reflect. Known design methods are used as guidelines of how the study and game is made. These methods originate from both game design and design of informative systems (such as servers). Some psychology sources are used in order to gather an understanding of what Social Anxiety is and how it affects people, the focus however, lies on the subject of Media technology and game development. The study concludes with results and a discussion. In the discussion the entirety of the study is motivate and reflected over by the authors. The results are specifically presented in a conclusion, presenting what was done, and what the study led to. Keywords: Social Anxiety, Design, Game, Mechanics, Link. Abstrakt Detta är en studie på hur spel kan användas för att uppmuntra själv-reflektion. Studien använder vardags-social ångest för att etablera en utgångspunkt utifrån vilken ett spel skapas. Under studien utvecklades ett spel utifrån utforskningen som hittats. Spelet använder mekanier för att skapa en länk mellan spelaren och spelets protagonist. Denna länk används i ett försök att uppmuntra spelaren till att själv-reflektera. Kända design metoder används som riktlinjer över hur studien och spelet skapas. Dessa metoder kommer både ifrån spel design och design av informationsteknik (Till exempel servrar). Några psykologi källor anväds för att skapa en förståelse av vad Social Ångest är och hur det påverkar människor, fokuset ligger dock på ämnet Medie teknik och spel utveckling. Denna studie avslutas med resultat och diskussionen. I diskussionen motiveras och relfekteras över hela stuiden, av författarna. Resultaten presenteras i en slutsats, där det som gjorts presenteras, och det redovisas vad studien lett till. Nyckelord: Social Ångest, Design, Spel, Mekaniker, Länk. 2 Contents 1. Background...............................................................................................................4. 1.1 Previous Studies…………………..…………………………………….….4. 1.2 External Factors.…………………………………………………………..5. 2. Research Question ……………………………………………………………….6. 3. Aim.……………………………………………………………………………..……6. 4. Two Authors………………………………………………………………….…....7. 5. Previous and Current Research……………………………............................8. 5.1. Psychology sources and studies relating to Social Anxiety………………8. 5.2. Emotional connections between player and game………………………10. 5.3. Mechanics for perosnal Integration...........................................................12. 6. Methods…………………………………………………………………………....15. 6.1 Design Methods………………………………………………………...17. 6.1.1 Research (Undersökning)……………………………….17. 6.1.2 Exploration (Utforskning)………………………………19. 6.1.3 The Essence of the Experience………………………….20. 7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...……24. 8. Discussion……………………………………………………………………....….25. 8.1 Core Pillars……………………………………………………………….26. 8.2 Social Insecurity and Why………..……………………………………..27. 8.3 Reflections of the game ……….…………………………………………28. 8.4 Art-style ………………………………………………….……………….30. 8.5 Design by Subtraction ………………………………….………………..32. 8.6 Inspirations and Background Reflection……………………………….33. 8.7 Sound……………………………………………………………………...34. 9. List of References………………………..………………………………...36. 10. Dictionary………………………………………………………..………….37. 11. Appendices………………………………………………………….………38. 3 1. Background This chapter presents a short background providing the base of the study and where the subject of the study originates from. It also presents some prior experience we have and observations that led to the research question and the idea for the study. This study was made to give an understanding of how people can connect to a game, and be affected by the experience. To narrow it down, everyday-Social Anxiety is used as theme for the game. That is the slight anxiety everyone seems to have felt at some point in their life when doing things such as learning a language, or moving away from their parents for the first time. To keep this separate from the Social Anxiety Disorder, it will henceforth be referred to as Social Insecurity. We were aware that social insecurity as a term has been used by others, however, what we mean by it in this text and study, is that slight feeling of insecurity everyone can feel about everyday social situations, such as before they meet a new person or before they go to work and so on. The focus of the study lied on the social and the society rather than psychology, and hence examples and conclusions will be based less on psychology and more on social, it is also heavily based on games. 1.1 Previous studies We have both studied the phenomena of existential crisis and what that means. During those studies one of us focused on self-reflection through game mechanics, while the other studied fictional characters and how they affect people who consume the media they are in, as well as how they are made relatable. During the studies the term “Social Anxiety” made its presence known more and more frequently which in turn made us wonder what it meant. Searching for information, we found a lot about the subject of “Social Anxiety Disorder”, however, after reading up on it, we believe it is not the same as the social anxiety of the average daily life. Hence the idea for study of the subject of everyday-Social Anxiety was formed. 4 During prior studies the question of what makes a character relatable was used. The intent of the study was to find out what makes a character relatable, and why that is. The study focused solely on fictional characters and their connection to people. It considered the effects of fictional characters as well as what they mean to their consumers, and how they can affect them, once the show/game/book they are in. (Shedlosky-Shoemaker, Costabile, Arkin 2014). Elements of this study will be used to help in the making of the games character, and while the conclusion of that specific study mostly used Situated Knowledge (Harraway, 1988), it gives an idea of how the fictional can affect the real. The conclusion also helps determine the target audience for the game. 1.2 External factors The topic of self-reflection and self-actualizing had been chosen and were inspired by “status anxiety”, which Alain de Botton (2012) talks about, and how it can result in us having really destructive values. The values tend to be based on financial success and material possessions. If you fail everyone will know it instantly and your professional “legacy” will be “tainted” forever (a bit melodramatic perhaps, however the idea should be conveyed.). We have a tendency to be cripplingly self-aware. A crippling self-awareness combined with the fear of failure can make every little mistake made to feel like the end of the world. This crippling fear of failure prevents us from daring to take chances in life. We are getting used to just drifting through life passively, never daring to risk anything and jeopardize our safe position. Because we have spent years chasing values that we might not ourselves relate to, for everyone to see how successful and happy we all are. Although it is almost always a façade. A person who is truly happy, usually has no need for going around proving it to everybody. We have therefore chosen to express this research in the form of a digital video game. Since it has the element of interactivity we hope it can touch the player on a deeper, more intimate level. It is also a topic that is not generally discussed in games as a media. The game will be metaphorical and symbolic, partially for the sake of enjoyment, and in some cases over exaggerate situations to make a point. This chapter is an introduction to the study and where it comes from, as well as a base for the study’s research question and aim. 5 2. Research Question The question the study is based upon is as follows. How can a game be used to motivate self-reflection in a way that inspires people who feel stuck in their everyday lives? The game in question is supposed to somehow make people who play it, want to self-reflect, on their own. The word stuck is implied negatively here, the purpose is not to make people who are happy with their living situations think, but rather those who are not, hence the words “stuck in” are used, rather than “living”. 3. Aim The purpose of this study is to help inform the decisions of a game developed in order to encourage people to take “harmless” risks, that is, risks that cannot lead to any sort of injury. Examples of such risks might be, talking to a stranger or helping someone pickup their papers of the ground if they would happen to drop them. These risks can also be bigger, such as leaving a job you are unhappy with and pursuing a different job or a dream. Hence the intent is to encourage people who feel negatively stuck in a life they dislike, to dare to change it. In an attempt to do this, a game was made, featuring an ordinary person as the protagonist. The purport of this study was therefore to give a better understanding of what Social Insecurity is, but also to see whether it can be affected by interactive media such as a game. Can the events of a characters experiences in a game give you the courage to do something positive you did not do before? Such as speaking to that girl at work or applying for an open job position. The idea is to somehow make people think for themselves, and consider what they actually want to do, and what is needed of them to get there.