I didn’t see many characters like myself in the media when I was growing up. Even now, there is a distinct lack of female Chinese characters in games, movies, or books. With age came the realisation of sexuality —or in my case, the lack thereof. Factor that into an already meagre pool of representation and we’ve dropped that number down to zero. (Readers, if you know of a prolific asexual female Chinese character in any form of media, please reach out to me!)

Now, compare this to the amount of white, male protagonists in the video game world and you’re drowning in a veritable ocean of testosterone and grit.

Diverse representation is a hot topic among the gaming world and across all spheres of entertainment. The need to include voices from as many communities as possible is not so much a case of marking off an invisible checklist created by ‘social justice warriors’ or ‘political correctness police’ but rather, a case of being able to see yourself in the shoes of a character and feeling validated. Of course, this might be difficult for those who have never had the experience of erasure; after all, how do you empathise with such a topic when you’re used to seeing yourself in the media you consume?

Then there’s the topic of ethnic typecasting and the microaggression that comes with it. How often do you see Chinese characters starring in support roles where they’re a mathematical genius, computer scientist, or alike? Probably more often than not. Art informs perceptions of our reality, and as such, stereotypes are transferred onto the real people we meet in our lives and assists in creating bias before the other person even opens their mouth. There have been many times where I’ve been expected to be good at maths or know some form of martial arts. These days, I meet these expectations with a weary smile and brush it off as harmless ignorance.

There is more to diversity than the colour of a person’s skin, their culture, or their sexuality; it is a facet of a character, not the whole package deal. Just as white characters are multifaceted in goals, aspirations, and flaws, so should our depictions of characters outside this circle.

What makes mainstream media so resistant and reluctant to embrace diversity? In my experience, it can be a number of factors.

It Takes Work Writing and creating something outside of your immediate knowledge takes research, empathy, and a sense of cultural sensitivity; all things that people aren’t always ready to embrace. After all, why bother to put in so many hours of extensive research for someone to point out how you inaccurately portrayed a culture, or on the opposite side of the spectrum, have someone complain that you’re pandering to the minority?

In an attempt to diversify a cast, many well meaning creators fall into the trap of cultural shortcuts, regurgitating the westernised versions of culture they’ve consumed, or fail to consult actual members of the minority they’re attempting to represent. The result is a flat, 2D caricature that lacks the depth of their fellow straight, white cast members.

It is Outside The Audience’s Comfort Zone Humans are creatures of habit, taking comfort in the familiar. When faced with the unknown, they meet the new experience with scepticism or reluctance.

I remember watching a Hong Kong movie with some non-Chinese friends once as part of a movie night and spent the better part of it having to explain cultural references and nuances that loaned itself to the plot. My friends appreciated it, but I could see that they were a bit overwhelmed with the extra information needed to fully enjoy the movie.

Consider this type of experience in a game context. If you need all this extra information to get full enjoyment out of a game, there is a high chance that the player may not want to invest the time and effort to learn more. Games are about enjoyment, and if the player sees this task as a chore, then they won’t want to engage.

People Don’t Want to Disturb the Status Quo Existing media of predominantly white casts (with a male hero), has the backbone of Hollywood and video games for as long as anyone can remember. The formula works and sells, and in a world where money rules, there are few willing to take the risk of changing this. This point ties back in with the idea of comfort and fear of poor portrayal.

Of course, there are more, but these are the main ones I can think of.

So, how do we handle the challenge that is diversity? The obvious answer is to have more diverse content creators and key decision makers. We live in a colourful world of many different races, sexualities, and genders; it should not be up to one singular group to take the sole responsibility of representation. By working together, communicating, and respecting different experiences, can we begin to create characters that feel as real as the groups they portray.

In the end, diversity is not a case of being able to relate to every single character in the cast. It’s a case of being able to find at least one character you can empathise with and relate to, creating a bond and allowing for emotional investment. Only by seeing ourselves in the world, do we feel empowered and inspired to create and do more.

The post Navigating the World of Gaming as a POC first appeared on Ludogogy.

Terry: I grew up playing games, I think I played my first game of Dungeons & Dragons at nine, and was playing bridge by 14. They were a big part of how I learned about the world. How big a part of your upbringing did games play?

Sam: I play games every day, and I grew up playing card and board games with my family. I always liked games that made me feel there was something to learn. Cards taught me strategy, planning and maths. I’m not such a fan of Monopoly, though – the dice made it too reliant on chance.

Terry: I totally agree. I’ve gotten in a few debates with people online about my pet hate for Monopoly. I remember feeling bored by having to play on after it was clear who was going to win. I think how games make you feel is really important.

Sam: Completely. I enjoy games with an element of showing what I’m good at, and of confidence boosting when I get things right or win something. And the feeling that I’m learning. As an autistic person growing up not knowing I was autistic, I look back and think I learned things over and above what the game intended, and that made me feel good. I learned how to take turns instead of grabbing centre stage. How to take not winning – my parents would never just let me win – and how to deal better with different human behaviours, like my brother cheating.

Terry: Yeah, I’m fairly sure my brother did, too. We’re already talking about how non-learning games helped you to learn. What about games where learning was at least part of the intention?

Sam: I really liked Dr Kawashima on the Nintendo DS – addictive, rewarding, competitive. It was really clearly explained, and the gradual increase in toughness of the levels kept me challenged and encouraged me every day to form new habits. I think it improved my IQ and mental arithmetic, and that’s stayed with me.

Terry: That’s great. I think that balance of new levels providing the right new level of challenge is one of the cornerstones of the power of games.

I’m really interested in how far you feel that your own experiences and preferences generalise to other Autistic people – I’ve heard it said that there can be more difference between one Autistic person and another than between a given Autistic person and a Neurotypical person.

Sam: Yeah, Autistic people are so different to each other – just like non-Autistic people. You get artistic leanings, or science geeks, or people who do both. One size will never fit all. I think – as far as you can generalise – there are some patterns. But the worst thing you can do is make assumptions and say, all Autistic people are like this, or will like this.

Terry: So how can learning game designers and similar folk account for this?

Sam: I think consultation with the audience is key. You potentially cut out one-third of your audience when you model things just for non-Autistic people.

Terry: Nothing for us, without us. And that’s good game and learning design practice, anyway. It’s going to help everything you do land well with your audience if you prototype and test with them.

Sam: Yes, I think that’s important to say – a lot of the things that are going to help Autistic people are going to help non-Autistic people too. Lots of non-Autistic people learn similarly to Autistic people. And of course there are a lot of undiagnosed Autistic people, too.

Another thing I’d like to see more of is people offering as many different options as possible for learning, whether it’s games or something else. Even though all Autistic people are different, what they often have in common is that they can find things that are designed just for Neurotypical people challenging. The specific things that are challenging may be different, but you can get round that to some extent by giving them choices. Different formats, more or less visual, more or less active, but also just different.

Like controls. Take Microsoft programs – there are several ways to do anything: menus, the ribbon, quick keys… the sense of choice is really helpful, the autonomy of being given choices.

Terry: Well, autonomy is a huge plank of intrinsic motivation for good game design. Like the choices in Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Sam: Or Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch! I loved that.

Terry: Me too! I followed through to most of the endings.

So okay, there are some good design principles that can also steer us well for considering the needs of Autistic people. But, if we preface everything in the next part of out conversation with ‘there are as many differences as similarities and we shouldn’t make assumptions’, are there any patterns that are, shall we say common, in how Autistic people interact with games, in your experience? Any that might be helpful to address?

Sam: There are some I see often, but yes, we need to make sure we don’t turn them into stereotypes. Abstract concepts can be tricky sometimes, or a lack of clarity about how to win. Also reliability. I want to know that a rule or technique I learned always works.

Interpreting what Neurotypical people say, and some of the non-verbalised messages in particular, is a common challenge for many Autistic people. So for instructions or for people facilitating learning games or experiences, to be clear, to mean what you say and say what you mean.

Also, I think Autistic minds are often looking for patterns, things they recognise – again that’s all minds, but maybe a tendency to do it more for many (but not all) Autistic minds. So, variations on an existing pattern of play as a game progresses in level is good.

Terry: Like with Dr Kawashima.

Sam: Exactly.

Terry: There’s a game that does that amazingly well; it’s not a learning game, but a puzzler called The Witness; I’ve seen a few articles written by Autistic people saying how well it worked for them[1], and the link with patterns building was very strong. I think that game could be a good inspiration point for people wanting to design well for many Autistic people.

Sam: I’ll have to check it out.

Terry: Anything else, in terms of patterns?

Sam: Maybe something around emotions; controlling and interpreting emotions in the self and others. Many Autistic people can find that a challenge. An over-reliance on emotional intelligence in a game where it’s not really necessary could be a problem. On the other hand, games can really help develop these skills in Autistic people. They helped me.

Terry: Yes; Jane McGonigal references a number of studies[2] in her book SuperBetter[3], where multiplayer videogames increase co-operation and social intelligence. She also talks about games helping develop a theory of mind, which is part of emotional intelligence. This was with children, though.

Sam: Right, but nothing about Autism stops at 16. Except maybe some of the support and recognition.  

Stress is also a common factor. High levels of stress. So games should really lower that stress, and should avoid too much pressure. Because stress levels may already be high, a challenge too far could make some Autistic people give up in frustration a little more easily than a Neurotypical person.

Terry: There’s some great stuff there. So long as we keep in mind that the golden rule is consult, not assume, right?

Sam: Right.

Terry: What about any learning or games designers who might be thinking, ‘I’d really like to design something to raise awareness around Autism, or to help Autistic people’? What would you say to them? Is there anything you’d really like to see?

Sam: Maybe something to improve facial expression recognition – roleplay scenarios where you have to guess what’s going on and you get rewarded for guessing correctly. Or emotional intelligence development: how to manage strong emotions for what’s acceptable in society, so you can enjoy holding down a job. Converting direct language into non-Autistic language, too.

But conversely, apps for non-Autistic people to understand Autistic people and their potential difficulty with emotional intelligence, facial recognition, sensory sensitivity, overload, meltdowns, language, etc.  It works both ways – it’s not just for Autistic people to do all the work.

Terry: That’s a great point. And is there something we should also consider about how this shouldn’t all be about just addressing the difficulties that Autistic people face, but harnessing their strengths to improve games and workplaces?

Sam: Absolutely. That’s a huge part of what I do. So, Autistic minds can often be great with problem solving, because they often see things very differently, and more perspectives bring more solutions. They can often also be great at concentrating, if left alone. Again, designing for difference is going to reap rewards.

Terry: I think that might end up as part of our title. Sam, it’s been really thought-provoking for me, and this conversation is definitely going to be rattling around in my mind in future when I’m designing. Thank you.

Sam: And for me. And fun, too.

Terry: Definitely. That’s a gamification maxim: don’t forget the fun[4].

The post Designing for Difference – Autism and Games-based Learning first appeared on Ludogogy.

Following the death of George Floyd, the groundswell of feeling showed similar extremes. While many people showed their solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and sought to educate themselves about the history and effects of racism, others took to social media to defend the status quo, rehashing the old stereotypes and myths.

I’ve had an interest in creating prosocial games ever since I became a games-based learning professional and recent events have really galvanised my intent to make a learning game around racism. For details of how I actually want to go about creating this particular game, see the end of this article. But first I want to explore some of the questions which have come up for me whilst thinking about this game.

Imposter syndrome

Like a lot of people, I’ve been reading round the topic, a lot!  But the more I read the less I felt I knew. I realised that what had seemed to me to be relatively simple, for example, the causes of racism in individuals, was in fact incredibly nuanced and complex. And that was just one aspect of the learning I was embarking upon.

The depth of my ignorance weighed heavily on me and I wondered if I would be capable of, or even had the right to be, creating a game, which after all is about someone else’s lived experience and struggle.  But then someone said something (or wrote it, I’m ashamed to say I don’t remember where I heard or saw this). She said ‘Black people should not be doing all the work on this.’ And I realised it should be the work of white people, like myself, to find ways to become part of the solution.

So, my game should focus on helping white people to recognise aspects of their own actions and beliefs, which reinforce stereotypes, which support and perpetuate privilege, and which undervalue the contribution of ‘the other’.

White Fragility

All of which brings me very neatly to the next ‘thinking roadblock’ I encountered, which is dealt with very eloquently in Robin DiAngelo’s book ‘White Fragility’. Although games are often touted as ‘safe spaces’ in which to experiment and to explore even quite contentious issues, asking people to consider that their thoughts and actions might be ‘racist’ is probably going to make for a very bumpy ride.

For many of us who see ourselves as inclusive, unprejudiced liberal types, it is a core conviction that racist beliefs and actions are the preserve of ‘racists’, who are, by definition, bad people. So, when we are asked to consider that our own actions or beliefs may be racist, the reaction is often to cast ourselves as the ‘victims’ of unwarranted accusations of ‘being a racist’. An attempt to correct faulty thinking is seen as a personal attack on one’s character.

I experienced a good example of this recently, in an exchange of comments on LinkedIn. One commenter expressed his belief that Adidas’ commitment to change their employment practices to employ more black people, was in itself racist, because it is taking jobs away from the more qualified in favour of others ’just because of the colour of their skin’, to get ‘token’ employees to be seen to do the right thing. Several people tried to explain to him that the idea that employing more black people requires ’tokenism’ (rather than say, adjusting employment practices which currently overwhelmingly favour white people), is where the racist belief lies here. It rests on the assumption that black people are less able and qualified. He saw the point that one’s appearance is irrelevant to one’s capability, when ‘black’ was replaced with ‘red-head’, but then still insisted that his original point was correct.

Even though this person recognised that white people currently have an advantage in employment (as evidenced by studies using ‘whitened’ resumes), he was far more disturbed by the idea of potential future positive discrimination, than by the idea that the prevailing situation continues.

White Fragility means that we feel that the ‘damage‘ caused to us when our beliefs or actions are identified as racist is far worse than the effect of racism itself.

A similar effect, relating specifically to (prosocial) games, was identified in a 2015 paper by Kaufman & Flanagan. The direct and explicit inclusions of issues-based scenarios was found to cause psychological resistance on the part of the participants, and there is therefore a need to present persuasive material in a more ‘embedded’ way. Mixing ‘on-topic’ and ‘off-topic’ material and using game devices and tropes to obscure material are two ways in which the authors suggest this can be done.

From Play into Action

The final major issue with creating a game which looks at racism is bridging the gap between the learning created by the game experience and effective behaviour change and/or activism.

This suggests to me that the game will need have a longer duration than a typical game play session. Games such as ‘World Without Oil’ – which featured in Ken Eklund’s article last month, blur the distinction between the game and everyday life. They also give players the opportunity to ‘live the experience’. As well as have the advantage of increasing exposure to the topic at hand, these protracted experiences can be a good way of embedding new ideas and even behaviours into people’s lives, and of creating a feeling of empathy with the player/character/self.

How I want to get this done

Ludogogy is going to undergo some changes over the next few months. While it will still have a magazine at its heart, the intention is to create a ‘Community of Value’ – an online space where people with an interest, as creators and/or consumer of games-based learning, gamification and gameful design, can come together and derive and create value for each other.

One of the core features of this new iteration of the site will be, (I think – nothing is set in stone), a project marketplace. In this, people will be able to propose projects and invite others to work with them. These projects could be commercial, with contributors being paid by project owners for their work. They could also be speculative, with project owners and contributors working together towards what they hope will be a commercial proposition, or they could be projects simply for fun or learning.

The project I have in mind is speculative. The ideas are sketchy, at the moment. Many of them are the result of the thought processes above. Although the project marketplace is some way off, I would like to strat the ball rolling with this project and invite anyone who wishes to join me (as much or as little commitment as you like), in the process of bringing these ides to life. As it stands, the below are what I think I want to work with, but that may change, with your input.

• A game focusing on a desired future where racism has ceased to damage people’s lives
• Designed to work mainly by helping white people to learn about the realities of racism and their own privilege
• Costs (to players/facilitators) should be kept low to ensure accessibility
• Gives players access to the experiences of others to create empathy
• Some level of abstraction may be necessary to combat psychological resistance
• Provides routes to activism
• A mixture of analogue ‘in real life’ elements and online interaction (to broaden exposure to different cultures and experiences)

Drop me a line at sarah@ludogogy.co.uk if you interested in joining in

The post The Future of Racism – a skeleton of a game first appeared on Ludogogy.

Although autistic children receive a lot of attention, support drops off sharply as they become adults. Most resources for individuals with ASD level 1 and 2 are tailored for younger people and are too childish and basic for adolescents and older. Other materials are aimed at parents of neurodiverse children. However, there are currently very few accessible resources for young adults with ASD aimed at developing mental resilience and other social skills.

We conducted extensive in-depth interviews with over 70 individuals who identify as having ASD,  families with children on the spectrum, caretakers, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and social workers. 85% said there are no sustainable and affordable solutions addressing social resilience issues such as:

• Rejection
• Initiating conversation
• Puberty and sexual development
• Transitioning into high school
• Independence
• Beginning or maintaining a friendship or a relationship

Our solution is a narrative social simulation game which uses interactive dialogue to help people on the spectrum manage their anxieties about social situations and develop better resilience. Set in a high fantasy world of magic and technology, the player develops relationships with a closed community of characters stuck in a temporal dislocation. Together they try and return to their correct existence before they become stuck forever. Each character challenges the player in different ways, such as establishing boundaries, dealing with intimidating behaviour such as anger or uncooperativeness, and rejection.

Nola the artificer (left) offers the player character (right) a hug as a symbol of interaction which is rejected by the play, challenging the player’s boundaries.

Repeatable dialogues allow the player to ‘dry-run’ various social situations before they might encounter them in the world. Doing so helps the player understand what kinds of feelings, thoughts and motivations other people in these situations realistically could have. By aiding the player’s ‘theory of mind’, they learn to handle anxiety about how a social situation could go wrong or how someone will react to them. This also builds insight into dealing with undesirable outcomes if they occur.

Player flow is regulated primarily by altering how much information about the interaction and the speaker is revealed to the player during a dialogue. Through character animations, effects, colour coding, and iconography, the player gets access to NPC’s perspective. As the player gets better at reading this information, it is reduced so the player has to use body language, tonal, environmental, and narrative cues instead.

While a playthrough has some narrative linearity, the characters are simulations adding a dynamic element to dialogues and an uncertain path through the story. This dynamic gameplay allows replayability to facilitate learning and keeps the challenge level tailored to the player.

By making the characters simulations, the protagonist becomes part of a simulation and an economy. As a result, the game becomes an autism simulator of sorts. While the project presents a number of design challenges, such as player motivation within a gamified teaching tool and user experience for neurodivergent players, there are two of particular importance: what are we teaching and the representation of autism.

Pedagogically, we cannot not simply teach rote ‘socially acceptable’ scripts or routines. We are not trying to normalize behaviour or teach masking skills. Our aim is to aid ‘theory of mind’ to help build insight through dynamic challenges.  We are working with psychologists at the University of Technology Sydney to ensure we are delivering an effective teaching aid.

There are representational issues particularly with creating mechanics to emulate the autistic experience. We need to avoid using stale and limiting stereotypes of autism, especially those created by neurotypical people. While not the primary goal of the project, it would be a bonus if a neurotypical person playing the game experienced an insight into autistic reality. To this end, we have neurodiverse members of our team, including our game designer who is autistic, and are working closely with the community to ensure we get it right.

It’s time to provide the right resources for neurodiverse people!

We are extremely passionate about creating a better platform for people with learning disabilities. Everybody on our team has been deeply affected by this issue, some having experienced similar situations themselves. We have team members who have had extreme difficulties with social communication. As such, we have made it our mission to create better tools for people on the spectrum. We want others to be valued, integrated members of society and hope they face fewer difficulties navigating communal norms. Our team are professional game developers with a range of expertise.

If you know anyone facing these complexities please reach out to us, we are looking for early adopters and building our community.

The post HOW FANTASY WORLDBUILDING COULD BE THE PATH FINDER TO SOCIAL RESILIENCE? first appeared on Ludogogy.

I had a simple premise for a book:

1. People learn the most when they fail
2. People fail the most when they play games
3. Therefore, games are the best way for people to learn

There was plenty of research to back this up. But even better than case studies, I had quotes—everyone from Einstein to Edison who all confirmed that failure was the greatest teacher. One such quote came from the late Randy Pausch, who said:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Pausch’s quote seemed especially fitting when discussing failure as a core mechanic of game-based learning. My audience of trainers, teachers, and instructional designers were often building games that literally had players jumping over walls. What better way to summarize the opportunities that failure provides?

I called my book Fail to Learn. But I failed my readers by treating trial-and-error like an impartial design tool. I ignored the fact that real-world failure is disproportionately weighted to punish and oppress people different than me.

THE LOSING TEAM

Here’s a case study that didn’t make it into the book:

Researchers from Utah State University explored the hiring patterns of Men’s Basketball coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Using data from over a 30-year period, they found that minority coaches were much more likely than white coaches to be hired on to teams with losing records. The researchers found a similar discrepancy in the hiring practices of struggling Fortune 500 companies. Companies experiencing hardship were much more likely to hire women and minority CEOs (Cook and Glass, 2013).

I couldn’t find a way to add this to my book on game-based learning, but the story stuck with me. Why would a struggling organization or sports team suddenly be more likely to promote women and minorities?

Some people suggested that white men simply had more privilege and power to decline “risky” offers like these. Others wondered if failing organizations were consciously or subconsciously trying to signal a change in direction by bringing on a “nontraditional” (read: non-white, non-male) leader.

Regardless, these problematic practices gave rise to a new term: the “glass cliff.”

Whereas the “glass ceiling” describes a barrier that keeps oppressed groups from reaching the top of an organization, the glass cliff is the precarious spot those groups can find themselves in when they are given top positions, but only when there is increased risk and likelihood of failure.

The coaches from this study face an impossible, “double jeopardy” situation, as one researcher describes. “Not only are they more likely to be placed in struggling teams, but they’re not given enough time to prove themselves, so in some ways that risks confirmation bias that black coaches aren’t as good” (Munson, 2013).

But that’s not where the bias stops.

THE DISPARITY OF FAILURE

“We are all failures—at least the best of us are,” said J.M. Barrie.

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly,” said Robert Kennedy.

“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure,” said John C. Maxwell.

All successful individuals. All white men.

There’s a problem with how our society views failure, and it’s a problem in which I, too, am complicit. When we treat failure as an impartial tool, as I did in my research, we ignore the disproportionate consequences even the smallest failure can bring to oppressed groups. When we tell people to “fail fast and cheap,” we cheapen their lived experiences, and we further the misconception that everyone who makes the same mistake will suffer the same amount.

Yes, failure can be a great teacher. But in order for that to be true for everyone, we must do more than regurgitate the aphorisms of famous white men. Game environments and learning environments can be amazing places where students may experience leveled playing fields the likes of which will never exist in the real world. But we let down our learners and ourselves if we don’t recognize the uneven terrain of reality each student is returning to.

There are many action steps we can and must take from here, but perhaps the most fundamental is to think more critically the next time we see a famous “learn from failure” quote. From now on, when we talk about climbing over the walls that are “there to stop the other people,” let’s make sure we aren’t adding more bricks to the top.

Fail to Learn: A Manifesto for Training Gamification is available from Amazon

The post Glass Cliffs and Brick Walls first appeared on Ludogogy.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is not enough.

If you are not making an effort to ensure your team is inclusive and diverse, you’re costing your company money. Simple.

Games and simulations are a great way to achieve diversity & inclusion (D&I) in corporations. And to increase ROI along the way.

Is respect enough? Recently I was confronted with that question, and I could not (did not want to) answer it on the stop -partially due to the fact that I was on my third glass of wine. But also, just like the pigs, in the pigs and chicken fable, I’m too committed to this subject to argue it rationally with someone who was just involved.

I appreciate that without background that questions doesn’t really say much, so let me put it this way: “Is respect for members of minorities enough to ensure multicultural and diverse teams deliver kick-ass products and solutions?”

My gut instinct told me no. respect is simply not enough. And so I did some research: Diverse and inclusive (D&I) companies (made of D&I leaders and teams), outperform their non-D&I counterparts by 25% according to McKinsey; and by 24% according to PMI. In other words, D&I has a high ROI.

Although, as I’m sure you have experienced yourself, achieving and sustaining D&I is not a task for the faint-hearted. As a matter of fact, according to the two organisations mentioned above, to become a D&I organisation requires bold actions.

And what can be bolder than building D&I right at the core of your company’s learning and development strategy and delivering this via games and simulations? For instance, at Play Learn Develop we created a framework that turns leadership training into role playing simulations.

Biases affect us all, they highly influence our decision making. Yet, we all believe this is not happening to us (one of such biases). Working with your teams, providing them with a safe environment where mistakes equal learning opportunities, showing them how biases affect their decision making, sharing best practices, and having a debriefing and retrospective session, are some of the key elements of this framework.

Games and simulations can influence leaders’ and decision-makers’ minds. This in turn translates into D&I policies and strategies that shape teams’ performance and increase the company’s ROI. But we all deserve good games. In the Learning and Development Transformation Ecosystem, games and simulations (Active Learning) are also implemented in a bottom-up fashion.

The Toolbox 4 Creativity guides participants of the training to create their own games. The learning outcome vary depending on the ‘burning’ business-issue the organisation is dealing with at the time of implementation. Yet, game-design, and diversity are constant themes of this learning activity. Let me try to explain this further with a quote I find extremely inspirational:

“… a child who can consider the perspective of someone with a disability or someone with non-binary gender identity may be able to innovate new products, approaches and services that are more inclusive of all segments of society” (WEF).

Now imagine this. Your leadership team takes various training and development courses and games on the subject of D&I. This impacts policy, strategy and hiring practices. Team leaders and managers also take these courses and learn how to maximise the potential of their newly diverse and inclusive teams. These teams now create products with features and characteristics that up until now had been ignored. These products can be sold to larger demographics and geographies. Revenue increases. All thanks to well-designed D&I Games.

Going back to the tough question at the start of this article, is respect enough? Now I have to reconsider my answer. If we are talking about respect (with small ‘r’), the answer is still no. People who consider that simply not insulting a member of a minority is enough will not become productive members of a multicultural team -at best they will complete the tasks they are assigned to and pray for 5pm. But even for people who think this way, games and D&I training can help. The following quote from Rainia L. Washington (vice president of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Lockheed Martin) summarises my point:

“We’re not trying to change people’s beliefs—but we are trying to change behavior, so that when they walk through the doors our people know how we expect them to behave.”

On the other hand, if we are talking about Respect (with capital ‘R’), then I believe we are on the ideal track to ensuring your organisation is made of kick-ass, multicultural and diverse teams, that will deliver innovative products that will help your organisation survive, and thrive in, the uncertain future.

I’ll leave you with one more quote by Rainia L. Washington:

“Our values to do what’s right, respect others, and perform with excellence guide everything we do. Respecting others means creating an environment where our employees feel welcomed and encouraged to bring their whole selves to work.”

Thanks for reading. And don’t forget, let’s game our way to a better, more diverse & inclusive future.

The post R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Let’s game the way to more diverse, inclusive and productive teams first appeared on Ludogogy.

Games need to address and take on the mantle of representing more than have they have historically. That’s because of a growing diversity of players, designers, academics, and industry leaders.

This article will address the historical overview of representation in games as well as how it reflects on the direction of the game industry. The article will review reasons to become more representative as well as some negative aspects that under-representation or misrepresentation has had in games.

The article will cover the growing diversity of gamers as well as some prime examples to follow. Representation is addressed as a concept of design accessibility and is followed with some action steps to take. Finally, representation as it relates to table top game play and future implications are included and discussed.

Historical overview

Maybe one of the most defining moments for gaming have been with its marketing strategy starting with video games in the 1980’s. With its heavy emphasis on young men; the industry relied mostly on that demographic to sell and market its wares.

That population grew to include a stereotypical type of gamer: white, male, single, and usually between the ages of 18-35.

This demographic also populated up into the industry though design. That means that other players and talented professionals such as young women and people of color saw themselves as underrepresented in this space. This often bled over into how they were portrayed (or not portrayed) in games.

However, we are presented with a new opportunity. That opportunity comes at the growth of independent game studios outside of major historical companies and the rise of crowd funding and independent designers.  This wider representation in turn can appeal to these more diverse and wanting audiences.

Industry

Perhaps the initial lack of representation from diverse audiences in games was because of the lack of representation in the games industry. After all, designers tend to design what they know and what they like. So the lack of representation was initially a reflection of the industry.

However, a more open, diverse, and welcoming atmosphere is one that develop games that are more widespread and representative. These games are representative of types of gamers, rather than just appealing to a select few.

Part of that rise of representation is likely tied to the surge of the millennial buying trend with board games that emphasize strategy and cooperation over conflict and chance. This design change and direction is also representative of different accessibility principles. Now games have different goals as well as different ways to play games. Because of this, the field has become more open to new and different gamers. Thus, giving further rise to a demand in representation.

This is also reflected in video game, PC game, console, and mobile games which have become increasingly more diverse, inclusive, and representative. Of course this doesn’t mean that momentum towards this end should stop. But, this still represents significant progress and a movement towards a more representative medium.

Reasons to become more representative

Representation is often one of those ideas that most gamers can nod their heads to. However, it’s important to still ask the question: why should representation be an important aspect of games?

That’s because games as medium is one that is based on engagement by people and players. Games and inclusion is bigger than just one person. Historically, the game design field was not a very big or diverse place. Games designed by one particular demographic reflected this.

Though, this doesn’t have to be the case moving forward.  The current player base can benefit by designing more inclusive and representative games.  This is reflected by children who view all aspects of games as they play them. Seeing multiple players, characters, settings, and abilities represented can be empowering for young children.

Through this exposure; engagement; and activity; our youngest players internalize what it means to play games as well as “who” games are for. They are greater than just what our current players think they are for. They extend past that into empowering players to decide what they can become.

Representation doesn’t mean that we have to give up addressing and designing for player niches. Those will still remain and is something that designer should address throughout their process. However, like designing for player accessibility; representations helps us address and acknowledge more and different gamers in our field.

Though, this desire hasn’t come about without some acknowledgement of the negative aspects that have previously occurred due to a lack of representation.

Negative aspects

Misrepresentation and underrepresentation often don’t occur purposefully. Of course designers are going to concentrate on designing for what they know and what they want to see. It can be difficult to deprogram this seeming lifetime of cultural conditioning.

This is particularly evident in how gamers have treated female players in the past. Female players in video games have been the target of harassment as they are often one of the minority players on the platform.

This has lead to these female gamers adopting coping strategies such as gender masking, disguising their identities, or ultimately avoidance of gaming all together.

However, this isn’t limited to just digital games. Table top games have also had a history of lacking diversity and representation. This can be seen in player character as often being white and male.

We often don’t think about it; but the character types in some classic table top games like Guess Who? suffer from a lack of gender representation with five female characters versus nineteen men.

A more contemporary example is with the game Signore. The game has players playing the roles of noble families. In that role players are expected to find suitable partners for their daughters in an effort to expand increase their influence by marrying them off to other families.

Of course, some gamers demand that their games not become politicized or subject to political correctness. In actually, representation, diversity, and inclusion do not necessarily encompass either of those aspects. Really, representation is about addressing the widest possible audience by acknowledging that yes: people who are dissimilar from you are gamers as well.

This is often brought up in the argument that certain representations are more controversial than others. But that doesn’t necessarily need to be the case. In the example of Signore the role of women is accurate for the historical context; but the acknowledgement of using women as literally pawns in a game strikes me as distasteful. Just because a game includes a concept it doesn’t mean you have to like or approve of it.

Growing diversity

Despite these negative aspects; the growth and diversity of players is increasing. African Americans, Latinx, and Asian Americans are becoming increasingly more active in the gaming community.  Likewise, these players of color are likely to play more than their white counterparts.

In addition, the US has seen has increase of female gamers with 45% of video gamers being women. That increase also includes mobile games.  Close to half of all mobile game players are women and 65% of women aged 10-65 in the US play mobile games.

These increases and representation only highlight the lack of greater representation of these players. A more inclusive outlook that represents these growing populations is needed. The industry still needs to move forward.  But, there have already been published games that have made significant contributions.

Examples to follow

There are some games that have become beacons to follow. When Fog of Love first arrived on the table top scene; both designers and players were cognizant of the diversity it could address in the community.  Fog of Love is a game about a couple navigating a relationship. So, one of the earliest and most inclusive representations that it incorporated was different game covers featuring the different kinds of couples including same-sex ones.

This carries over to a more tried and true genre of table top gaming with One Deck Dungeon. The fantasy world of games there tends to be wrought with typical representation of males and lack of diversity of women and people of color. Though designer, Chris Cieslik made a conscious choice to include women and minorities. Additionally, the designer also included those characters in different body types and shapes as well. Pandemic by Matt Leacock follows suit with playable characters being women and people of color.

Lastly, in Dead of Winter, players have the choice to play the character Hugo Valentine as an androgynous bike messenger whose gender is only revealed later through some character interactions and reveals.

Action steps for representation in design

This representation can and often does start with designers. But it doesn’t have to be. Yes, game designers are at the forefront of what they can include and should include in a game. But there stands reason to still design and create for a specific audience. So a common criticism is that if a game doesn’t reflect the individual player – then it isn’t for them.

That doesn’t have to be the case for all games.  We can all play and consume them in order to role play as someone else. Instead, representation seeks to include as many as possible from the beginning; rather than to think of player acceptance and representation as an afterthought. The effort for representation is appreciated – no matter how small.

This is most often seen in the cover art of games as they are the first (and sometimes the last) thing that a player sees before making a purchase. This is something that can be addressed by including characters of diverse and represented backgrounds in order to provide players with something (or someone) to relate to in the game.

From the cover, designers can provide other avenues of representation by including both male and female versions of player boards for players to choose from.

This inclusion of gender diversity doesn’t have to be difficult as it pertains to rule books.  One of the easiest ways to do that is to be inclusive of different names as well as using gender neutral terms in specific play examples like: “Alex uses their turn to claim one wood.”

Designers can also include different gender expressions, queer relationships, and other components of non-player characters as part of the game’s story. This can provide other relevant socio-cultural hooks for players to connect and identify with the game.

Table top connection

Table top games are specifically poised to include more representation for its players. That’s because table top games are activities that are meant to be played socially with other players. It’s a medium about connecting one person to the other.

That means that table top games can be a way to play as well as a way to bring people of different backgrounds together. That can sometimes be over competition; but it also be about inclusion; teamwork; and lateral thinking.

Future implications

A lack of diversity and representation in games can be a missed sales opportunity. But, by creating and catering to just one demographic we will completely miss the opportunity to serve a much wider one.

While women and people have color have become more engaged with gaming culture; we as group still need to become more proactive and inclusive in our design approach and how it affects players.  Gamers are no longer just for the stereotypical type of gamer: white, male, single, and usually between the ages of 18-35.

This is especially true for table top games. As millennials represent a significant part of the table top market; perceptions and trends of who a “gamer” is will continue to evolve and change.

Takeaways

This article addressed the historical overview of representation in games as well as how it reflects on the direction of the game industry. The article reviewed reasons to become more representative as well as some negative aspects that under-representation or misrepresentation can have in games.  The article covered the growing diversity of gamers as well as some prime examples to follow. Representation was addressed as a concept of design accessibility and was followed with some action steps to take. Finally, representation as it relates to table top game play and future implications were included and discussed.

This article was originally published by Dave in his blog Representation in Games

This article was about representation in games. To learn more about representation in gamification, check out the free course on Gamification Explained.

If you have enjoyed this article – consider getting yourself lifetime access to his Games-Based Learning Digital Library containing all of the content from the past two Games-Based Learning Virtual Conferences; past webinars and courses he’s created; as well as his complete back catalog of articles; podcast episodes; and videos. And more content is being added all the time.

Readers of Ludogogy can get a $50 discount on this valuable resource by using this link.

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As Inclusion and diversity specialists, PDT Global have empowered clients around the globe to create inclusive cultures, where individuals with the capability to succeed, can. We have seen the change in training requests move from sessions that instil the virtues of a diverse (and more importantly engaged) workforce, to those that focus on more active behavioural change.

Now let’s be clear, behaviours won’t change overnight as the result of being talked at in a one off training event. Behavioural change needs to come from a place of recognition, understanding and introspective opportunity. It’s not about being told to ‘be nice’, it’s about witnessing the impact you have on others…both positive and developmental…and knowing what to do about them.

So with that in mind, let me tell you about how we have ignited inclusion and transformed training through gamification.

The start of the idea

Well it all began with a company away day, which as a means to help the company understand the potential of digital learning, I created an escape room activity, where participants would experience stats, facts and digital learning interactions themselves whilst escaping the room. Within moments of the last group’s completion, the wider potential of this experience was mooted and the idea of an inclusion based escape room was born.

Rather than telling people the stats around inclusive working, we would get teams to discover them; rather than talking about privilege, they would view videos demonstrating it and rather than giving examples of assumed behaviors, we would catch said tendencies in real time and call them in during the later debrief discussions.

Learning experience ‘hacked’

The escape room experience is around 2 hours long with the escape room element just over half an hour. Teams join the event (both classroom and virtual) expecting a traditional chalk and talk experience, when all of a sudden the main deck is ‘hacked’ by a disgruntled ex-employee of the client’s company. Aborting the traditional class session, participants are placed into small breakout groups (up to 7 people), and find themselves following the hackers brief as a means to save their company from some rather damning publicity.

The behaviours in those early moments of the groups coming together are very telling of both the organization’s culture and individual’s style. We have witnessed a range of behaviours across the globe, from those who compete for leadership, to those who remain silent until someone in the perceived position of power directs them. We have had some groups who surge ahead in a highly competitive manner (and if you don’t keep up you get left behind) as well as those groups who slowly and methodically make each decision by committee. I guess what I am trying to say, is that every group is different, we never know how people are going to react or work together… and that is the beauty of the design. The participants are so focused on the task, they forget about the tick box inclusive practice and show their authentic selves.

Having the escape room experience is a game changer when it comes to inclusion awareness training. The gaming aspect means we are no longer talking about examples that ‘might’ apply in your organization – or ‘might’ sound like something you would do – we are calling in behaviours that have just occurred. We get to discover what it felt like to be the softly spoken individual that everyone kept interrupting, we hear about how frustrating the reflective thinker found it when they wanted to read through the instructions in full, and we learn about why the groups – especially those of diverse ethnicities – kept deferring to the confident white male to lead.

Hearing those unique insights from a shared experience brings to life all of the text book learning from the escape room assets.  Having skilled facilitators connect the learning resources with real experiences means that participants aren’t talking about diversity because it ticks a HR box, they are questioning what inclusion really means for them…because let’s be totally honest here, diversity is bigger than a handful of protected characteristics. It’s about all of the quirks and unique elements that make up each and every one of us. For organisations to truly invite authenticity into the workplace, they need to not only understand what that looks like, but also how to harness it.

We are so enamoured with the new levels of learning that a gamified approach and well facilitated debrief can achieve. Our escape room experiences are quickly becoming the top selling solution for clients all around the world. In fact, the concept has evolved on a number of occasions since its first design a year ago. The ‘game’ is now offered in relation to specialist topics – for example race awareness. The content is translatable with numerous clients purchasing events in 10 – 15 languages at a time and the impromptu arrival of COVID19 and subsequent lockdown motivated us to create a virtual experience that can now be accessed via SCORM cloud and WebEx. I guess we can safely say that our inclusion escape room is unlocking potential not only for our clients, but also for PDT Global moving forward.

The post PDT Global’s Inclusion Escape Room Experience first appeared on Ludogogy.

What is Neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity or being neurodivergent is a term that was created to describe the social movement towards having different neurological conditions being accepted and respected within society. Nick Walker highlights that the Neurodiversity Paradigm is to be understood to be a form of human diversity that shares the same social dynamics of other forms of diversity (such as power and oppression) and seeks to reduce cultural prejudices and oppression by highlighting that accepting diversity is a great source of creative potential (What is Neurodiversity?, 2020).

The TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) version is that everyone’s minds work differently from one another and that is something that should be widely accepted as a biological fact part of what makes someone unique.

Different types of Neurodiversity

Neurodiversity is a rather broad term which categorises many different neurological conditions that would cause someone’s neurocognitive functions to be different from those who’re considered neurotypical (Someone that society deems to have normal cognitive functions). Some of the conditions that fall under the Neurodiverse category include; Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and Tourette Syndrome.

It is important to note that psychotherapists who integrate this paradigm in their work aren’t attempting to “cure” any of these aforementioned conditions, but rather work with people to find ways of accepting their condition provide support for those who learn differently and help them overcome any oppression that they may’ve experienced in their life.

Dr. Nick Walker has shared a nice post on his website which provides useful terms and definitions around this subject so check that out if you can. (Walker, 2014)

Extra steps towards Neurodiverse design

Whilst the appropriate design decisions really depend on the product that you’re working on, it is important to take into account some choices that would be beneficial to a neurodivergent audience.
The first few steps that I’m going to share are provided by the British Dyslexia Association and covers
most of the basic design choices that I feel are necessary to cover the bare minimum requirements
for most neurodivergent users without being too taxing or difficult to implement. (British Dyslexia
Association, 2020)

• Make sure that you’re using sans serif font such as Arial, Comic Sans, Verdana, Tahoma or
  OpenDyslexic. These make the text appear less crowded and easier to read.
• Stick to a font size around 12-14 or an equivalent (1-1.2em or 19-19px) as a larger font size is
  easier to read.
• Avoid underlining and italics as this may look too crowded for some readers, use bold text
  for emphasis instead.
• Ensure that headings are at least 20% larger than your normal text and ensure that any
  hyperlinks that you use look different from your headings and normal text.
• Use single colour backgrounds and avoid using complex or distracting background patterns
  or pictures.
• Use dark coloured text on a light background, ensuring that the background isn’t white as
  this would create a contrast that is harsh on the eyes.
• Avoid using green or red/pink as the most common form of colour-blindness is red-green or
  Deuteranopia.

In addition to these steps, Kay Sargent shares their insight on WorkDesign Magazine on designing
with Neurodiversity and Inclusion in mind and points out some of the different sensitivities within
the different neurodivergent conditions which is well worth the read, especially as it includes
information including how some Neurodiverse people are particularly sensitive to sensory inputs
such as sounds and sight. (Sargent, 2020) With this in mind, it would make the design decision of
having user inputs provide visual and auditory feedback such as sound playing and colours changing
when the user presses a button or an option in a menu be beneficial to a neurodiverse user.

I hope that this helps you get in the right mindset for approaching design that is beneficial to a
Neurodiverse audience and to finish off I wanted to share a particularly interesting conference paper
which shares a framework for involving Neurodiverse children in within the design process of new
technology, definitely an interesting read! (Benton et al., 2014)

The post Thinking about Design with Neurodiversity in Mind first appeared on Ludogogy.

Broadly speaking, game accessibility refers to the accessibility of all gaming products including video games, tabletop RPGs (role-playing games) and board games.

Accessibility involves two key issues: how people [with disabilities] access information and how designers and developers enable (by removing obstacles).

With an increasing number of people interested in and using games for other purposes than entertainment – such as education, rehabilitation or health – game accessibility is more important than ever, especially if players with disabilities could benefit.

What is the size of the problem?

A 2010 game accessibility survey estimated that 2% of the U.S. population is unable to play a game because of an impairment and that 9% can play games but suffer from a reduced gaming experience.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than one billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, experience some form of disability. Others estimate that between 15-20, perhaps even 25% of people have disabilities. Even with the lowest of those numbers, with over 7 billion people in the world, we are looking at leaving an estimated 1 billion people out.

An estimated one in five casual video gamers has a physical, mental or developmental disability, which correlates with these estimates.

As games are increasingly used as educational tools, there may be a legal obligation to make them accessible. Refer to Section 508 (US) or the Equality Act 2010 (UK) as examples.

What barriers to access are there?

Using WCAG terminology, your content needs to be Perceivable, Reliable, Operable, and Robust. Let’s explore how failure to meet these needs creates barriers:

Perceivable

Not being able to receive feedback from the game due to a sensory impairment is a common problem with games. Examples include not being able to hear dialogue or audio cues in a video game because of a hearing impairment, or not being able to see or distinguish visual feedback (due to visual impairments like colour blindness).

Operable

Players not being able to provide input using a conventional input device, or carry out game actions, due to a motor impairment is another challenge. Try to keep your game actions as simple to carry out as possible, and reduce both the volume and complexity of inputs.

Understandable

Not being able to understand how to play the game or what input to provide due to a cognitive impairment. Your games’ instructions need to be simple to understand.

People with learning disabilities may have low literacy or a combination of complex needs, for instance an individual might also have limited coordination. Real-time strategy games, for example, require a lot of micromanagement, which may be too difficult to understand and to perform for someone with a learning impairment.

So, what can I do?

Use the following strategies to make your games more accessible:

Reduce input: Remove unnecessary additional tasks if they are not adding to the learning or improving the experience. Automate what you can.

Reduce stimuli: Limit the number of game objectives and reduce the narrative/storyline. Give short, clean and unambiguous instructions.

Enhance stimuli: Use a high contrast, colour-blind-friendly, colour scheme and avoid using colour alone to convey meaning. Increase the font size to make your content as legible as possible and avoid placing text on busy backgrounds. Use bold for emphasis and use italics sparingly. Save your creative typefaces for the game logo and packaging and ensure rules and instructions are in a clear and sensible font that is easy to read. Reserve underline for hyperlinks.

Replace stimuli: Be prepared to provide alternative methods. For example, if your instructions are in fine print, consider linking people to a video version of the instructions. Ensure your video has subtitles and closed captioning, with audio and visual cues as appropriate. Check out Dized as a brilliant example of a companion app that provides the rules and tutorials in an alternative format to an instruction manual.

Reduce or remove time constraints: Allow players to play at their own pace.

Have accessibility on by default. The base experience should be as accessible to as broad an audience as possible to make it more inclusive.

Why you should care?

The strongest reason is that accessible games are almost always extremely usable by everyone. They are easy to pick up and learn.  For a learning game this means that you have created the optimum conditions for all your learners to achieve their learning outcomes. For a commercial game, you are ensuring the largest possible audience, and therefore potential profitability.

What resources are there?

Whether you are designing digital or physical tabletop games, for entertainment or for educational purposes, check out the Game Accessibility Guidelines

The great thing about these guidelines is they tell you not just what to do, but allow you to dig deeper on both why and how.

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