Game-check

The Gamecheck project addresses the increasing influence of behavioral design elements in video or mobile games. These elements can have both positive and negative effects, such as encouraging either healthy choices or long-term play or unplanned purchases. Because the influence occurs subtly, users of games – especially children – often do not realize that their behavior is being influenced. Parents are also frequently unaware of the influence and persuasion techniques used in games played by their children.

The project has three main goals:

1. Developing a coding tool to identify behavioral design elements in games.
2. Developing an educational approach to raise awareness among young gamers and their parents.
3. Exploring implementation scenarios to facilitate the implementation of the coding tool and educational approach.

The classification system (‘coding tool’) categorises behavioral influences in three main areas: pressure on money, time pressure and attention/engagement pressure. It includes 28 game mechanisms, such as daily rewards pay to skip. It also offers guidelines for positive design choices. Although the current version of the tool focuses on observable features, expertise on gaming features, i.e. what characterizes them and how they are expressed, will be essential to deploy the tool. Since the focus of the tool is directed towards identifying potentially harmful behavioral design elements, the positive side of design leaves space for future development. The tool also leaves room for development in terms of emerging technologies (e.g., AI or XR) and monetization strategies.

The educational approach was developed through a process of five steps:

1. assessment parents’ needs;
2. knowledge and awareness of the problem, including the production of a design briefing for the creative partner;
3. concept development, creating a design for testing;
4. testing with parents and gamers; and
5. delivery of the final design.

One of the findings is that parents do not fully understand how behavioral design is implemented in games. For example, they struggle with the distinction between pressure on money, time and attention and how these are operationalized in games. Interviews and tests with parents and gamers hence ensure that the tool is effective in raising awareness of behavioral design strategies. Finally, the project investigates implementation possibilities for the Gamecheck tool and educational methodology. Two possible scenarios were identified: one for shortterm implementation and a long-term implementation scenario, which requires legislative changes. Both scenarios make use of existing knowledge and governance structures, with potential for future European expansion. The project emphasizes the importance of continuous cooperation between stakeholders, given the evolving nature of the gaming industry and the different challenges of both video games and mobile freemium games.