Abstract
Curiosity as a psychological state or trait is characterized by a preference for uncertainty that motivates responses such as exploring, manipulating, and questioning. Given the established link between curiosity and player engagement levels, game designers can thus induce curiosity by creating or increasing the salience of information gaps. To this end, a thorough understanding of curiosity its varieties, antecedents, and consequences is an essential addition to the designer's toolbox. This paper reviews five key types of curiosity: perceptual curiosity, manipulatory curiosity, curiosity about the complex or ambiguous, conceptual curiosity, and adjustivereactive curiosity. It further examines a variety of game examples to show how each form can manifest during play. In addition, the present analysis ties established understandings of curiosity to Costikyan's wellknown theory of uncertainty in games, proposing that designers can employ uncertainty to motivate, manipulate, and accommodate players' curiosity levels.
| Original language | English (US) |
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| State | Published - 2016 |
| Event | 1st Joint International Conference of Digital Games Research Association and Foundation of Digital Games, DiGRA/FDG 2016 - Dundee, United Kingdom Duration: Aug 1 2016 → Aug 6 2016 |
Conference
| Conference | 1st Joint International Conference of Digital Games Research Association and Foundation of Digital Games, DiGRA/FDG 2016 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Dundee |
| Period | 8/1/16 → 8/6/16 |
Keywords
- curiosity
- game design
- games
- uncertainty
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
- Software
- Human-Computer Interaction