Being (Grand) Players: Review of Digital Games and their Potential to Enhance Intergenerational Interactions

Abstract

Recently, there has been growing interest in the way in which digital games can affect intergenerational interactions. Although the existing body of knowledge on intergenerational digital games is quite extensive, a systematic understanding of how digital games can enhance intergenerational interactions is still lacking. This paper reports on the state-of-the-art of current digital games and their utility in enhancing intergenerational interaction. Thirty-six papers published between 2006 and 2014 in English-language publications met inclusion criteria. The review presents sets of recommendations for designing game-mediated environments to enhance intergenerational interaction.

Gen X and Digital Games: Looking Back to Look Forward

“…Additional research pertaining to game and population studies, with an eye to older adult's digital game players, has included: cognition and perception-related responses [27], motivation, usability and playability of digital games [28], intergenerational and collocated gaming, [29][30][31][32][33] game genre preferences, and game design and aesthetics [34][35][36]. While all of these studies have contributed to numerous academic fields (e.g., game studies, HCI, gerontology, gerontechnology, and health sciences) there is a considerable dearth of studies that probe the gaming characteristics of the Generation X age cohort.…”

“…Furthermore, this set the stage for those who not only have children, but also have grandchildren, which provided an opportunity for intergenerational gaming. [For examples, see [30][31][32][33]68]…”

MeteorQuest - Bringing Families Together Through Proxemics Play In A Mobile Social Game

“…Age Invaders [12], Save Amaze Princess [29], Xtreme Gardener [37]). Resent research suggest guidelines for designing digital games for intergenerational families [8] which includes: prioritizing physical and mixed-reality games, having a player-centered approach and enabling passive/watching play. Interestingly, physical and mixed reality location based games, even if they have not been developed specifically with families in mind, such as Pokémon Go gained recently significant popularity among children and parents alike [39,45].…”

“…In recent research on intergenerational family entertainment, [8] various strategies for designing technology for the family suggest various techniques that have led to positive social experiences. There have been recent examples of mobile social games attempting to elevate the social experiences through the gameplay [18,19] and play experiences focused on the physical environment and co-players enabled through innovative uses of the sensors and actuators available in smartphones and other mobile devices [32].…”

Age Stereotyping in the Game Context: Introducing the Game-Ageism and Age-Gameism Phenomena

“…For example, the game's market tends to overlook some proper effects of the ageing process (e.g. reaction time), consequently leading to gaps in the balance between the players' skills and the challenges provided [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”