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Background: Social learning generates reframing when individual and collective values are reflected. This reframing enables community members to move from personal to collective views and actions, resulting in valuable outcomes that improve the community's functioning. This research aims to enhance the development of reframing with the help of role-playing games (RPG), given that digital games are considered particular communities. Method: A relationship model was constructed to identify which game features generate reframing and how much they promote reframing. The model's validity was tested using experts' feedback and a game experience test (GET). The factor analysis results interpret that the features tested impact reframing. Results: The study proposes that RPGs can promote reframing and identifies reframing associated with particular game features (such as game stories). Conclusion: Students, game designers, related teachers and researchers can benefit from using the model to encourage reflection using games or require a model to bridge game features with social learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study explores the emotional experiences of players in online, text-based tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) and their potential impact on players. The goal is to understand the therapeutic and educational possibilities arising from these emotional experiences. Methods: Through qualitative analysis, themes were identified based on participants' narratives. Eight participants who engaged in online, text-based TTRPGs were interviewed to gather data on their emotional experiences and effects outside the game. Result: The study identified three main categories of emotions experienced by players: emotions related to the community, emotions associated with the game world and characters, and emotions linked to game mechanics. These emotions were found to impact players beyond the gaming environment, influenced by the players' emotional immersion. Additionally, the study revealed two distinct approaches to immersion among players and highlighted emotions as motivating factors for gameplay. Discussion: The findings emphasize the role of TTRPGs in providing creative outlets, social interaction, and recreation, facilitating skill development, and broadening perspectives based on players' emotional experiences. Additionally, this study highlights the potential for immersion in online, text-based TTRPGs linked to therapeutic and educational uses. Limitations: This study employs an in-depth phenomenological qualitative interview method. While this approach yields detailed and nuanced data, it may not provide extensive generalizability. Future research endeavors could benefit from more significant and diverse participant pools to enhance the understanding of emotional experiences in TTRPG players. Furthermore, exploring additional factors such as genres, narrative structures, and player-character relationships could offer more profound insights. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that online, text-based TTRPGs allow players to experience various emotions with implications beyond the game's boundaries. The findings suggest that interventions based on role-playing activities may benefit from the online text-based method due to its accessibility and lower barriers to entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the issues of developing research and cognitive activity among students at the Dagestan State Pedagogical University (DSPU). In the context of rapid changes in information technologies and education, the focus is placed on the problems and methods of activating these aspects. The authors analyze the external and internal factors influencing students' cognitive activity and the motivations underlying the pursuit of knowledge and professional growth. An empirical study is presented, identifying the main obstacles to the formation of students' activity and suggesting solutions, including through the use of interactive teaching methods, case methods, project work, laboratory and practical classes, as well as brainstorming and technological tools. Purpose. The study aims to stimulate and enhance the research and cognitive activity of students at the Dagestan State Pedagogical University to improve the quality of higher education and form professionals capable of independent professional activity. Method and methodology. Application of a comprehensive approach, including the analysis of theoretical foundations of educational psychology, investigation of current interactive learning methods, and assessment of the practical application of the acquired knowledge in the educational process Results. Development and integration of interactive teaching methods, such as role-playing games, simulations, case methods, and project work, that demonstrate improved student motivation, activity, and quality of education. Scope of the results: higher education, particularly pedagogical universities and colleges, where the innovation can be integrated into teaching programs to develop critical thinking and independent research skills among future professionals.

This article proposes a model for integrating computer role-playing games with museum experiences to enhance cultural heritage learning with a particular focus on design. Centered at the Izmir Archaeology Museum, the study delves into the design of a serious game aimed at enriching both the educational and experiential facets of museum visits. The model highlights the use of gameplay components and design patterns to manifest tangible and intangible heritage content, thereby promoting visitor awareness and understanding of cultural heritage. Through a provisional game scenario based on the museum's prehistoric artifact exhibition, the study illustrates how a gameplay design approach that is informed by heritage content displayed in the museum can be prototyped. The proposed model not only aims to make museum visits more engaging, but also seeks to contribute to the broader discourse on game design, game-based learning, and museum experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being efficient learners is important in the modern workforce, but improved performance and cognitive load do not imply that students are efficient learners. This study investigated the effectiveness of a personalized role-playing game in students' learning efficiency (LE) and mental efficiency. Results showed that students in the personalized game environment significantly improved LE and mental efficiency compared to the conventional online learning environment. Students were able to achieve higher performance while spending less time and mental effort. Moderate negative relationship was found between performance and mental effort while a strong negative relationship was found between performance and learning time. Learning time might be an indicator of efficient learners when performance is expected at a certain level. This study demonstrated that the personalized game might be an alternative approach to train efficient learners particularly when training time is limited and support complex task training that demands high cognitive investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the limitations of hero's journey by Joseph Campbell with reference to traditional storytelling, offering examples from role-playing games (RPGs) as alternative modes of engagement with symbolism and archetypes. The hero's journey represents the development of the individual to maturity as a result of confrontation with their unconscious shadow side. While this trajectory reflects the human experience, it centers an idealized young male hero who becomes singularly important to saving the world from a villainized monstrous other. Other characters in the story are marginalized and decentered, invalidating other important archetypal characters such as the Heroine, the Mother, the Witch, the Trickster, the Sage, and the Divine. This article will discuss the ways in which analog RPG narratives can offer the general benefits of active, mythic, and ironic imagination. Integrating ethnographic interviews with 4 experts in the field, the article outlines critiques of the hero's journey and discusses the wide variety of archetypes explorable within these alternative story structures, even in traditional role-playing games (RPGs) such as Dungeons & Dragons. The article will emphasize how players can use these experiences to shape their own narrative identity into more empowering structures of belief and life roadmaps regardless of the type of character they embody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the present paper we aim to explore the way in which two methods of approaching history blend together and are employed in the study of socio-cultural, literary, and historical texts. We posit that the resulting approach allows students to gain superior insight into the cultural contexts explored during Text Analysis Practical Courses, on the one hand, while simultaneously developing their levels of social empathy, on the other. The first of the two methods, Reacting to the Past (RTTP), is an innovative pedagogy pioneered by Mark C. Carnes in the 1990s, designed for university students, which enables them to explore knowledge of the past while putting on the experiential lens of a historical figure or group involved in events that have shaped the course of humanity. As such, through a variety of role playing games, the students essentially take over the classroom, with the instructor’s main objective being to guide and mediate, removing their traditional teaching hat. Within the RTTP framework, the students are provided with the necessary materials, such as workbooks, role sheets, and the like, to truly embody and inhabit the role assigned. In our paper, we will explore the way in which RTTP lends itself to the “bottom-up” approach to history, also called “History from Below” by E. P. Thompson in the 1960s. The principal goal of the latter was to follow the social history of everyday existence and the evolution of common people, thus reducing the bias of the proverbial victor, and improving the accuracy and veracity of historical contexts. Furthermore, it employs an interdisciplinary approach, trying to avoid the reductionist and limitative isolation of material kept in separate containers, in an attempt to avoid cross-contamination, in reality achieving sterility more often than not. Particularly within the larger framework of decolonization and postcolonialism, we can notice a reconsideration of dominant paradigms – our academic interest, thus, becomes fundamentally contiguous with multiperspectivism, as reality unfolds much like a kaleidoscope, with shifting perceptions. It is our goal to assess the abatement of bias through exposure and plurality, both within the university classroom, as well as outside it.

The article examines the possibilities of role-playing games as a method to activate the career development of students, which supports decision-making regarding their choice of profession and career. Student career development role plays in technology and entrepreneurship education help students develop leadership skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, and other important competencies. A scenario of the role-playing game "Choose a profession" is presented, suitable for students in the 8th grade, and can be used in the lessons on technology and entrepreneurship for the main topic "Profession and Career.". The organization of the game includes the following stages: determining the goal, defining different roles, and determining the stimulus material. Students choose different professional positions and perform specific behaviors that suit them during this role play. During the role play, students play the roles of various specialists, perform tasks, and solve problems that may arise in their professional activities. This allows them to better understand what skills and knowledge are needed to be successful in their chosen field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support business, health professions, and social work students develop certain habits of mind, including incorporating data in their arguments, identifying agendas that may be behind seemingly objective arguments, and considering ethical quantitative communication, we developed a role-playing game built around a budget crisis at a rural health clinic. In the game, students take on roles described in character sheets, each with their own victory conditions. Characters are grouped in teams, or “factions,” with faction-level victory conditions. As a class, the students must solve the budget crisis by finding appropriate cuts to make. In their factions, students develop arguments to make cuts that support their victory conditions. They present their arguments to the class, and students vote on budget proposals. The game is used to introduce a quantitative reasoning course that was designed by an interdisciplinary team for students in service-oriented majors.

We designed a role-playing game based on the Flint Water Crisis for a quantitative reasoning course. While the context seemed perfect both in terms of local engagement and in terms of highlighting the power of the mathematics learned in the course to fight for justice, it turned out to be fundamentally flawed.

Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'Pedagogical Sciences' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper presents the theoretical framework for the use of role-playing games (RPG) to foster and motivate ecoliteracy. First, we discuss previous work on the uses of RPGs in relation to environmental education. Then we introduce the practice theoretical perspective grounding our approach. This is followed by a brief consideration of theories of motivation, as we seek to leverage this drive through playful and co-creative processes via the use of an open-ended RPG. Finally, we lay out the principles guiding our work, followed by some reflections of the results of the first pilot-test of the game.

This article examines connections between games and BDSM (consensual bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism), theoretically speaking (in their respective research areas) as well as in practice. A common grounding behind these connections is the consideration of play as a foundational component in games and game studies as well as in BDSM practices and the studies of BDSM as a cultural phenomenon. We identify five sets of relevant connections. First, there are direct comparisons between the two types of play. Second, several live-action role-playing games have been made about BDSM, or for BDSM. Third, many other games have borrowed ideas from BDSM, as well, as have some BDSM activities, in turn, from games and play. Fourth, queer game studies frequently discuss subversive and transgressive play practices, which provide a fruitful context for analyzing play elements in BDSM, and BDSM-inspired elements in games. And fifth, both games and BDSM are frequently discussed in the research contexts related to performance, theater, and rituals, which forms a potential bridge between these activities. Through this five-strand exploratory analysis, we show how deeply interconnected these two realms are, even if the connection is only rarely mentioned, and to this date, not fully recognized as a valid research topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lletres Asturianes is the property of Academia de la Llingua Asturiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Communicative simulation is a virtual practice that reproduces offline forms of social interaction using information and communication technologies. This research parametrized communicative simulation genres and described the interpersonal aspect of virtual interaction in a virtual environment, i.e., bricolage form, intersemiotics, and reduced corporality. Communicative simulations differ from such social practices as offline simulations or role games. The social aspect of communicative simulations includes (1) the media nature of virtual interaction; (2) the hybrid nature of communicative simulations that combines the features of both ordinary simulations and text-based role games; (3) the dual nature of social interaction, carried out simultaneously in material and diegetic spaces. As a result, the social aspect of communicative simulation can be presented in the form of a three-level model: material, diegeological, instrumental levels.

The article presents a theoretical-methodological analysis of the psychodrama method of group psychotherapy. It examines the aim, objectives, advantages, peculiarities and structure of classical psychodrama as a method of group psychotherapy. Also, the article attempts to define psychodrama as a group psychotherapy process. It studies the links between psychodrama and methods of various psychological approaches. Importantly, the article suggests a phenomenological approach to studying the interaction among the participants in psychodramatic psychotherapy groups to develop effective technologies for implementing psychodramatic techniques. It justifies the methodological and methodical essence of psychodramatic technologies in group psychotherapy, its main characteristics and goals. From the perspective of an integrative approach, psychodramatic technologies in group psychotherapy ensure the interrelation and interdependence of its psychodiagnostic and psychodevelopmental components. Meanwhile, the article considers the organizational, methodical and structural-dynamic features of using the interactive and role-playing method in group psychotherapy depending on the type of psychodrama. It shows how one can practically apply the "mirroring" psychotechnique in combination with the fairy tale metaphor (the method of enacting a fairy tale) in all types of psychodrama, along with an analysis of the advantages of its use and resourcefulness. Finally, the article discusses a methodical combination of psychodrama and transactional analysis within the "psychodramatic triangle" technique. It provides methodical recommendations for emotional disorder correction using the psychodrama method. The relevant indicators of the effectiveness and efficiency of the psychodrama method in group psychotherapy include catharsis, insight, expressions of trust and a sense of comfort in the space of group interaction and feedback, as an existing objective reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research examined the effect of digital role-playing game-based learning on high school students' critical thinking ability. Playing a digital game designed with RPG Maker and whose story lines featured critical thinking questions, a total of 32 high school student participants were given a learning context to practice critical thinking skills repeatedly. A quasi-experimental design was implemented to explore how students' performances in critical thinking skills and their learning motivation changed after participation in a four-day workshop camp. The results of the study showed that student participants achieved significant progress both in overall critical thinking performance and in learning motivation. Similar studies on the effectiveness of digital game-based learning on learning performance and learning motivation among students were also compared in lieu of the results of the present study. Both the quantitative and qualitative results of this study not only agreed with a majority of previous research findings on students' learning performance and learning motivation, but revealed some distinctive pedagogical qualities among different skills of critical thinking. Practical suggestions were also provided to help future studies and instructional designs of digital game-based learning achieve effective learning and enhance learning motivation among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Изложена методическая концепция, рассмотрен порядок организации и проведения, оценены педагогические возможности и текущие результаты Всероссийского литературно-игрового конкурса «На асфальте города…», основанного на одноименном рассказе томского фантаста Виктора Колупаева и проходящего при учредительстве Томской областной универсальной научной библиотеки им. А. С. Пушкина с 2015 г. по настоящее время. В ходе анализа материалов семи сезонов игры (названий, рисунков и описаний «городов для инопланетян», перечней игровых ролей, особенностей презентации проектов) прослеживается этическая, социально ориентированная и творческая составляющая деятельности конкурсантов, выявляются принципы взаимодействия источников игрового конструирования (текст опорного рассказа, «фантастический стандарт», разнообразные фоновые знания, включая и специфические, связанные с этноконфессиональными традициями и краеведческой информацией), характеризуются меры оптимизации педагогических эффектов игры. Исследование показало, что эмоциональное принятие этического посыла опорного рассказа, которое определяет общую направленность игровой деятельности, в большинстве случае является безусловным, в то время как социальные установки и творческое самовыражение игроков могут требовать педагогического регулирования.

In this work, the influence of the introduction of role-playing game elements, such as the customization of the avatar and an adaptive level of difficulty, is studied to configure a game experience more adapted to the needs of the students. The student’s point of view on these elements are also presented.

Pese al firme vínculo de Platón con el pensamiento utópico –de manera central a través de República (385-370 a. de C./1941), Timeo (369-347 a. de C./2004b) y Critias (369-347 a. de C./2004a)–, también reverbera la distopía en su mito de la caverna –concebido como sistema de dominación social y ausencia de libertades–. Esta vertiente distópica ha encontrado acomodo en las manifestaciones lúdico-narrativas de los juegos de rol. Resulta posible cifrar esta recepción distópica en dos ejemplos. En primer lugar, el juego de rol Unknown Armies (Stolze y Tynes, 2016/2020a, 2016/2020b, 2016/2020c) recoge los mitos platónicos de la caverna y de la llanura de Er. En segundo lugar, el juego de rol de horror Kult (Jonsson y Petersen, 1997/1997; Liljenberg y Nallo, 2018/2020) aúna sus referencias a un Demiurgo, a una realidad ilusoria alejada del verdadero universo y a la divinidad olvidada de la humanidad, junto con un trasfondo gnóstico. Cabe concluir que en los universos narrativos planteados por estos juegos de rol resuena la distopía platónica del presidio de lo real. Despite Plato's bond with utopian thought –especially in Republic (385-370 a. de C./1941), Timaeus(369-347 a. de C./2004b) and Crito (369-347 a. de C./2004a)–, dystopia also reverberates in his myth of the cave –conceived as a system of social domination and absence of freedom and liberties–. This dystopia has been attractive to the ludic and narrative role-playing games. It is possible to discover this dystopian reception in two examples. First, the role-playing game Unknown Armies (2016/2020a, 2016/2020b and 2016/2020c) displays the platonic myths of the cave and the plain of Er. Second, the horror role-playing game Kult(Jonsson y Petersen, 1997/1997; Liljenberg y Nallo, 2018/2020), which combines references to a Demiurge, an illusory reality far from the true universe and the forgotten divinity of humanity, along with a gnostic background. It can be concluded that the narrative universes proposed by these role-playing games highlights the dystopia of the prison of reality in Plato’s thought.

Introduction: Player experience is the interaction between individual qualities and game attributes. It is becoming a popular topic to understand why individuals are interested in different video games. The current literature offers a range of different scales that measure similar player experience factors but often lack published validity analysis. The Player Experience Index is an empirically validated measure based on the means-end theory. The current study used this measure to analyse player experience factors and enjoyment among single-player shooter, single-player role-playing, massively multiplayer online shooter, and massively multiplayer online role-playing video games. Methods: Analyses were based on a sample of 145 participants who completed an online survey. Results: Results indicated that player experience factors were related to enjoyment, with differing results based on video game genre. It was also found that greater levels of enjoyment were reported by participants who preferred single-player mode of play compared to massively multiplayer online play mode, and participants who preferred single-player role-playing games indicated greater levels of enjoyment than the other three groups. Discussion: While there was an uneven and small sample size for each video game category, the findings of this exploratory study highlight that further research is warranted. Future research should consider analysing the player experience for currently available and marketed video games to better understand how player experience influences enjoyment in the rapidly evolving gaming industry and its role in gaming design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physics is a difficult subject in which to trigger interest in pupils, particularly in junior high school classes: this reflects in the results of maturity exams. Therefore, teachers, educators (and authorities deciding on CV contents) should search for new efficient methods, techniques, and contents corresponding to particular topics in physics. What can be done at the level of a single university (even if big) or school is to enrich standard lessons with new elements and observe how the responses of pupils change. In this article, the results of an implementation of interactive plays and games are presented for enhancing pupils' interest and rate of understanding in physics, astronomy, and engineering. The games were designed by authors and the contents were developed jointly at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland and al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan. Implementation was carried out both in schools (a secondary school in Almaty and one primary school in Torun) and in extra-school (secondary school students in Almaty, elementary and secondary school students in Torun, during university-based activities) environments. A preliminary analysis of the didactical efficiency is given. We observed a positive reception of the majority of the didactical means that we proposed. These observations will serve us for further (and possibly permanent) enrichment of forms and contents of teaching physics and astronomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the possibilities of using communicative games, the basis of which is the Kyrgyz language. Holding such games not only has a beneficial effect on the condition of young people, but also develops universal competencies. As a result of the study, several types of communicative games have been developed, which include lexical, role-playing and interactive games. The methodology of their implementation was tested in the course of a pedagogical experiment. One of the main achievements established as a result of the experiment is the development of language skills, the formation of social, cultural, professional and other competencies. The developed methods can be used in educational activities, for example, for the adaptation of foreign students when exporting Kyrgyz education.

Background: The author’s personal scientific interests and the existing research gap motivated him to pursue the topic. The article discusses the impact of larps on entrepreneurship and local communities. Research objectives: To analyse larp as a component of social and entrepreneurial engagement, with a special focus on its origins, definitions, and development paths based on a case study of the Kuńkowce Fantasy Village. Research design and methods: The research technique included a review of existing data, relevant literature, and a direct interview conducted in February 2023 with a purposively selected group of people involved in organising larps. Results: The research questions were intended to evaluate the impact of larps on local entrepreneurship and social initiatives. Conclusions: The findings permitted the author to identify the entrepreneurial and social dimensions of the Kuńkowce Fantasy Village as well as other larp projects pursued worldwide and in Poland.

Before 2020, no big-budget, mainstream video games featured playable transgender characters, relegating them instead to the role of non-player characters (NPCs). Through a textual analysis of Bioware's 2014 title Dragon Age: Inquisition, Ubisoft's 2016 Watch Dogs 2, and Naughty Dog's 2020 The Last of Us Part II —three role-playing games that feature explicitly transgender NPCs—and a discourse analysis of media surrounding the games' release, this paper examines the narrative roles afforded to transgender characters. Drawing from the "magical Negro" trope in film studies, I propose the term "magical transness" to describe the unique role of transgender supporting characters whose victimization provides the opportunity for cisgender protagonists to act heroically. This paper interrogates transgender representation and its relationship to media discourses about diversity and inclusion and discusses the political implications of transgender NPCs' placement in roles of moral service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the external socio-cultural conditions in which the educational process takes place, adaptability, creativity and the ability to solve problems are often considered to be far more valuable qualities than the accumulated knowledge in a given field. To develop these qualities in adolescents, teachers need to develop different strategies to engage and hold the attention of the world's young people. One of the interactive techniques that ensure the active participation of children in the learning process is the game. The article offers a practical methodological idea for applying a similar method to Bulgarian language classes in the fifth grade and draws conclusions based on the observations made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The author's personal scientific interests and the existing research gap motivated him to pursue the topic. The article discusses the impact of larps on entrepreneurship and local communities. Research objectives: To analyse larp as a component of social and entrepreneurial engagement, with a special focus on its origins, definitions, and development paths based on a case study of the Kuńkowce Fantasy Village. Research design and methods: The research technique included a review of existing data, relevant literature, and a direct interview conducted in February 2023 with a purposively selected group of people involved in organising larps. Results: The research questions were intended to evaluate the impact of larps on local entrepreneurship and social initiatives. Conclusions: The findings permitted the author to identify the entrepreneurial and social dimensions of the Kuńkowce Fantasy Village as well as other larp projects pursued worldwide and in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review: Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons, by Jon Peterson. 2021. The MIT Press. xii + 386 pp.

Tabletop role-playing has grown from a niche of analog gaming into a mainstay of popular culture. The original face-to-face way of playing has been complemented by online play using dedicated digital tools, and play itself has become spectator entertainment. In this article, I explore the process of mediatization of tabletop role-playing on the example of Critical Role – the most successful 'actual play' show, in which performers broadcast tabletop role-playing to audiences. I highlight the importance of commodification as a force in the process of mediatization, involving licensing, merchandising, and advertising. Empirically, the article is grounded in an analysis of Critical Role's sponsorships and embodied player practices, focusing on the political-economic aspects of the show. While Critical Role presents a profoundly mediated form of tabletop role-playing, it promotes a traditional face-to-face way of playing using physical accessories both by cast members' preference of such accessories (except for the digital toolset D&D Beyond) and sponsorships from manufacturers of these products. Mediatization of tabletop role-playing thus happens through an economic-driven process of addition – new mediated options for players with new opportunities for commodification exist alongside analog modes of consumption. As shown on the example of Critical Role, the digital and mediated forms of the analog hobby can be harnessed to promote physical consumerism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines several genres of role-playing games in terms of their procedural logics of racial management as an attempt to understand how game logics can express varying and often contentious ways of enacting "diversity." It argues that games themselves can help answer one of the most persistent questions about games today: "how do we make games more diverse?" We proceed by defining the racial logics--the "diversity rules"--structuring the Mass Effect series (BioWare, 2007-), Genshin Impact (miHoYo, 2020), and Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios, 2017). These games respectively place the player in the role of multicultural manager, racial empath, and divine avatar. These games show us the many logics, strategies, and appropriations that can occur when diversity itself is treated not as a complex process toward building social justice, but as an obtainable asset, and as the sole win condition in making and selling a game. Attending to these racial logics can open paths to new disciplinary directions in game studies by pushing beyond established domestic boundaries, liberal multiculturalist definitions of diversity, and ultimately into revealing our regional attitudes and particular ways of defining and practicing "diversity.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the modes of contact and the developmental steps that came out of the high-frequency analysis of an isolated young patient and the corresponding counter-transference feeling of »closest distance«. With this concept, the paper examines the seemingly contradictory experience of both great closeness and vast distance in such a way that they can be viewed as complementary. The paper will examine this variable and emergent experience and will show how room for developing new relationship possibilities could develop out of the transference-countertransference experiences that take place in the communities and games available in the complex world of the internet. The question will be discussed as to how far the term hikikomori, coined in Japan for young people who have totally withdrawn from society, can be helpful in the treatment of secluded patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, a group of ten academics and industry professionals created 'The Secret Story Network'. This practice-research initiative produced ten 60–90-minute role-playing games conducted on the social media platform WhatsApp. In the process, we worked to identify and refine design strategies that incentivize engagement with the type of narrative collaboration that media scholars commonly call 'collective storytelling'. Via the participatory action research methodology, this study evolved through cycles of prototyping, testing, feedback, reflection and modification. This article analyses our study in relation to the 'Threefold Word Model' for RPGs proposed by Kim. Based on the affordances of the WhatsApp interface, we suggest a modification of this conceptual frame, in line with scholars such as Edwards, Bøckman and Bowman that extends investigations into four theoretical lenses that we use to examine the stories in our study. These modes are (1) drama, (2) game, (3) simulation and (4) immersion. The observations made also suggest new avenues for 'writing' and creating interactive digital narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physics is a difficult subject in which to trigger interest in pupils, particularly in junior high school classes: this reflects in the results of maturity exams. Therefore, teachers, educators (and authorities deciding on CV contents) should search for new efficient methods, techniques, and contents corresponding to particular topics in physics. What can be done at the level of a single university (even if big) or school is to enrich standard lessons with new elements and observe how the responses of pupils change. In this article, the results of an implementation of interactive plays and games are presented for enhancing pupils’ interest and rate of understanding in physics, astronomy, and engineering. The games were designed by authors and the contents were developed jointly at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland and al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan. Implementation was carried out both in schools (a secondary school in Almaty and one primary school in Torun) and in extra-school (secondary school students in Almaty, elementary and secondary school students in Torun, during university-based activities) environments. A preliminary analysis of the didactical efficiency is given. We observed a positive reception of the majority of the didactical means that we proposed. These observations will serve us for further (and possibly permanent) enrichment of forms and contents of teaching physics and astronomy.

Background: Role-playing game (RPG) is a term that covers a series of forms and styles of games that involve, in some way, the creation, representation and progression of characters who interact in a fictional world under a system of structured rules. Its applications and effects on human behavior and mental health are, however, still an underexplored area. Methods: A scoping review was performed on the literature about RPGs as a therapeutic tool or prevention strategy in psychotherapies and mental health, highlighting studies' populations, forms of RPG and interventions used. To that, a systematic search in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, BVS/LILACS databases and grey literature was performed. Results: Of the 4,069 studies reviewed, 50 sources of evidence were included. The majority was published as of 2011 (78%) in journals (62%) and targeted therapeutic uses of RPGs (84%). Most interventions used computer (50%) or tabletop RPGs (44%), mostly with cognitive and/or behavioral (52%) therapeutical approaches and targeting adolescents (70%). Conclusion: The findings suggest a potential use of RPGs as a complementary tool in psychotherapies. However, only 16% of the studies included were experimental. We identified considerable heterogeneity in RPGs definitions, outcomes and interventions used, preventing a systematic review. Thus, more empirical and well-designed studies on the application of RPGs in mental health are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the human ability to see meaningful narratives in the world and to invent fictional narratives as a sense. The senses allow us to pick up on patterns in the world and to coordinate our behaviour in relationship with those patterns. Sensing narratives plays an important role in situational appraisals and provides important context for what we see, hear, touch, etc. Drawing upon the predictive processing framework in cognitive science, this article will defend this thesis and explore how virtual and mixed reality technologies can contribute to new ways of making sense of the world. These new tools of situational appraisal will be understood in the context of a cultural and cognitive condition that media theories Douglas Rushkoff calls 'present shock'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red, 2019) is an award-winning role-playing video game (RPG); the third instalment of The Witcher game series inspired by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels. Centring upon the protagonist Geralt of Rivia, The Witcher 3 has been praised for developing a complex, authentic, and immersive game environment that combines magic and fantasy elements within a broadly medieval setting. A central aspect of the game’s success is its soundtrack – the fusion of music, sound, and voice – which further contributes to building the game’s overall narrative and the complex construction of its central characters. This paper explores how The Witcher 3’s soundtrack constructs identity, focusing in particular on its use of neo-medievalist signifiers and its contrasting representations of masculinity and femininity. Neo-medievalist sounds are a central concept in building the game’s identity; these sounds draw on folkloristic elements surrounding the choice of instrumentation and the recurrence of folk music throughout the game’s narrative, thus increasing the player’s immersion within The Witcher 3’s world. Regarding gender, female vocalisations are used within the soundtrack to add depth and emotion to male characters – particularly Geralt of Rivia, who due to his mutations lacks in conventional emotional capabilities. Despite the inclusion and emphasis of female voices on the soundtrack, the placement of women in influential roles is limited through other musical scoring techniques, which effectively reduces the agency of these characters, thus suggesting an imbalanced treatment oftowards gender. Through exploring these aspects, I argue that the soundtrack is a crucial part of how gender and identity are constructed throughout The Witcher 3, further exploring how these elements affect the player’s overall in-game immersion.