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Cited by 40Technology Use by Older AdultsEducational Games and GamificationDigital Games and Media

A Case Study on Co-designing Digital Games with Older Adults and Children: Game Elements, Assets, and Challenges

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Havukainen, Martti, Laine, Teemu H., Martikainen, Timo, Sutinen, Erkki·2020·The Computer Games Journal
DOI 10.1007/s40869-020-00100-w
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Abstract

Digital games have traditionally been targeted at younger generations, although the proportion of older adult players is increasing. However, the design processes of digital games often do not consider the special needs of older adults. Co-design is a potential method to address this, but there is little research on co-designing games with older adults. In our study, we proposed a co-design process model that considers the intergenerational perspective. Using this model, eight older adults (two males and six females aged 47–80) and 22 sixth graders (11 males and 11 females aged 12–13) co-designed a digital game. The content of the game was based on old concepts used by the designers during their childhood. Similarly, game content involving new words and concepts were produced by the sixth graders. We collected data using semi-structured interviews and observations during the co-design process over a period of 24 months and then processed the data using grounded theory. The results indicated that the older adults identified seven game elements as essential to make games fun—appearance and aesthetics, competition, manageability of gameplay, social impact, familiarity, unpredictability, and intergenerational gameplay. Furthermore, we identified six assets that older adults have as game co-designers and five challenges that co-designing games with older adults may entail.

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  • When included as game co-designers, older adult participants have been shown to identify aesthetics as essential elements of fun and attractive gameplay.

    “when included as game co-designers, older adult participants have been shown to identify aesthetics as essential elements of fun and attractive gameplay (Havukainen et al., 2020).”

    From User experience of mixed reality applications for healthy ageing: A systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as Havukainen et al., 2020

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Havukainen, M., Laine, T. H., Martikainen, T., & Sutinen, E.
Affiliations
  • University of Eastern Finland (FI)
  • Luleå University of Technology (SE)
  • University of Turku (FI)
Corresponding author
Havukainen, Martti
ORCID
Venue
The Computer Games Journal
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-04-02
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
163-188
ISSN
2052-773X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1007/s40869-020-00100-w
OpenAlex
W3014974407
Cited by
40
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4
FWCI
6.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • The Computer Games Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Epubl LTU (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Itä-Suomen Yliopisto
  • Kuopion Yliopistollinen Sairaala
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
Keywords
co-design, video games, older adults, children, intergenerational design, game elements, game assets, game design challenges, game aesthetics, familiarity, unpredictability, social impact of games

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