{"id":2983,"date":"2012-10-14T10:20:22","date_gmt":"2012-10-14T16:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=2983"},"modified":"2014-09-12T11:58:20","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T17:58:20","slug":"game-taxonomies-are-a-mess-and-other-classification-exercises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2012\/10\/14\/game-taxonomies-are-a-mess-and-other-classification-exercises\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Taxonomies Are a Mess, and Other Classification Exercises"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p>One of our assigned readings in my <strong>Theories of Games and Interaction for Design<\/strong> course this week has got me thinking again about game taxonomies.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lieberman, D. (2012). <strong>Designing digital games, social media, and mobile technologies to motivate and support health behavior change<\/strong>. In R. E. Rice &amp; C. K. Atkin (Eds.), Public Communication Campaigns (pp. 273-287). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I love organizing things, and I love making lists. For me, it is a way of sorting ideas. As a result, I really like things like the notion of patterns as well as taxonomies like <a title=\"The Problem with Taxonomies in Education\" href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2011\/06\/23\/the-problem-with-taxonomies-in-education\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bloom&#8217;s<\/a>, while at the same time recognizing the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drdobbs.com\/architecture-and-design\/interview-with-alan-kay\/240003442\" target=\"_blank\">limitations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Every time I come across another organizational list, I view it with renewed optimism, and coming across one in this week&#8217;s readings is no different.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, like almost all the other lists I&#8217;ve come across, closer inspection leads me to disappointment. In this case, the first thing that strikes me is that the classification criteria are not consistent, which means that the list is not coherent.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a brief summary:<\/p>\n<p>Digital Game Formats:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Puzzle games: Games that invite players to solve puzzles using visual, mathematical, word, memory, or logical skills, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Eye-hand coordination games: involve, for example, hitting targets, catching objects, rolling or maneuvering an object while staying within bounds, or racing while picking up certain items for more points or to gain increased speed and then avoiding other items that reduce points or decrease speed.<\/li>\n<li>Action and adventure games: enable the player to take the role of a character and move through a complex and varied game world.<\/li>\n<li>Scenario-based games: put the player into a realistic situation within a digital game world and involve decision making that results in positive or negative health consequences.<\/li>\n<li>Simulations: is a model of a system or environment\u2014with interrelated, interdependent elements\u2014that responds system-wide to any change the user makes within it.<em>(Note: I don&#8217;t entirely agree with this definition &#8211; the &#8216;system-wide&#8217; part gives me pause &#8211; but I&#8217;ll let it go for now)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Virtual world: is an online environment in which participants can create characters, places, and events.<\/li>\n<li>Mobile games: are playable on mobile phones and tablet computers.<\/li>\n<li>Active games: are designed to get the player moving.<\/li>\n<li>Context-aware games: take place in the physical world, and they use data and information from the environment as inputs into the game.<\/li>\n<li>Alternate reality games: take place in the physical world with technology delivering information and facilitating communication.<\/li>\n<li>Community collaboration games: bring people together online to address important issues, participate in new scientific discoveries, and solve problems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For the most part, I am willing to go along with the definitions of each of these categories. The problem is that they are listed as a linear list, when in fact they describe categories of games that not only overlap, but aren&#8217;t even in the same ballpark. This makes it very confusing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Puzzle games&#8221; describe a style of game design and gameplay, while &#8220;mobile&#8221; describes hardware. I realize that the classification of games is quite messy, but at least admit that.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps classification based on specific attributes, such as the hardware, game genre, subject matter, and so on would help clear up some of the mess. None of these are going to generate nice, clean cut categories, but I suspect that it will lend it some form that would turn out to be useful. We already know for example, that designing for mobile devices requires a different approach than designing for consoles. There is a certain convergence happening such as games designed for consoles going mobile, but I still think there are things we can learn from classification exercises.<\/p>\n<div class='wp_likes' id='wp_likes_post-2983'><a class='like' href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(2983);\" title='' ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-likes\/images\/like.png\" alt='' border='0'\/><\/a><span class='text'>Be the first to like.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class='like' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(2983);\">Like<\/a><\/div>\n<div class='unlike' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.unlike(2983);\">Unlike<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>One of our assigned readings in my Theories of Games and Interaction for Design course this week has got me thinking again about game taxonomies. Lieberman, D. (2012). Designing digital games, social media, and mobile technologies to motivate and support &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2012\/10\/14\/game-taxonomies-are-a-mess-and-other-classification-exercises\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[353,9,12,14,81,24],"tags":[31,342,193,76,189,178],"class_list":["post-2983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computers-2","category-educational-technology","category-games","category-general","category-information-technology","category-teaching-learning","tag-game-studies","tag-games-gaming","tag-gcsgdr","tag-serious-games","tag-taxonomy","tag-tc831"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Hsb6-M7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1702,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2011\/06\/23\/the-problem-with-taxonomies-in-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":2983,"position":0},"title":"The Problem with Taxonomies in Education","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"June 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been following a discussion on one of the education forums that is discussing the utility of Bloom's Taxonomy, and others. There are complaints that Bloom's is out of date, that we know so much more now than we did then, that is needs to be updated to take modern\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Educational Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Educational Technology","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/educational-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bloom's Rose","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Blooms_Rose-300x235.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3193,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2012\/11\/29\/theories-of-games-and-interaction-for-design-12-3-responses\/","url_meta":{"origin":2983,"position":1},"title":"Theories of Games and Interaction for Design (12: 3 Responses)","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"November 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These are public postings of my writings for the first course of the Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University. Each week, we are required to post three responses\/reactions to queries posted by other members of the class in the previous week. These are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/computers-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6750,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/02\/03\/whats-the-difference-between-serious-games-educational-games-and-game-based-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":2983,"position":2},"title":"What&#8217;s the difference between serious games, educational games, and game-based learning?","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"February 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This question keeps coming up. Here's a handy table to help. This is an updated version of the table I created back in 2015. Note: This image is not to be posted anywhere or re-used without my written permission. Citation: Becker, K. (Feb 3, 2018).\u00a0What's the difference between serious games,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Educational Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Educational Technology","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/educational-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/game-gbl-gamification-2-1024x758.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/game-gbl-gamification-2-1024x758.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/game-gbl-gamification-2-1024x758.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4883,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/06\/29\/7-ways-to-use-games-in-the-classroom\/","url_meta":{"origin":2983,"position":3},"title":"7 Ways to Use Games in the Classroom","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There are many ways to use games in the classroom.\u00a0Games can be used as: Content -\u00a0The content of the game directly addresses some curricular need. Example\u00a0-\u00a0In this case the game is being used as an example of or an artifact that supports what is being taught. Inspiration -\u00a0Games can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Book","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/book\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ID-10055340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3987,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2014\/07\/05\/the-becker-lazy-test-blt-for-educational-games\/","url_meta":{"origin":2983,"position":4},"title":"The Becker Lazy Test (BLT) for Educational Games","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"July 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Becker Lazy Test is something I developed some years ago as part of my 4-PEG game assessment template. (4PEG = 4 Pillars of Educational Games). More on that soon. When I am examining a game, I see how far I can get without reading or learning anything. I simply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/computers-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/comicsobserver.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/lazyjane-silverstein.gif?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6754,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/02\/04\/whats-the-difference-between-serious-games-educational-games-and-game-based-learning-episode-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2983,"position":5},"title":"What\u2019s the difference between serious games, educational games, and game-based learning? Episode 2","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"February 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently posted a table explaining the differences between games, serious games, educational, games, GBL, etc. \u00a0 I thought a concrete example might help to understand the distinctions. Say we are using\u00a0The Parable of the Polygons\u00a0to help a high school class learn about diversity. This is a wonderful little game\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Educational Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Educational Technology","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/educational-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/game-gbl-gamification-2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2983"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2988,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions\/2988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}