Indirect Psychological Characterisation of the Player Character through Focalisation in Video Games

Sammanfattning

This research investigated “How video games can apply indirect psychological characterisation of the player character (PC) through focalisation of different game elements?”, specifically character portraits, user interface (UI) and environmental textures. Indirect characterisation is the process through which we ascribe traits to characters through implicit means, and we learn about the character by their actions, speech, or the setting around them. Focalisation defines the entity through which information is restricted. In this case, if the so-called focaliser agent is a character, the world is shown through their eyes, indirectly characterising them. The research into this topic was conducted as a compilation thesis (KAPPA), consisting of three papers. Two papers used the Research through Design framework, while one used Reflective Practice. For the purpose of this study, a narrative-driven game artefact, titled From a Safe Distance, was developed. The process followed iterative game design and research practices, where data was collected by interviews and surveys. The game elements were created with the intention of showing the world through the PC’s perception, as to indirectly characterise her and further establish empathy towards the difficult situation of the PC. The results showed that most participants noted the design decisions, but did not understand them as an extension of the PC’s perspective and did not pay much attention to them through the gameplay. Nevertheless, the fact that these elements affected the perception of the PC should not be disregarded and should be further investigated.