Interaction design and cognitive gameplay: role of activation time

Abstract

Currently, there are no frameworks or methods for the systematic design of cognitive gameplay, the cognitive processes that emerge from the gameplay experience. In this paper, our aim is to contribute to the understanding of how to systematically design interaction for cognitive gameplay. The quality of the essential interactions between the player and the game--the sum of the operational forms of several structural elements of interaction--is the heart of cognitive gameplay. One such element is activation time, the timing of the action response of an interaction. We conducted a study to investigate the effect of different operational forms of activation time on cognitive gameplay. Two puzzle games were developed, each with one version for immediate activation time and another for on-demand activation time. The on-demand version of both games engaged participants in more effortful and reflective cognitive gameplay, while the immediate version was not conducive to such engagement.