Reintroducing Time in Games: Defining Urgency as a Motivator for Action
Authors
Gjøl, Bjørn Anker ; Jørgensen, Niels Valentin
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2019
Abstract
This thesis examines the role of time in games and positions urgency as a key driver of when and why players act. The central question is how urgency can be conceptualized, measured, and applied to improve narrative game design. Drawing on expert interviews, the authors propose an agency/urgency loop model that explains how players perceive options and time pressure in narrative play. They then introduce the Urgency Player Motivation Scale (UPMS) and use it in a between-groups case study of commercial games to assess urgency-related issues; the analysis found statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between games, indicating the scale’s promise for detecting variations in perceived urgency. Finally, a prototype implementing a proposed remedy to common urgency problems was developed and explored through a small, interview-based study, which yielded preliminary support for the approach. Overall, the work argues that making urgency an explicit design concern can better align narrative stakes with player choices and enhance emotional engagement, and it offers early tools, including a conceptual model and a measurement scale, to support such design efforts.
Specialet undersøger tid i spil og placerer urgency (oplevelsen af tidspres) som en central drivkraft for, hvornår og hvorfor spillere handler. Det centrale spørgsmål er, hvordan urgency kan begrebsliggøres, måles og anvendes i narrativt spildesign. Med afsæt i ekspertinterviews udvikles en model for agency/urgency-loops, der forklarer, hvordan spillere oplever handlemuligheder og tidspres under spil. Dernæst introduceres Urgency Player Motivation Scale (UPMS), som i et mellemgruppestudie bruges til at evaluere problemer knyttet til urgency i kommercielle spil; analysen viser statistisk signifikante forskelle (p < 0,05) mellem spil, hvilket indikerer, at skalaen kan opfange variationer i oplevet urgency. Endelig udvikles en prototype med en foreslået løsning på typiske urgency-udfordringer, som undersøges i et lille, interviewbaseret studie med lovende, foreløbige resultater. Samlet peger arbejdet på, at bevidst indtænkning af urgency kan styrke sammenhængen mellem fortællingens insatser og spillerens valg og øge den følelsesmæssige involvering, og det tilbyder tidlige værktøjer, herunder en konceptuel model og en måleskala, til at understøtte dette designarbejde.
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