Glossary

Android studio

To be done

Augmented reality

to be done

Babylon

A framework game and rendering engine for WebGL

First-person perspective

In a game, when the camera model simulates the point of the view of the player’s avatar, which is thereore invisible (excepts sometimes hands)

Flask

To be done

Flow

A mental state in which individuals are totally inmersed in an activity, enjooyong it and being the most productive in it.

Funativity

Theory of fun sources by Noah Falstein 2004

Game

Activity engaged in and for diversion or amusement

Game design document (GDD)

A highly descriptive document of the design for a video game

Game engine

Software environment designed to build video games

Game feel

The intangible sensation of the player when interacting with a video-game

Game flow

The overall flow or structure of a game or, the user experience of flow while playing as a balance between level of difficulty and skill

Game genre

Category of game (action, sports, strategy, simulation..) See list in wikipedia.

Game loop

The central event-driven iteration of a game. Each loop of a game produces a frame. At each loop, iteration objects and agents attributes including position, orientation, scale, shape, color and texture are updated according to arbitrary rules or physics law and users interactions are processsed.

Game mechanics

Rules that govern and guide the players actions and the game’s response to them

Game narrative

The plot, sound, music, atmosphere, dialogs and gameplay.

Game pace

The rate of escalation and release of events in a story

Game plot

The events of the game presented chronologically as an interrelated sequence

Game story

What happens in a game, the flow of events that can be described independently of the gameplay

Game theory

Mathematical study of strategic decision making including conflict and cooperation between agents

Gamefulness

The quality of an activity to be light-hearted, fun or humorous to be done

Gameplay

The combination of the set of game mechanics that are to be used to play the game

Gamification

Use of game design elements principles in non-game contexts to increase motivation and well-being

Hedonic attributes

Attributes of a product (software) which deal with the experiences of sensory appeals and emotion

Html5

markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web.

Kivy

A python library to build interactive applications, exportable to mobile devices through Buildozer.

Ludus

In ancient Rome a primary school (up to 11 years); also a board game, or a gladiator training school

MDA

Model that defines three parts of the game from the designer to the player: Mechanics-Dynamics Aesthetics

Mixed reality

to be done

MMORPGI

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing game

Motivation

The desire and action toward a goal-directed behavior

Motivation (extrinsic)

External motivational forces in form of positive (rewards) or negative (fear of punishment) incentives

Motivation (intrinsic)

Internal motivational forces coming from inside the individual. Desire of doing an action or having a behavior for its own sake.

Motivational affordances

The properties of a software (object) that determine how it can support users’ motivational needs

PBL

Acronym for Points Badges and Leaderboards, three basic elements of extrinsic motivation that are not a good gamification strategy when used without fostering instrinsic motivation

Pervasive games

Games that extend the gaming experience out in the real world and therfore expand the contractual magic circle of play spatially, temporally, or socially

Play

The act of playing a game, a sport, a role or a music instrument. Also a part of a game

Play

See difference with Game

Player experience

to be done

Playful Experience Framework (PLEX)

Categorization of 22 playful experiences

Playfulness

Users behavior. The quality of being funny

Pygame

A python library for 2D games

Reality continuum

The continuum from reality to virtuality proposed by Milgram et el. 1994.

Responsiveness

The impact of the response time (time between the player action and the result) in the game feel

Serious games

Games designed of other purposes than pure leisure.

Third-person perspective

In a game, when the camera model follows the player’s avatar. The avatar’s body is seen from behind.

Transreality game

A type of gameplay that combines playing a game in a virtual environment and in the physical world, e.g. Pokemon Go.

Unity

A game engine for 2d and 3D graphics

Unreal

A game engine for 2d and 3D graphics

Virtual Environment

A graphics environment, in general 3D, composed of virtual landscape, objectsa nd buildings and characters.

Virtual Reality

The illusion of being in another reality than the actual one, through hardware devices and software creating sensorial perceptions. In the field of neurorehabilitation, virtual reality is often divided into Immersive Virtual Reality, using stereoscopic vision and haptic devices, and Non-Immersive reality using a standard screen projection of graphics.

Virtual Rehab

Rehabilitation based on the use of virtual reality technology, often genralized to game-based rehabilitation and even graphic-based rehabilitation

Virtual rehabilitation

Rehabilitation based on the use of virtual reality technology

WebGL

A JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics