Triumf game theory strategy
In our theory driven Triumf game design philosophy, we have combined the mental contrasting and implementation intention theories about self-regulation and behavioral change into our underlying gameplay narrative. Based on mental contrasting theory, we start by giving a player an idealised state of an imaginary city.
We contrast a positive state of the city with current situation in which the Disease Monster has spread a disease all over the city making its inhabitants ill. This mental contrasting of desired state in respect to current non-ideal situation has been shown to activate constructive goal-striving in health and education related behaviors if a child, engaged in the guest, feels energized and sees the situation as manageable. We emphasize the manageability of the situation and psychological energized state by making the child a superhero that is destined to fend-off the Disease Monster, thus returning the city to its ideal healthy and happy state.
Internalization of behavioral change takes place in the presence of knowledge, thus the game also provides extensive educational component. In addition to psychological monitoring and support, the solution focuses on general wellbeing and common side effects of the treatments, such as lack of appetite, low physical activity, and sleep problems. Information and knowledge about one’s disease and condition is presented to the kid through different missions and minigames that are accessible throughout the imaginary city. Every minigame or mission presents child with characteristic situation or information relating to disease state and presents him with adaptive behavior that is needed to succeed both in minigame/mission and in real life. Information presented through “if-then do” logic has been shown to be strong way to achieve quick and stable behavioral change – especially in situations when subjects are experiencing hindering subjective or environmental factor such has having attention problems, being stressed, tired or being faced with complex task.
Goal-striving and learning engagement depend on overall emotional and physiological milieu in which learning takes place. Therefore, we are constantly monitoring kid’s emotional and overall psychophysiological state through conventional (in game questionnaires) and non-conventional (e.g. inference of emotional state based on the motoric data collected by the sensors of the smartphone) means.
Continue reading more about our effective and research-based mobile health game for kids.
