Keywords

1 Introduction

Newsgames are a game format that use the news as a basis for constructing their narrative. The first experiments began around 2001 with the publication of the independent newsgame Kabul Kaboon produced by the game designer and researcher Gonzalo Frasca. The game is a criticism of the American bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan. In 2003, September 12th. was published by NewsGaming.com, a company that produces games and was managed by Gonzalo Frasca. The game simulates a bombing and during the game makes it clear that it is impossible to hit only (military targets), thus criticizing the American attacks in the war on terror by demonstrating the effects of the war on civilians. More than 500,000 people played this newsgame [1]. Seabra [2] indicates that in fact the first experiments started from 2004, with the publication of Madrid by the Spanish newspaper El País. Produced in one day, it was a reaction to the terrorist attacks in the Spanish capital on 11 March 2004. Between 2004 and 2009 special attention was drawn to the newsgames published by CNN (Presidential Pong in 2007), MTV (Darfur is Dying in 2006; Debt Ski, in 2009), by The New York Times (Food Import Folly in 2007) and El País (Madrid, 2004), and by the magazine Wired (Cut-throat Capitalism, 2009). In Brazil, between 2007 and 2011, the production team of the magazine Superinteressante published several newsgames with topics ranging from science to philosophy.

For this research study, three games produced since 2000 were chosen from the list of games presented in the directory Newsgame Vault [3]. It holds information and links on newsgames and serious games published in countries all over the world. The project is maintained by Jornalistas da Web, a news from Brazil website, created in 2000 and dedicated to cover the relationship between journalism and new technologies. It has statistics on countries that record productions of this type and, which, amongst these, have the highest number of publications. The list comprises: the United States (45), Brazil (19), UK (15), Italy (7), France (4), Uruguay (4), Australia (2), Netherlands (2), Austria (1), Canada (1), Chile (1), Denmark (1), Germany (1), India (1) and Japan (1). The United States began production in 2002 and remained relatively constant until 2014. From this observation, three simulation games produced in the USA were chosen at random.

2 Newsgames: Typology and Rhetoric

Sicart [4] evaluates newsgames as serious games designed to illustrate a specific and concrete aspect of news using a procedural rhetoric with a view to prompting participation and public debate. Their characteristics should be: to encourage citizens to participate in them, to be developed in a short period of time, to be played in accordance with the conditions/mechanics of games and to be ephemeral. Seabra [2] emphasizes that newsgames are a genre of online game that are produced rapidly in response to current events that can also prompt social mobilization. Bogost [5] analyzes the different perspectives and usabilities of digital games, and classifies newsgames into seven major categories.

For this study, three of them were selected: Infographics: they arise from the evolution of journalistic infographics, in which players can simulate different scenarios and situations which are based on real events; Documentaries: The authors argue that there can be an approximation of the sensation of realism and the veracity of game documentaries in relation to documentary film. For video games, “realism” typically refers to the visual form of something. They tackle historical or current facts in a similar way to documentaries and investigative reports; Puzzles: These are crossword puzzles, in which the concept of play and the news are brought together in a digital format. Another digital format is that of questionnaires – a quiz. The model presents “a number of issues that supposedly helps to locate the participant in some social category” [5].

3 Newsgames Analyzed

Simulation games seek to offer an experience closer to the real condition of the player, reproducing in an identical way, or almost so, characteristics, reactions, variables and situations encountered in reality [6]. In a simulation, the user must take action in a short space of time, by using interfaces – ranging from buttons and commands to viewing and camera focus. Their playability is varied and can combine aspects of action games, strategy or adventure. For this research study, the games ICED - I can end deportation [7]; Heartsaver [8] and the Candidate [9] were selected. They are all played by a single player. The Newsgame Vault directory classifies them as simulation games.

Iced (Fig. 1) is of the documentary genre. Edited by Breakthrough in 2008, with a platform for Macintosch and PC, it uses flash language. The objective is to become a US citizen. As an immigrant teenager, the player must avoid the ICE agents, make choices and answer questions about immigration. He/she can be arrested and deported. ICED teaches players about current immigration laws on detention and deportation that affect all immigrants: legal permanent residents, asylum seekers, students and undocumented people by violating human rights and denying due process.

Fig. 1.
figure 1

A. Screen for choosing the character. B. Interface of the game. C. Result in case of defeat. (source: screens captured by the author).

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Heartsaver (Fig. 2) is of the infographic format. It has flash language and is geared to the Web platform. It deals with the chances of surviving a heart attack in New York City. The mission is to save as many heart attack victims as possible by taking them to the emergency room in time. The game was made by ProPublica in April 2013 during one of GEN’s Hackdays.

Fig. 2.
figure 2

A. Home screen of the Heartsaver newsgame with initial instructions. B. Format reproduces map of New York City. C. Results screen offers indicators after the end of the game. (source: capture screens by the author).

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Finally, The Candidate (Fig. 3), 2013 is a quiz. It uses jquery language and was published by Bayporta.com. The game has six stages, divided by months: June, July, August, September, October and November. The objective of the player/candidate is to be elected to Congress. To ensure victory, the player must raise money and choose problems so as to manage to receive the approval of different groups of voters.

Fig. 3.
figure 3

Opening screen of the newsgame. B. First phase of the campaign. C. Results of the election. (source: screens captured by the author).

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4 Methodology Adopted for Analyzing Newsgames

After selecting the newsgames, the research team played each of them, and took note of the extent of their usability and playability. The usability analysis was based on Nielsen’s usability heuristics [10]:

Visibility of the state of the system: the system always keeps users informed about what is happening by providing appropriate feedback within a reasonable time; Mapping between the system and the real world: the system speaks the user’s language using words, phrases and concepts which are familiar to him/her instead of using terms orientated towards the system; User’s freedom and control: the system provides ways for users to get out of any unexpected places in which they find themselves easily by using clearly identified “emergency exits”; Consistency and standards: these avoid users having to think about whether words, situations or different actions mean the same thing; Error prevention: where possible, this prevents the occurrence of errors; Recognizing rather than recalling: making objects, actions, and options visible; Flexibility and efficiency of use: this provides invisible accelerators for inexperienced users, which, however, allow the more experienced to accomplish tasks more quickly; Aesthetic and minimalist design: this avoids using irrelevant or rarely necessary information; Support for the user to recognize, diagnose and recover from errors: this uses simple language to describe the nature of the problem and suggests a way to solve it; Help and documentation: this provides information that can be easily found and help via a series of concrete steps that can be easily followed.

Regarding playability, the parameters sought, drawing on Preece [10], to understand the user’s experience, considering as concepts if newsgames were pleasant, fun, interesting and motivating. Also if they offered an immersive environment capable of prompting the desire to remain or continue the game. These matters were considered because, in some cases, games use a negative procedural rhetoric while the game is being played. Similarly, in the interaction with the proposed challenges, newsgames can make it impossible to win the game. The fact of not knowing this characteristic of the game or of not reaching the stage of perceiving this, can lead to the user becoming indifferent or frustrated.

Heuristic analysis and that of playability were the bases of the guidelines of the questionnaire on the test with users. Ten people between 19 and 50 years old, of whom eight were men and two were women were randomly selected. The test took place in a laboratory with one of the researchers present, whose only guidance was that the questionnaire had to be answered after each game so that by doing so only then would avoid interfering with the experience of the game. Participants played on PC computers connected to the internet and provided with a sound system, monitor, mouse and keyboard. Each user had to complete all phases of the game, and to keep to an interval of 10 min between each newsgame.

5 Heuristic Analysis of the Newsgames Iced, HeartSaver and the Candidate

Evaluating usability by means of heuristics enables the user’s relations with the product and systems to be analyzed, as well as information on particular situations of the product under observation to be gathered [11]. In this perspective, on analyzing the usability of the three genres of simulation newsgames, the interaction conditions of the games could be verified, while taking the players’ various levels of experience into account.

5.1 Iced

As to the Visibility of the State of the System, the first of Nielsen’s heuristics, the researchers found that it meets the requirement because it offers sound and visual feedback and the interface shows the player’s status and his/her location (on a map located at the top right of the screen). When detained, there could be feedback if the character goes to solitary, a mechanism indicating the passage of time. The legibility of the typography is flawed. With respect to the Mapping of the System, there are similarities with other games in relation to the logic, mechanics, and language directed to the public. The User’s Freedom and Control was considered satisfactory (the quit button is present on most screens, but on the game screen the only way to get out of it is to use the ESC key. This is not clear to a beginner player). The loading screen cannot be cancelled. You can only get out by closing the application.

In Consistency and Standards, the game is reasonable, as it displays consistency, including the visual one (as to colors, fonts, the forms of buttons). However, on some screens the Advance button appears on the bottom left and, on others, on the top right. Prevention of errors is satisfactory. When closing the application screen, there is no confirmation prompt asking if the player really wants to end the game. In Recognizing, instead of recalling, there are, at most, in-game icons which serve for scoring, this requirement being almost nonexistent. The evaluation of the Flexibility and Efficiency of use was considered poor. The only existing shortcut is ESC to exit the main screen. On the tutorial screens, for example, the screen can only be changed by mouse and not by the arrows. Nor do these screens (rules and credits) allow the player to go back. The player must go to the end of the sequence of screens to get out of any of them. This point is also classified as a lack of user control.

The heuristic of Aesthetic and Minimalist Design was classified as good: the choice of the colors, and the pleasant art style that does not interfere or hinder any moment of the game. Support for the user to recognize, diagnose and recover errors, if the point of view of the system is considered, does not have many options for loss of data. The Help and documentation is fairly complete. At several points, there are detailed explanations about how to play, and what to do with information before and during the game.

5.2 HeartSaver

The Heartsaver newsgame is relatively simple. Basically, the mechanics require the player to drag the victim of the heart attack to the nearest hospital. Visibility can be seen to be flawed because feedback is not displayed when the mouse passes over the patient icon (main action of the game). It only changes after the player drags the icon. The exact location of where to take the patient is also unclear. Sometimes, the patient can be saved, and, at others, is not, and the player does not know if he/she erred in time or location. As the game is simple and the level of interaction is low, there is little to be assessed as to the heuristic of mapping. The user has no Freedom nor control. Although the game, in practical terms, consists of only one screen, the application does not allow the player to pause or exit the game via some command or button.

As for Consistency and Standards, this is present mainly in the color pattern, shapes and typography. Prevention of errors is quite confusing. It is not clear why the player made an error, and, even after playing several times and changing the tactics of the game, not all patients can be saved. The Recognize factor instead of recalling is benefitted by applying colors, which is very efficient and smart for a type of game that requires speed. The heuristic of Flexibility and efficiency of use was considered not to exist. As for the Design, the visuals of the game are simple, but very pleasant and clear. There is no support whatsoever for the user to recognize, diagnose and recover mistakes. From the point of view of the application, there is no loss of data or errors because its structure is simple. But as a game, there is a lack of clarity and the application does not help to solve this problem. As to Help and documentation, an animated gif shows how to play. Given the ease of the task, it can be said that the instrument is sufficient. However, this is the only help that the player encounters throughout the newsgame.

5.3 The Candidate

Visibility is good. The initial step of the game provides players with outline information, thus enabling the user to choose the profile of his/her candidate for the game, and gives options regarding their electoral platforms. The questions are linked to the image of a possible voter, a public figure, a lobbyist or a journalist. There is, in the case of victory, comment on the steps undergone and main challenges after being elected. In defeat, the text comments on the possible errors of the campaign. There is sound and visual feedback which marks the phases. Background music does not contribute to the atmosphere.

The Mapping between the system and the real world is compatible with the user because the player uses clearly identifiable icons. But there is no difference of background images between the phases. Each question carries an explanatory text that gives guidance on the practices or situations that happen during elections in the United States. The user´s Freedom and control is nonexistent. There is no way to go to or back from another level if the player regrets having taken some action. The system presented error after one of the questions because the candidate did not have any more money for the campaign. Despite the Continue button, it stayed on the same level and the only alternative was to restart. The Help button does not work for this case. The analysis also applies to the heuristic of Error Prevention. There is also no Support for the player to recognize or recover errors.

It was observed with regard to Consistency and Standards that the same graphic pattern was adopted in all phases of the game, which makes playability monotonous. As to Recognizing instead of Recalling, the newsgame presents visible objects and actions, but during the stages, it is not possible to have access to numbers won over. Flexibility and efficiency of use are non-existent: there are no accelerators, the game has the same pace without balancing between the challenges. As to Design, important visual information is suppressed such as an avatar for the candidate that would make the game more interesting. The same Help button is available at all stages, but when it is opened the game field cannot be seen.

During the heuristic evaluation, the characteristics of playability could be observed. The player’s experience was observed, and consideration given to whether the newsgames were pleasant, fun, interesting and motivating. Iced, because of its visual characteristics, the feedback provided and the fact that it is played in the first person, allows greater interaction with the game. The graphical representation of the city and the prison is close to reality and is pleasing. There are five characters, two women and three men, thereby generating greater identification. The age range is 20−23 years old. They have stories and are from different countries: Haiti, Poland, India, Mexico and Japan.

A summary of the personality of each character can be read before starting the game so as to support which one to choose, thereby awakening interest in the situation of each of them. There is also the possibility of listening to them talking about themselves, in the accent of their country of origin. While the game loads, a text explains the way of life of people in the US. The same text is heard by the player. Navigation simulates the streets of a city in 3D. There are challenges - questions about immigration and deportation in the US - and extra points.

With regard to Heartsaver, it presents identical difficulties in relation to playability in different operating systems (MacOSX and Windows). Even when the hospital icon is green (indicating that it would be apt to choose it to receive a patient), the victim did not survive. The final message congratulated me on my performance, even though it was weak. There is no way to make it clear what all the decision criteria are that should be used when choosing a hospital. The use of negative procedural rhetoric makes the experience less fun because the rules are not at all clear.

Finally, The Candidate. It is considered motivating for the public it is aimed at but depending on the player it can end up generating disinterest due to the amount of text there is to read and analyze. The mechanics of point-and-click in the options (topics and answers) makes the game easy. As there is no time counter, a player can analyze the options and look for the best decisions. There is a flaw in the final screen of the game when the outcome of the election comes up. In case of victory or defeat, the candidate’s image appears, but the image in the Table which should show the figure of the opponent does not appear.

6 Testing the Newsgames with Users

The material collected during the laboratory tests enabled the analysis to be made in greater depth, thereby generating data on the users’ level of involvement in the game, usability and playability.

6.1 Iced

Of the three newsgames analyzed, the one that most stimulated users was Iced, which seemed to cause the greatest immersion and generate the most fun. The game has different levels of challenges and each wrong answer increases its degree of difficulty, because ICE agents appear who hunt for the immigrant. In the case of detention, new challenges appear. However, they are not clearly visible. A small number of test participants, 30 %, realized that the green circles on the map displayed indicated small tasks, thus increasing their score and reducing their time in prison.

Iced provided the longest game. It was played for more than 30 min, suggesting that immersion in the game environment was more effective. Of the test participants, 70 % rated the game as good and 30 % as excellent. Of the 70 % of respondents who gave an opinion on the strong points of the game, the vast majority (70 %) mentioned the good playability. Among the reasons for this were the fact that it is dynamic, fun, provides visual feedback and has movement commands that those who are not familiar with controls found easy to use. Other aspects deal with the context in which the player is inserted, which deals with illegal immigration, this being very informative and offering the possibility of choosing characters.

40 % of respondents gave responses about negative aspects in Iced. Among them, 50 % deal with the quality of the graphic representation, which they consider is average. The other 50 % indicated that the game has insufficient data (25 %) and that there is a lack of information on how to avoid getting caught by agents (25 %). It is observed that the heuristic on prevention of errors was not considered in its entirety.

Another 40 % of the respondents gave suggestions for enhancing the experience of the game: improvement in interaction with the items of the scene, making the ultimate goal clearer, improving the background of the game, since the context is the US, having access to the rules and a tutorial during the game and a prison that corresponds to character’s gender. About playing Iced, users defined it as easy (40 %), average (40 %) and difficult (20 %). In the case of Iced, there is no use of negative procedural rhetoric.

About feedback and information during the game, the level was considered good by 60 % of the respondents, satisfactory by 30 % and excellent by 10 %. The possibility of following the hunt in real time with the feedback provided by the system favors the immersion in the environment and makes it fun to play. Verbal reports of the registered players during the test expressed the emotion of trying to escape from those pursuing them, and the frustration at having been caught.

Error prevention was considered good (40 %) and satisfactory (20 %). However, 30 % considered this item was poor and 10 % that it was terrible. Playability got the grades of good (40 %), satisfactory (30 %) and excellent (30 %).

6.2 Heartsaver

In the test with Heartsaver, it was observed that the participants played more than one game in an attempt by to improve their score. A point in common between the verbalized comments was with regard to the speed of the game, which was progressive, and to the frustration at being unable to save all lives. In the evaluation of the proposed questionnaire, 10 % of participants considered the game was excellent; of the other 90 % 30 % defined the newsgame as being poor, 30 % as satisfactory and 30 % as good. When commenting on the strong points of Heartsaver, participants mentioned the visuals, playability, the speed at which feedback on who is being saved appears and the challenge of saving lives. Also cited as positive points were: encouraging decision-making and the educational message, besides comparison with other players’ scores being given. Only one of the respondents indicated that he realized that the mechanics of the game impedes all patients being saved and that if this is the main objective, the game manages to transmit this.

On the negative points of the game, it is precisely the impossibility of saving all heart attack victims that is observed: of the 60 % of participants who gave an opinion, 80 % indicated this point, while 10 % reported a lack of obstacles as a problem and 10 % found use of the mouse troublesome. On improvements, only 50 % of participants made observations: the inclusion of an enemy to make the game more exciting (10 %) and the possibility of really saving lives (10 %).

The suggestions converge for three of Nielsen’s heuristics: visibility of the status of the system: 10 % of respondents indicated that feedback should be improved when the characters are saved or die, and disappear more quickly from the game; help and documentation: a tutorial and rules of the game with the possibility of their also being accessed during the game, besides clearer information about the differences between the hospitals; aesthetic and minimalist design: because it has the form of a map, the game features a simple and informative layout. However, the suggestion of one of the participants deals precisely with offering a flashier and more attractive layout for the player, thereby increasing interactivity. 40 % found the game easy, even when they did not manage to win.

The perception on the level of feedback and information provided by the game indicated the need to improve the newsgame: 20 % considered it good, while 40 % said it was satisfactory and the other 40 % that it was poor. On prevention of errors, 50 % of the players indicated that this was poor, 20 % that it was very poor and 20 % that it was satisfactory. Since there are no clear indicators on, for example, the quality of the hospitals to which the characters are being taken, there is no way to be sure if the patient will be saved or not. Playability was considered satisfactory by 40 % of the interviewees.

6.3 The Candidate

Despite being a game of strategy for simulating the decisions to be taken during an election campaign, it appears that test participants in this newsgame found it neither fun nor interesting. Of these, 40 % consider it good; 20 % satisfactory; 20 % poor; 10 % excellent and 10 % very poor.

The strong points commented on by 70 % of participants (30 % did not give an opinion) concern having the power to take decisions freely when choosing alternatives; learning by playing, the instructive way that the political landscape is reported; the well-explained tutorial, the possibility of switching the music on and off and gender equality, since it is possible to choose candidates of both genders; understanding of the issues involved in the elections, attributions of the government and ethics; proximity to the reality of an election campaign, when presenting choices and decisions that a candidate would have to take.

On the negative points, 60 % of respondents reported: the visuals; the similarity with language tests done online; it is not fun, it does not stimulate engagement and there is no feedback; it offers few alternatives as responses; the impossibility of leaving the game and returning to the menu while playing; the objective of getting votes but not managing to please all voters. Only 30 % of the universe of test participants gave suggestions for improving the game, which included improving the visuals of the game, more options of response and being able to choose an avatar who will be the face of the politician. These three suggestions can be related to the heuristics on the system’s compatibility with the real world.

As to ease in playing, 60 % also considered the game was average. The level of information and feedback was considered satisfactory by 50 % of the interviewees, while 20 % defined them as excellent and the remaining 30 % as good, poor and very poor. The prevention of errors is indicated as good by 30 % of the respondents and 20 % consider it satisfactory. Another 30 % consider it poor and 20 % very poor. Once again, 40 % of respondents considered the playability satisfactory.

7 Conclusion

The newsgames analyzed meet the prospects of being serious games that offer some type of learning and are related to items of news and world reality. Elections, deportation and the warning about the need for immediate care in case of heart attack, with the situations that arise in each of these cases, are simulated and approximate to what happens in the real world. However, attention given to the content of the games seems to be counterpointed to the need to improve their usability and gameplay. Of the three games analyzed, only one, Iced, satisfies most of the heuristics chosen for the study and was also capable of causing test participants to feel pushed towards greater interaction, involvement and excitement.

In the evaluation of the researchers, the fact that Iced offers different levels of challenges, increases the difficulty throughout the game and offers appropriate feedback while the game is running, and is played in first person, made the experience more fun. The results found for, specifically, this game indicate that users were able to understand the situation of illegal immigrants in an experiment the meaning of which was built based on the immersion in the character and on the environment of the game.

From the results obtained we intend to investigate other newsgame genres in order to build a theoretical framework leading to enhancements in this type of game by observing the criteria of gameplay and usability in the development phases of the product.