To anybody who has ever listened to an episode: I sincerely thank you.

We're also releasing this episode outside of our normal schedule, because there's a natural connection to an event coming up on this Tuesday, 4/4/17:

Over 190 movie theaters will run special screenings of 1984.

You should find one!

This connection will make sense if you even glance at the PC game Orwell. While not an official tie-in to 1984, it's obviously heavily inspired by that book.

You play a government employee who monitors the web and private communications for evidence of terrorism. You have frequent choices about whether or not to report chunks of information. You might wrongly imprison someone, but you might also fail to prevent a bombing.

Orwell is fun and compelling to play, mostly avoids getting preachy, and provides a unique way to think about current events. It's $9.99 on Steam, and has a free demo available.

Games Mentioned in this Episode

• Mr. Robot (featured in episode 3)
• Papers, Please (featured in episodes 7-9)

Show Notes & Links

• Killscreen's coverage of Orwell
• More info on the upcoming 1984 movie screenings

Games Mentioned in this Episode

• Oregon Trail
• Organ Trail
• Papers, Please
• Life is Strange
• Space Quest 4
• Persona 4
• The Darkness
• Telltale's Batman
• Mr. Robot (featured back in episode 3)

Show Notes & Links

• Polygon's 2014 feature on We Are Chicago
• The YouTube playthrough of We Are Chicago that Chad watched

This War of Mine drops you in the middle of a city under siege. But you're not a well-equipped well-trained super-soldier packing the latest gadgets.

You're a civilian, just trying to make it to the next morning. This is more Survivalist Sims than Call of Duty.

Developers 11 Bit Studios set out to re-create the experience of the '92-'96 siege of Sarajevo, but it's just as applicable to today's Syrian civil war.

Resources are scarce and violence is sudden and swift. You can steal from or murder others to get by, but that decision has significant mental consequences for your characters.

We found lots to appreciate in the message and basic mechanics of This War of Mine. But unfortunately the extreme difficulty, lack of a tutorial, and opaque goals hamper what might otherwise be a successful effort to raise awareness about the consequences of war on civilians and refugees.

Games Mentioned in this Episode

• Call of Duty
• The Sims
• Papers, Please
• Minecraft

Show Notes & Links

• This War of Mine's launch trailer
• Al Jazeera's recent summary of Syria's Civil War
• NPR's annotations of Trump's Executive Order on Immigration
• Survive the horrors of war as a civilian in This War of Mine, PC Gamer
• A war game that actually feels like being in a war, Polygon
• A psychologically “embedded” approach to designing games for prosocial causes, by Geoff Kaufman & Mary Flanagan, Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 2015

Games Mentioned in this episode

• The Migrant Trail (click on the game's title at the bottom of the page)
• Oregon Trail
• Voter Suppression Trail

Show Notes & Links

• The Undocumented isn't currently available to stream anywhere, but PBS has a trailer.

Games mentioned in this episode

• Oregon Trail
• The GOP Arcade's many other titles

Show Notes & Links

• Test yourself - which of the Four Frames do you see the world through?
• Gamasutra's The Making of GOP Arcade's Voter Suppression Trail
• The Effect of a persuasive social impact game on affective learning and attitude, by Dana Ruggiero, Computers in Human Behavior, 2015
• The Art of Game Design, by Jesse Schell

Show Notes & Links

• Monster Factory
• Clark, Ruth Colvin. Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2007.
• Fox, Jesse, and Jeremy N. Bailenson. "Virtual self-modeling: The effects of vicarious reinforcement and identification on exercise behaviors." Media Psychology 12, no. 1 (2009): 1-25.
• Groom, Victoria, Jeremy N. Bailenson, and Clifford Nass. "The influence of racial embodiment on racial bias in immersive virtual environments." Social Influence 4, no. 3 (2009): 231-248.
• Ruggiero, Dana. "The effect of a persuasive social impact game on affective learning and attitude." Computers in Human Behavior 45 (2015): 213-221. Doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.062.
• Woolfolk, Anita. Educational Psychology. 8th ed. Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon, 2001.
• Yee, Nick, and Jeremy N. Bailenson. "Walk a mile in digital shoes: The impact of embodied perspective-taking on the reduction of negative stereotyping in immersive virtual environments." Proceedings of PRESENCE 246 (2006): 147-156.
• Yee, Nick and Jeremy N. Bailenson. “The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior.” Human Communication Research 33 (2007): 271-290.
• Yee, Nick, Jeremy N. Bailenson, and Nicolas Ducheneaut. “The Proteus Effect: Implications of Transformed Digital Self-Representation on Online and Offline Behavior.” Communication Research 36 (2009): 285-312.

Games mentioned in this episode

• Chrono Trigger
• Secret of Mana
• Halo
• Legend of Zelda
• Spent
• Papers, Please
• Final Fantasy XV
• Final Fantasy VII
• Hearthstone
• Disgaea 4

Notes:

• Example of a 3D Mouse
• The Origin of Spacewar!, J.M. Graetz, 1981, Creative Computing Magazine
• Consolidation of Motor Memory, Krakauer & Shadmehr, 2006, Trends in Neurosciences
• A matter of time: rapid motor memory stabilization in childhood, 2014, Developmental Science, Esther Adi-Japha
• The transfer of skill from a computer game trainer to actual flight, 1992, Daniel Gopher
• Raytheon Announces Revolutionary New ‘Cockpit’ For Unmanned Aircraft
• Raytheon taps video games to pilot drones, Business Week, 2008 (cached at archive.org)
• Game Controllers Driving Drones, Nukes
• Syrian Rebels Now Have a Tank Powered by a Playstation Controller

Games mentioned in this episode

• Duck Hunt
• Spacewar!
• Wii Sports
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Tearaway: Unfolded
• Super Mario Brothers
• Space Fortress
• Asteroids
• Steel Battalion
• Battletech: Firestorm

Show Notes & Links

• Boom, Headshot! Effect of Video Game Play and Controller Type on Firing Aim and Accuracy, by Brad Bushman & Jodi Whitaker, 2014, Communication Research
• Dispute over shooter video games may kill recent paper (Retraction Watch)
• Analyses of Miscoded Data, a timeline of the investigation into the article’s data
• Origins of the “Boom, Headshot” meme
• Andrew Przybylski on Twitter
• Do violent video games play a role in shootings? (CNN)
• APA’s Resolution on Violent Video Games
• More details on replication rates of academic studies

Other games mentioned in this episode:

• Mario Kart 8
• Duck Hunt
• Resident Evil 4
• Wii Play
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Halo
• Super Scope
• Pong
• Asteroids

Show Notes & Links:

• Sean Connery’s profane comments on Nicolas Cage doing his best
• The Moderating Effects of Performance Ambiguity on the Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Performance, by Aaron Schmidt, 2010, Journal of Applied Psychology
• Self-Efficacy and Resource Allocation: Support for a Nonmonotonic, Discontinuous Model, by Jeffrey Vancouver, 2016, Journal of Applied Psychology
• Dynamics in the Self-Efficacy Performance Relationship Following Failure, by Jay Hardy III, 2014, Personality and Individual Differences

Games mentioned in this episode:

• Super Smash Brothers
• Bloodborne
• Castlevania
• Dark Souls
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Mega Man X
• Desert Bus

1. Performance Accomplishment: doing something well once means you'll feel ready to do it well again in the future.
2. Vicarious Experiences: Seeing someone you identify with perform a task successfully is encouraging.
3. Verbal Persuasion: Maybe not effective as the others, but think of an inspiring football coach speech.
4. Emotional Arousal: High levels of stress aren't so good for self confidence.

Show Notes & Links

• Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change, by Albert Bandura, 1977, Psychological Review
• Ian Bogost
• You Died: The Dark Souls Companion, by Keza Macdonald and Jason Killingsworth

Games mentioned in this episode

• Super Empire Strikes Back
• Papers, Please
• World of Warcraft
• Farmville
• Stardew Valley
• Cow Clicker
• Cookie Clicker
• King’s Field 1-4
• Demon’s Souls
• Dark Souls 1-3
• Bloodborne
• ‘Splosion Man
• Super Mario Maker

Show Notes & Links:

• National Federation of the Blind vs Target lawsuit
• ]]> “Accessibility” might bring to mind ramps, braille, and other physical world accommodations. Those are important, but the concepts extends to games and other digital media too. Sometimes it might even be a practical market share consideration: By some measurements 20% of gamers have a disability, and 8% of all men are colorblind. Making something more accessible has side benefits too - I know I’m glad to see automatic opening doors when my hands are full. Often an accessibility standard isn’t only the ethical thing to do, it’s also just good practice. Wouldn’t you like to be able to play your favorite game if you broke an arm or your vision degrades with age? But what does it mean for a game to be accessible? Games don’t usually have a legal mandate to meet accessibility standards, yet can still benefit from thinking critically about other areas’ standards might be applied. Looking mostly through the lens of accessible web standards, this episode starts with a discussion of various requirements like the ADA, WCAG 2.0, and Section 508. Then we move into applications of the standards, specifically times we’ve seen accessibility features applied well (PS4’s button mapping options) and less so (Dead Rising’s tiny text). When have you benefitted from a game being made more accessible? When have you wished developers kept that kind of thing more in mind?

  Show Notes & Links:

  • National Federation of the Blind vs Target lawsuit
  • ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-15-synthesizing-and-salvaging-discovery-learning/ Fri, 25 Nov 2016 01:46:24 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1687 Discovery Learning. In our previous two episodes, we examined the positives and negatives of discovery learning. But what’s the takeaway - is it a good or bad idea? Of course it’s more complicated than that: A combination of discovery learning and expository learning is the way to go. By providing feedback and scaffolding as students work through problems, instructors will end up with better results. Discovery learning also survives today as problem-centered learning. By opening with a description a relevant problem to frame the training, you can immediately show the relevance of what you’re talking about. Demonstrate how to solve that problem, and then have students practice responding while you give feedback. Lastly, give them their own problems to work on and provide feedback as they go. Hearthstone's introduction of the Taunt mechanic is a great example of this blended approach. Players are presented with a situation that seems unwinnable, with almost no other option than to play the Taunt card and see what it does. We also found examples in Ethan Carter, Myst, and other games.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Does Discovery-Based Instruction Enhance Learning? by Alfieri et. al, 2011, Journal of Educational Psychology
    • First Principles of Instruction by M.D. Merrill, 2002
    • Episodic Memory: A Neglected Phenomenon in the Psychology of Education, 1993, Educational Psychologist
    • Learning Instruction: Theory into Practice by Margaret Gredler, 2008
    • “A Theoretical Foundation for Discovery Learning”, By Marilla D. Svinicki, 1998, Advances in Physiology Education
    • I misremembered the talk I saw about the use of heatmaps in Halo’s level design. It was actually about Destiny, not Halo. See Jennifer Ash’s presentation UX Lessons Learned on Destiny.

    Games mentioned in this episode:

    • Ethan Carter
    • Myst
    • Hearthstone
    • Halo
    • Destiny
    • Space Quest
    ]]> Discovery Learning. In our previous two episodes, we examined the positives and negatives of discovery learning. But what’s the takeaway - is it a good or bad idea? Of course it’s more complicated than that: A combination of discovery learning and expository learning is the way to go. By providing feedback and scaffolding as students work through problems, instructors will end up with better results. Discovery learning also survives today as problem-centered learning. By opening with a description a relevant problem to frame the training, you can immediately show the relevance of what you’re talking about. Demonstrate how to solve that problem, and then have students practice responding while you give feedback. Lastly, give them their own problems to work on and provide feedback as they go. Hearthstone's introduction of the Taunt mechanic is a great example of this blended approach. Players are presented with a situation that seems unwinnable, with almost no other option than to play the Taunt card and see what it does. We also found examples in Ethan Carter, Myst, and other games.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Does Discovery-Based Instruction Enhance Learning? by Alfieri et. al, 2011, Journal of Educational Psychology
    • First Principles of Instruction by M.D. Merrill, 2002
    • Episodic Memory: A Neglected Phenomenon in the Psychology of Education, 1993, Educational Psychologist
    • Learning Instruction: Theory into Practice by Margaret Gredler, 2008
    • “A Theoretical Foundation for Discovery Learning”, By Marilla D. Svinicki, 1998, Advances in Physiology Education
    • I misremembered the talk I saw about the use of heatmaps in Halo’s level design. It was actually about Destiny, not Halo. See Jennifer Ash’s presentation UX Lessons Learned on Destiny.

    Games mentioned in this episode:

    • Ethan Carter
    • Myst
    • Hearthstone
    • Halo
    • Destiny
    • Space Quest
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-14-adventure-games-and-discovery-learning-gone-crazy/ Fri, 18 Nov 2016 01:44:40 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1686 Discovery learning remains very popular today, BUT! All is not well in the land of self-guided education. Every time the research catches up to discovery learning and starts to question how well it works, the name changes to aliases like problem-based learning, experiential learning, constructivist learning, etc. Pure discovery learning leads to frustration and misconceptions. Often all the effort of learners gets devoted to surface-level trappings instead of deeper mastery. Lots of the literature points to expository instruction as a much better alternative. Adventure games like the King’s Quest series make for perfect examples of discovery learning gone rampant. There’s unwinnable situations all over the place, and far too often they boil down to grinds of trial & error that don’t actually teach any gameplay skills. One of the articles we talk about this week concludes that “adventure games committed suicide.” Will discovery learning share that same fate? Check back next week as we tie all this together. We also have a fancy new Facebook page, where we’d love to hear about your experiences (good and bad) with discovery learning.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Last week’s episode, our introduction to discovery learning
    • Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work, by Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark, 2006, Educational Psychologist
    • Does discovery-based instruction enhance learning? by Alfieri, Brooks, Aldrich, and Tenenbaum, 2011, Journal of Educational Psychology
    • Who Killed Adventure Games?

    Games mentioned in this episode:

    • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
    • Brothers
    • Wolfenstein
    • Hyperlight Drifter
    • King’s Quest series
    • Mystery House
    • Space Quest
    • Leisure Suit Larry
    • Quest for Glory
    • Police Quest
    • Gabriel Knight
    • Hugo’s House of Horrors
    ]]> Discovery learning remains very popular today, BUT! All is not well in the land of self-guided education. Every time the research catches up to discovery learning and starts to question how well it works, the name changes to aliases like problem-based learning, experiential learning, constructivist learning, etc. Pure discovery learning leads to frustration and misconceptions. Often all the effort of learners gets devoted to surface-level trappings instead of deeper mastery. Lots of the literature points to expository instruction as a much better alternative. Adventure games like the King’s Quest series make for perfect examples of discovery learning gone rampant. There’s unwinnable situations all over the place, and far too often they boil down to grinds of trial & error that don’t actually teach any gameplay skills. One of the articles we talk about this week concludes that “adventure games committed suicide.” Will discovery learning share that same fate? Check back next week as we tie all this together. We also have a fancy new Facebook page, where we’d love to hear about your experiences (good and bad) with discovery learning.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Last week’s episode, our introduction to discovery learning
    • Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work, by Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark, 2006, Educational Psychologist
    • Does discovery-based instruction enhance learning? by Alfieri, Brooks, Aldrich, and Tenenbaum, 2011, Journal of Educational Psychology
    • Who Killed Adventure Games?

    Games mentioned in this episode:

    • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
    • Brothers
    • Wolfenstein
    • Hyperlight Drifter
    • King’s Quest series
    • Mystery House
    • Space Quest
    • Leisure Suit Larry
    • Quest for Glory
    • Police Quest
    • Gabriel Knight
    • Hugo’s House of Horrors
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-13-discovery-learning-in-the-vanishing-of-ethan-carter/ Fri, 11 Nov 2016 01:43:28 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1685 The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a 2014 all-around spooky game that doesn't hold your hand. There's even a note at the beginning stating that you're on your own. You're expected to learn as you go, figuring out not only how complex puzzles work but also sometimes the fact that you're being confronted with a puzzle at all. That approach matches up quite nicely with the theory of discovery learning. In that framework, learners are expected to figure out underlying concepts on their own, through experimentation and inductive reasoning. This week's episode opens with a discussion of expository vs discovery learning, has a mention of J.S. Bruner's wonderful term "intellectual potency," and explores the motivation provided to players in Ethan Carter. But all is not well in the world of discovery learning - check back next week for a look at the dark side of this kind of instruction.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Stanford's Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking
    • “Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations of Conceptual Domains” by De Jong and Van Joolingen, 1998, Review of Educational Research
    • J.S. Bruner (who did actually just pass away in June 2016)
    • Educational Psychology by Anita Woolfolk
    • The Act of Discovery by Bruner, 1961, Harvard Educational Review

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Halo's Chiron TL-34 teleporter-centric multiplayer level
    • Gone Home
    ]]> The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a 2014 all-around spooky game that doesn't hold your hand. There's even a note at the beginning stating that you're on your own. You're expected to learn as you go, figuring out not only how complex puzzles work but also sometimes the fact that you're being confronted with a puzzle at all. That approach matches up quite nicely with the theory of discovery learning. In that framework, learners are expected to figure out underlying concepts on their own, through experimentation and inductive reasoning. This week's episode opens with a discussion of expository vs discovery learning, has a mention of J.S. Bruner's wonderful term "intellectual potency," and explores the motivation provided to players in Ethan Carter. But all is not well in the world of discovery learning - check back next week for a look at the dark side of this kind of instruction.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Stanford's Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking
    • “Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations of Conceptual Domains” by De Jong and Van Joolingen, 1998, Review of Educational Research
    • J.S. Bruner (who did actually just pass away in June 2016)
    • Educational Psychology by Anita Woolfolk
    • The Act of Discovery by Bruner, 1961, Harvard Educational Review

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Halo's Chiron TL-34 teleporter-centric multiplayer level
    • Gone Home
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-12-user-testing-and-moral-choices-in-the-bioshock-series/ Fri, 04 Nov 2016 01:41:31 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1684 Bioshock is one of the most critically lauded games of all time. Released in 2007, today it still holds a place in Metacritic’s top 25 games ever. The game’s story, all about an underwater city that fell victim to a mix of Objectivist thinking and superpowers, is still largely hailed as an unusually mature experience among games. But does it deserve that praise? And did Bioshock: Infinite improve on anything when it showed up in 2013? This week we talk about Bioshock’s approach to moral choices (especially in comparison to Papers, Please), transferability of training, and whether or not the studio’s approach to user testing made any sense.

    Show Notes & Links

    • During recording I couldn’t remember how many Little Sisters are in the game. There are 21.
    • Bioshock on Metacritic
    • Bioshock Collection on Metacritic
    • Ken Levine’s Rolling Stone interview
    • Transfer of Training
    • The effect of a persuasive social impact game on affective learning and attitude
    • Persuasive Games, by Ian Bogost
    • Early interviews and articles about Bioshock: Infinite’s 1999 mode: Engadget | Game Informer | Irrational Games
    • How Many Test Users in a Usability Study? By Jakob Nielsen

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Bioshock 2
    • System Shock 2
    • Spec Ops: The Line
    • Metal Gear: Solid
    • Mass Effect
    • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
    • Papers, Please
    ]]> Bioshock is one of the most critically lauded games of all time. Released in 2007, today it still holds a place in Metacritic’s top 25 games ever. The game’s story, all about an underwater city that fell victim to a mix of Objectivist thinking and superpowers, is still largely hailed as an unusually mature experience among games. But does it deserve that praise? And did Bioshock: Infinite improve on anything when it showed up in 2013? This week we talk about Bioshock’s approach to moral choices (especially in comparison to Papers, Please), transferability of training, and whether or not the studio’s approach to user testing made any sense.

    Show Notes & Links

    • During recording I couldn’t remember how many Little Sisters are in the game. There are 21.
    • Bioshock on Metacritic
    • Bioshock Collection on Metacritic
    • Ken Levine’s Rolling Stone interview
    • Transfer of Training
    • The effect of a persuasive social impact game on affective learning and attitude
    • Persuasive Games, by Ian Bogost
    • Early interviews and articles about Bioshock: Infinite’s 1999 mode: Engadget | Game Informer | Irrational Games
    • How Many Test Users in a Usability Study? By Jakob Nielsen

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Bioshock 2
    • System Shock 2
    • Spec Ops: The Line
    • Metal Gear: Solid
    • Mass Effect
    • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
    • Papers, Please
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-11-metagaming-and-knowledge-management/ Fri, 28 Oct 2016 01:46:13 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1683 metagaming caught our attention. From Dungeons & Dragons to Tekken to League of Legends, tons of games can be played at a meta level. There’s so much information about games out there, and whether you take it into account can make or break your play style. It’s not always looked at kindly, but metagaming is a powerful tool. Players of card games like Netrunner have built elaborate lists of potential card combinations, and pro League of Legends players can craft complex strategies around their opponents’ known play styles. Beyond games, this has huge implications for communities of practice and knowledge management. How can companies and organizations capture the informal knowledge built up around their business processes? We found some direct tips they can take from metagaming.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Toward a Topology of Metagames (Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference)
    • Game Design Fundamentals, by Katie TekinbaÅŸ and Eric Zimmerman
    • All Work, All Play (trailer)
    • Balancing Act: How to Capture Knowledge Without Killing It (Harvard Business Review)
    • Dan Pink’s TED Talk, The Puzzle of Motivation

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Tekken 3
    • Final Fantasy 7
    • Dungeons & Dragons
    • League of Legends
    • Magic: The Gathering
    • Hearthstone
    • Netrunner
    • Shadowrun
    • Smash Brothers
    • Halo
    ]]> metagaming caught our attention. From Dungeons & Dragons to Tekken to League of Legends, tons of games can be played at a meta level. There’s so much information about games out there, and whether you take it into account can make or break your play style. It’s not always looked at kindly, but metagaming is a powerful tool. Players of card games like Netrunner have built elaborate lists of potential card combinations, and pro League of Legends players can craft complex strategies around their opponents’ known play styles. Beyond games, this has huge implications for communities of practice and knowledge management. How can companies and organizations capture the informal knowledge built up around their business processes? We found some direct tips they can take from metagaming.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Toward a Topology of Metagames (Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference)
    • Game Design Fundamentals, by Katie TekinbaÅŸ and Eric Zimmerman
    • All Work, All Play (trailer)
    • Balancing Act: How to Capture Knowledge Without Killing It (Harvard Business Review)
    • Dan Pink’s TED Talk, The Puzzle of Motivation

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Tekken 3
    • Final Fantasy 7
    • Dungeons & Dragons
    • League of Legends
    • Magic: The Gathering
    • Hearthstone
    • Netrunner
    • Shadowrun
    • Smash Brothers
    • Halo
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-10-managing-expectations-for-no-mans-sky/ Fri, 21 Oct 2016 01:33:09 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1682 No Man's Sky was one of the most hyped new games of 2016. Promotional materials and press coverage promised 18 quintillion planets to fly your spaceship to, and innumerable things to do on and around each destination. Gamers got those 18 quintillion planets on launch day, but not much else. No Man's Sky is a perfect case study in why you shouldn't inflate expectations about a product or service, but also a lesson in how not to handle the aftermath of a problematic debut. We talk about what Hello Games could have done differently and why it's crucial to set appropriate expectations for any new product or service. No Man's Sky is available for PS4 and PC. We recorded this episode at the end of September. As of this post, Hello Games is still silent about updates to No Man's Sky and has not responded to any of the game's criticism.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • No Man's Sky's ending video (spoilers, obviously)
    • Compilation of features promised by Sean Murray that aren't actually in the game
    • No Man's Sky official news updates (last updated 9/2 as of this post)
    • No Man's Sky official twitter account (last updated 8/18 as of this post)
    • No Man's Sky subreddit
    • MaddieAdder's in-game artwork
    • Sony's CEO admits problems with advance marketing for No Man's Sky

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Minecraft
    • FTL
    • Rogue
    • Crypt of the NecroDancer
    • Joe Danger
    • Excitebike
    • Elite: Dangerous
    • Journey
    • Tearaway: Unfolded
    ]]> No Man's Sky was one of the most hyped new games of 2016. Promotional materials and press coverage promised 18 quintillion planets to fly your spaceship to, and innumerable things to do on and around each destination. Gamers got those 18 quintillion planets on launch day, but not much else. No Man's Sky is a perfect case study in why you shouldn't inflate expectations about a product or service, but also a lesson in how not to handle the aftermath of a problematic debut. We talk about what Hello Games could have done differently and why it's crucial to set appropriate expectations for any new product or service. No Man's Sky is available for PS4 and PC. We recorded this episode at the end of September. As of this post, Hello Games is still silent about updates to No Man's Sky and has not responded to any of the game's criticism.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • No Man's Sky's ending video (spoilers, obviously)
    • Compilation of features promised by Sean Murray that aren't actually in the game
    • No Man's Sky official news updates (last updated 9/2 as of this post)
    • No Man's Sky official twitter account (last updated 8/18 as of this post)
    • No Man's Sky subreddit
    • MaddieAdder's in-game artwork
    • Sony's CEO admits problems with advance marketing for No Man's Sky

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Minecraft
    • FTL
    • Rogue
    • Crypt of the NecroDancer
    • Joe Danger
    • Excitebike
    • Elite: Dangerous
    • Journey
    • Tearaway: Unfolded
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-09-incentives-and-emotional-impact-in-papers-please/ Fri, 14 Oct 2016 01:23:00 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1679 Papers, Please is available on PC, Mac, Linux, and iPad. At the time we recorded this episode, the iPad version was broken and didn’t factor into our discussion.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Roger Kaufman’s Organizational Elements Model (OEM)
    • Six Sigma’s SIPOC tool
    • Bounce Rate
    • The First Hour Experience
    • Bloom’s Affective Taxonomy
    • Papers, Please’s Achievements

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Super Mario Maker
    • Super Metroid
    • Halo
    • Mass Effect
    • Knights of the Old Republic
    • Dragon Age: Origins
    ]]> Papers, Please is available on PC, Mac, Linux, and iPad. At the time we recorded this episode, the iPad version was broken and didn’t factor into our discussion.

    Show Notes & Links

    • Roger Kaufman’s Organizational Elements Model (OEM)
    • Six Sigma’s SIPOC tool
    • Bounce Rate
    • The First Hour Experience
    • Bloom’s Affective Taxonomy
    • Papers, Please’s Achievements

    Other games mentioned in this episode

    • Super Mario Maker
    • Super Metroid
    • Halo
    • Mass Effect
    • Knights of the Old Republic
    • Dragon Age: Origins
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-08-user-experience-in-papers-please/ Fri, 07 Oct 2016 01:10:45 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1678 our discussion of Papers, Please’s lessons in instructional design, this week we found the game’s interesting and sometimes counterintuitive applications of user experience and design principles. There’s friction in almost everything you do in this game, but why isn’t that annoying? And just how does Papers, Please handle abstracting analog objects into digital representations? Why did we keep playing despite such a high cognitive load? This is our second episode of a three-part series. We’ll conclude our Arstotzkan adventures next week, when we examine Papers, Please’s moral choices and emotional impact. Papers, Please is available on PC, Mac, Linux, and iPad. At the time we recorded this episode, the iPad version was broken and didn’t factor into our discussion.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • How to Game Friction for Better UX
    • Mass Effect’s terrible inventory management system
    • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
    • Reality is Broken, by Jane McGonigal
    • Affordances
    • Zotero
    • Video review of Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Mass Effect
    • No Man’s Sky
    • Betrayal at Krondor
    • Steel Battalion
    • Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor
    ]]> our discussion of Papers, Please’s lessons in instructional design, this week we found the game’s interesting and sometimes counterintuitive applications of user experience and design principles. There’s friction in almost everything you do in this game, but why isn’t that annoying? And just how does Papers, Please handle abstracting analog objects into digital representations? Why did we keep playing despite such a high cognitive load? This is our second episode of a three-part series. We’ll conclude our Arstotzkan adventures next week, when we examine Papers, Please’s moral choices and emotional impact. Papers, Please is available on PC, Mac, Linux, and iPad. At the time we recorded this episode, the iPad version was broken and didn’t factor into our discussion.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • How to Game Friction for Better UX
    • Mass Effect’s terrible inventory management system
    • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
    • Reality is Broken, by Jane McGonigal
    • Affordances
    • Zotero
    • Video review of Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Mass Effect
    • No Man’s Sky
    • Betrayal at Krondor
    • Steel Battalion
    • Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-07-instructional-design-in-papers-please/ Fri, 30 Sep 2016 01:07:16 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1677 Papers, Please players step into the shoes of a border control agent faced with increasingly byzantine rules to admit or deny entry into Glorious Arstotzka. Each game-day presents you with new restrictions on what paperwork to check. The difficulty ramps up slowly but surely, and by the end of the game you’re adeptly cross-referencing 4 or 5 documents at one time in purposely limited screen real-estate. Papers, Please somehow manages to make bureaucracy fun, in part due to a remarkably well-constructed scaffolding process that teaches players all the necessary skills and tasks. This game gave us so much to talk about that it’s the first in a three-part series. To start, this week we focused on the instructional design techniques Papers, Please uses to teach players the ins & outs of border control work. Next week we'll move on to related applications of User Experience design. Glory to Arstotzka! Papers, Please is available on PC, Mac, Linux, and iPad. At the time we recorded this episode, the iPad version was broken and didn’t factor into our discussion.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Zone of Proximal Development
    • Instructional Scaffolding
    • Task Analysis in Instructional Design

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Unsolicited
    • The Republia Times
    • QWOP
    If you liked this episode, please leave us a review on iTunes or your podcast app of choice. Did Papers, Please strike a chord with one of your past jobs? Let us know!]]> Papers, Please players step into the shoes of a border control agent faced with increasingly byzantine rules to admit or deny entry into Glorious Arstotzka. Each game-day presents you with new restrictions on what paperwork to check. The difficulty ramps up slowly but surely, and by the end of the game you’re adeptly cross-referencing 4 or 5 documents at one time in purposely limited screen real-estate. Papers, Please somehow manages to make bureaucracy fun, in part due to a remarkably well-constructed scaffolding process that teaches players all the necessary skills and tasks. This game gave us so much to talk about that it’s the first in a three-part series. To start, this week we focused on the instructional design techniques Papers, Please uses to teach players the ins & outs of border control work. Next week we'll move on to related applications of User Experience design. Glory to Arstotzka! Papers, Please is available on PC, Mac, Linux, and iPad. At the time we recorded this episode, the iPad version was broken and didn’t factor into our discussion.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Zone of Proximal Development
    • Instructional Scaffolding
    • Task Analysis in Instructional Design

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Unsolicited
    • The Republia Times
    • QWOP
    If you liked this episode, please leave us a review on iTunes or your podcast app of choice. Did Papers, Please strike a chord with one of your past jobs? Let us know!]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-06-communication-training-via-witness/ Thu, 22 Sep 2016 15:12:57 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1676 Witness, a cooperative crime-solving mystery board game, is on our minds. In Witness, each player knows different facts about the case. Gameplay revolves around whispering clues to each other in an effort to piece everything together. It’s so clearly applicable to communications training and working in cross-functional teams that Witness doesn’t just provide lessons - it might actually be useful as a game played during training.    

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Witness
    • Shut Up & Sit Down’s review of Witness

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Spaceteam
    • Space Alert
    ]]> Witness, a cooperative crime-solving mystery board game, is on our minds. In Witness, each player knows different facts about the case. Gameplay revolves around whispering clues to each other in an effort to piece everything together. It’s so clearly applicable to communications training and working in cross-functional teams that Witness doesn’t just provide lessons - it might actually be useful as a game played during training.    

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Witness
    • Shut Up & Sit Down’s review of Witness

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Spaceteam
    • Space Alert
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-05-mario-maker/ Thu, 15 Sep 2016 15:09:13 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1675 Super Mario Maker, a game for the Wii U, could probably support entire books about the approaches and design choices it reflects. It’s a complex level creator for classic side-scrolling Mario games. Anybody can use 72 different pieces in infinite combinations to build the Mario level of their dreams (or nightmares). Imagine being dumped into that playground with no structure or rules. Without guidance and constraints, figuring out how to design fun and challenging levels could easily be overwhelming. Thankfully, Nintendo caught this problem ahead of time. In this episode we specifically examine the game’s onboarding process. The way Super Mario Maker teaches players how to play has implications for getting someone up to speed in other games and elsewhere.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Super Mario Maker
    • While recording I couldn’t remember how many items there are to use in creating levels. There are 72.
    • The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Socialization - Chapter 14: “Are Organizations On Board with Best Practices Onboarding?”
    • Actionable Gamification
    • Skipping ahead in Super Mario Maker
    • Super Mario Maker manual & art book

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Skyrim
    • Oblivion
    • Fallout 3
    • Dark Souls
    If you liked this episode, please leave us a review on iTunes or your podcast app of choice. And if you've seen any other interesting ways games handle onboarding, let us know!]]> Super Mario Maker, a game for the Wii U, could probably support entire books about the approaches and design choices it reflects. It’s a complex level creator for classic side-scrolling Mario games. Anybody can use 72 different pieces in infinite combinations to build the Mario level of their dreams (or nightmares). Imagine being dumped into that playground with no structure or rules. Without guidance and constraints, figuring out how to design fun and challenging levels could easily be overwhelming. Thankfully, Nintendo caught this problem ahead of time. In this episode we specifically examine the game’s onboarding process. The way Super Mario Maker teaches players how to play has implications for getting someone up to speed in other games and elsewhere.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Super Mario Maker
    • While recording I couldn’t remember how many items there are to use in creating levels. There are 72.
    • The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Socialization - Chapter 14: “Are Organizations On Board with Best Practices Onboarding?”
    • Actionable Gamification
    • Skipping ahead in Super Mario Maker
    • Super Mario Maker manual & art book

    Other games mentioned in this episode:

    • Skyrim
    • Oblivion
    • Fallout 3
    • Dark Souls
    If you liked this episode, please leave us a review on iTunes or your podcast app of choice. And if you've seen any other interesting ways games handle onboarding, let us know!]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-04-cooperative-learning-principles-in-pandemic-legacy/ Wed, 07 Sep 2016 15:05:53 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1674 Pandemic Legacy and its applications of cooperative learning principles in this week’s shorter “lockpick" episode. Pandemic Legacy is a collaborative board game that takes a serialized approach to gameplay. Players work together to stop the spread of diseases around the world, and consequences of decisions made during one game carry forward to the next time. Pandemic and Pandemic Legacy are available wherever finer board games are sold.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • The State of Cooperative Learning in Postsecondary and Professional Settings
    • Pandemic
    • Pandemic Legacy
    • Battlestar Galactica (board game)
    • Archipelago
    • Shut Up & Sit Down's review of Pandemic
    • Shut Up & Sit Down’s review of Pandemic Legacy
    ]]> Pandemic Legacy and its applications of cooperative learning principles in this week’s shorter “lockpick" episode. Pandemic Legacy is a collaborative board game that takes a serialized approach to gameplay. Players work together to stop the spread of diseases around the world, and consequences of decisions made during one game carry forward to the next time. Pandemic and Pandemic Legacy are available wherever finer board games are sold.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • The State of Cooperative Learning in Postsecondary and Professional Settings
    • Pandemic
    • Pandemic Legacy
    • Battlestar Galactica (board game)
    • Archipelago
    • Shut Up & Sit Down's review of Pandemic
    • Shut Up & Sit Down’s review of Pandemic Legacy
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-03-experiential-learning-and-text-based-training-in-mr-robot-exfiltration/ Thu, 01 Sep 2016 15:01:35 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1673 In a smaller “lockpick" episode, we take a look at the new awkwardly named game Mr. Robot: 1.51exfiltrati0n. The game (available for iOS and Android) pretends to be a messaging app like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.

    Set in the world of the TV show Mr. Robot, you take on the role of a hacker specializing in social engineering. It’s a choose your own adventure style experience where you decide whether and how to blackmail and coerce your way into systems.

    Mr. Robot: 1.51exfiltrati0n serves as an interesting exploration into how chatbots or other text interfaces might be useful in training and experiential learning.

    Mr. Robot: 1.51exfiltrati0n is $2.99, available for both iOS and Android

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Mr. Robot
    • ARGs
    • The Beast
    • I Love Bees
    • Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte Chatbot
    • Amazon Echo
    • First Principles of Instruction, M.D. Merrill
    • Slack
    • Cognitive Load
    ]]> In a smaller “lockpick" episode, we take a look at the new awkwardly named game Mr. Robot: 1.51exfiltrati0n. The game (available for iOS and Android) pretends to be a messaging app like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.

    Set in the world of the TV show Mr. Robot, you take on the role of a hacker specializing in social engineering. It’s a choose your own adventure style experience where you decide whether and how to blackmail and coerce your way into systems.

    Mr. Robot: 1.51exfiltrati0n serves as an interesting exploration into how chatbots or other text interfaces might be useful in training and experiential learning.

    Mr. Robot: 1.51exfiltrati0n is $2.99, available for both iOS and Android

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Mr. Robot
    • ARGs
    • The Beast
    • I Love Bees
    • Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte Chatbot
    • Amazon Echo
    • First Principles of Instruction, M.D. Merrill
    • Slack
    • Cognitive Load
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-2-gone-home/ Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:52:45 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1670 on MetaCritic and the 2014 Games for Change Game of the Year. It’s also an excellent walking simulator. Gone Home is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • An Application of Bloom’s Taxonomy to the Teaching of Business Ethics
    • This American Life Episode 584: For Your Reconsideration
    • Testing Theories of Attitude Change With Online Panel Field Experiments
    • GDC 2014: Why is Gone Home a Game?
    • The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman
    ]]> on MetaCritic and the 2014 Games for Change Game of the Year. It’s also an excellent walking simulator. Gone Home is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • An Application of Bloom’s Taxonomy to the Teaching of Business Ethics
    • This American Life Episode 584: For Your Reconsideration
    • Testing Theories of Attitude Change With Online Panel Field Experiments
    • GDC 2014: Why is Gone Home a Game?
    • The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/podcast/episode-1-life-is-strange/ Mon, 08 Aug 2016 02:17:44 +0000 https://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/?post_type=podcast&p=1669 is free to play on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Steam.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Cathy Moore's Training Scenarios
    • Building Expertise, by Ruth C. Clark
    • Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain
    • Elizabeth Loftus' work
    • Don't Make Me Think, by Steve Krug
    ]]> is free to play on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Steam.

    Show Notes & Links:

    • Cathy Moore's Training Scenarios
    • Building Expertise, by Ruth C. Clark
    • Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain
    • Elizabeth Loftus' work
    • Don't Make Me Think, by Steve Krug
    ]]> clean no 0:00 No no