As digital games have been used for promoting the physical well-being of the elderly in terms of physical exercise activity and rehabilitation, it is important to understand the usability of existing games for this age group. To date, there are a number of scholarly investigations into the usability of digital games for the elderly. Both commercial and non-commercial games have been evaluated with elderly users to understand the issues they encountered whilst using the gameplay. The literature review provided useful recommendations and guidelines targeting areas for improvements to usability, game design, and interaction design for consideration by future designers and developers of digital games for the elderly (Gerling & Masuch, 2011). Gerling, Livingston, Nacke et al. (2012) evaluated full-body motion-control games for elderly participants and proposed usability guidelines for the design of full-body interaction in games. Planinc, Nake, and Kampel (2013) conducted a usability study of exergames to investigate their appropriateness for the elderly. Whitlock, McLaughlin, and Allaire (2011) evaluated digital games with elderly subjects and reported specifically on aspects of usability and made recommendations for future video game design to be sensitive to the causes of elderly users’ negative experiences with games (e.g. to incorporate measures to counter adaptive difficulty). Marston (2013) proposes a series of design guidelines for designing and implementing digital game concepts for second and third-age adults based on results collected from an empirical study.
In the existing literature, researchers have proposed different usability guidelines for digital games for the elderly in general. For instance, Sáenz-de-Urturi, García Zapirain, and Méndez Zorrilla (2015) state that game tutorials that can mimic the gameplay can be useful for elderly players. According to Marin, Lawrence, Navarro et al. (2011), it’s important to provide relevant game instructions in a particular game system so that elderly players can easily follow and play the game. Regarding the game content, Law and Sun (2012) suggest that familiar game themes should be used in a particular game system so that elderly players can easily understand and follow. Rodio and Bastien (2013) also suggest using encouraging and fun contents in the game while designing digital games for the elderly. The following Table 2.1 shows selected usability guidelines suggested by the existing literature by Veloso and Costa (2016).
Table 2.1 Game Usability Guidelines (Veloso & Costa, 2016)
Usability Guidelines Application Authors
Provide game tutorials that mimic the gameplay.
Game Help Sáenz-de-Urturi, García Zapirain, and Méndez Zorrilla (2015)
Marinelli and Rogers (2014)
Provide game instructions Game Help Marin, Lawrence, Navarro et al. (2011) Use common and familiar
themes that can be understood easily
Game Content Law and Sun (2012)
Game objects follow the rules of daily life and foster the use of metaphors (e.g. avatars and scenes)
Game Content Alfadhli and Alsumait (2015)
Encourage fun Game
Experience
Rodio and Bastien (2013)
Sáenz-de-Urturi, García Zapirain, and Méndez Zorrilla (2015)
Provide positive game experience
Game Experience
Law and Sun (2012)
Design a realistic environment Game Experience
Sáenz-de-Urturi, García Zapirain, and Méndez Zorrilla (2015)
Provide a meaningful game story that supports gameplay
Game Experience
Veloso and Costa (2016)
Provide achievements and trophies for players to acquire
Reward Gavriushenko, Karilainen, and Kankaanranta (2015)
Paavilainen (2010) Give level difficulty options of
the game
Level Design Soomro, Wan Ahmad, and Sulaiman (2013)
Adjust the game challenges to the players’ skills
Level Design White, Mirza-babaei, McAllister et al. (2011)
Provide clear goals throughout play
Goal/Challenges Alfadhli and Alsumait (2015)
Marin, Lawrence, Navarro et al. (2011) Sáenz-de-Urturi, García Zapirain, and Méndez Zorrilla (2015)
Design game movements that are natural and clear and visible effects
Gameplay Alfadhli and Alsumait (2015)
Provide immediate in-game feedback
Provide information on players’ game status
Game Feedback Gavriushenko, Karilainen, and Kankaanranta (2015)
Present information/indicators relative to the players’
performance in the game
Game Feedback Gittens and Gloumeau (2015)
Motivational game design guidelines
Game Design Pyae, Luimula, and Smed (2015)
Motion-based interaction Game Interaction
Gerling, Livingston, Nacke et al. (2012)
Controller-based interaction Game Interaction
Theng, Teo, and Truc (2010)
Despite having a noticeable number of studies in this research area, Floyd, David, and Ashot (2015) point out that the design of digital game-based exercises or exergaming is a difficult intertwined challenge to efficiently and effectively combine the technical aspect of digital games and the parameters of the physical effort the technology demands of the players. Hence, it is important to enhance the understanding of exergame designs and associated players’ experiences especially for the elderly who have limited physical and functional ability due to the old age. Furthermore, the established researchers have encouraged upcoming design researchers to undertake a similar analysis to derive a more comprehensive picture of the nature of the interplay between the technical and human considerations needing to be fully taken into account when designing exergaming for the elderly. Palacio, Acosta, Cortez et al. (2017) also point out that it is important to explore and address a significant gap in terms of research on the usability perception of different digital games particularly for the elderly. Nawaz, Skjæret, Helbostad et al. (2016) state that it is unclear to which degree the usability of digital games for the elderly has been evaluated, and there is a need for a systematic approach in game development for the elderly particularly in physical game- based training. The need of more usability studies of digital games for the elderly to be undertaken is also highlighted by other researchers including Hongmei, Agama, and Prodanoff (2017), Garcia, Raffe, and Navarro (2018), Glännfjord, Hemmingsson, and Larsson Ranada (2017), and Ling, Ter Meer, Yumak et al. (2017).