2024
Meriläinen, Mikko; Ruotsalainen, Maria
“I've Played More Minecraft with the Kids”: Gaming and Family Dynamics in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic Book Section
In: Siuda, Piotr; Majewski, Jakub; Chmielewski, Krzysztof (Ed.): Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic, pp. 39–58, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024, ISBN: 9798765110232.
Links | Tags: COVID-19, Family dynamics, Gaming
@incollection{Meriläinen2024b,
title = {“I've Played More Minecraft with the Kids”: Gaming and Family Dynamics in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic},
author = {Mikko Meriläinen and Maria Ruotsalainen },
editor = {Piotr Siuda and Jakub Majewski and Krzysztof Chmielewski},
url = {https://trepo.tuni.fi/handle/10024/159635
https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/159635/Author_manuscript_Gaming_and_Gamers.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/gaming-and-gamers-in-times-of-pandemic-9798765110232/},
isbn = {9798765110232},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-04-08},
urldate = {2024-04-08},
booktitle = {Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic},
pages = {39–58},
publisher = {Bloomsbury Publishing},
keywords = {COVID-19, Family dynamics, Gaming},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
2022
Karhulahti, Veli-Matti; Nerg, Henri; Laitinen, Tanja; Päivinen, Antti; Chen, Yingrong
Eight Hypotheses on Technology Use and Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Bicultural Phenomenological Study of Gaming during the COVID-19 Pandemic Journal Article
In: Current Psychology, 2022, ISSN: 1046-1310.
Abstract | Links | Tags: COVID-19, Gaming, Qualitative Methods, Technology use, Wellbeing
@article{Karhulahti2022,
title = {Eight Hypotheses on Technology Use and Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Bicultural Phenomenological Study of Gaming during the COVID-19 Pandemic},
author = {Veli-Matti Karhulahti and Henri Nerg and Tanja Laitinen and Antti Päivinen and Yingrong Chen},
url = {http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202208254339},
doi = {10.1007/s12144-022-03586-x},
issn = {1046-1310},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-08-22},
urldate = {2022-08-22},
journal = {Current Psychology},
abstract = {In this nonconfirmatory qualitative study, we pursued a range of hypotheses regarding how gaming operates in the lives and psychosocial wellbeing of those who actively play videogames during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Informed by an explorative survey (N = 793), interpretive phenomenological analysis was applied to interview data from actively gaming Chinese (n = 10) and Finnish (n = 10) participants. Our findings demonstrate how the general increase of pandemic-time gaming did not manifest in all player groups, but in some life contexts gaming activity rather decreased along with reformations in subjective meaning hierarchies and values. Ultimately, eight subordinate themes were refined into testable hypotheses. The study encourages policies that promote socially supportive gaming during pandemic-like situations to consider including personally meaningful solitary play in their recommendations and highlighting context-specificity over generalization. Finally, as almost all our data points echoing experiences of decreasing gaming activity came from China, we stress the importance of culturally diverse samples in the psychological study of global phenomena.},
keywords = {COVID-19, Gaming, Qualitative Methods, Technology use, Wellbeing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this nonconfirmatory qualitative study, we pursued a range of hypotheses regarding how gaming operates in the lives and psychosocial wellbeing of those who actively play videogames during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Informed by an explorative survey (N = 793), interpretive phenomenological analysis was applied to interview data from actively gaming Chinese (n = 10) and Finnish (n = 10) participants. Our findings demonstrate how the general increase of pandemic-time gaming did not manifest in all player groups, but in some life contexts gaming activity rather decreased along with reformations in subjective meaning hierarchies and values. Ultimately, eight subordinate themes were refined into testable hypotheses. The study encourages policies that promote socially supportive gaming during pandemic-like situations to consider including personally meaningful solitary play in their recommendations and highlighting context-specificity over generalization. Finally, as almost all our data points echoing experiences of decreasing gaming activity came from China, we stress the importance of culturally diverse samples in the psychological study of global phenomena.
Meriläinen, Mikko
Pandemic Rhythms: Adults' Gaming in Finland During the Spring 2020 COVID-19 Restrictions Journal Article
In: Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. Pre-print, 2022, ISSN: 1354-8565.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Coping, COVID-19, Digital gaming, Everyday life, Family, Non-digital gaming, Rhythm analysis, Situated gaming, Thematic analysis
@article{Meriläinen2022b,
title = {Pandemic Rhythms: Adults' Gaming in Finland During the Spring 2020 COVID-19 Restrictions},
author = {Mikko Meriläinen},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202203232696},
doi = {10.1177/13548565221077582},
issn = {1354-8565},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-03-02},
journal = {Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies},
volume = {Pre-print},
abstract = {This qualitative study examines how the spring 2020 COVID-19 restriction measures impacted adults’ gaming in Finland. The study draws on a thematic analysis of qualitative data (N = 201) collected in April 2020, which is explored through the lens of Apperley’s (2010) theory of gaming rhythms. The results illuminate the ways in which gaming was situated in everyday life both during and before the COVID-19 restrictions, and how the pandemic and its associated restrictions disrupted, reinforced, and reconfigured the everyday rhythms of gaming. The situation impacted individuals and families differently, being beneficial to some and detrimental to others, contingent on other aspects of respondents’ lives. The results underline how an individual’s gaming does not happen in isolation, but takes place in the confines of everyday life, shaped by factors outside the individual’s control. Developing Apperley’s theory, the results show that gaming can be a very resilient activity, given the right circumstances.},
keywords = {Coping, COVID-19, Digital gaming, Everyday life, Family, Non-digital gaming, Rhythm analysis, Situated gaming, Thematic analysis},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This qualitative study examines how the spring 2020 COVID-19 restriction measures impacted adults’ gaming in Finland. The study draws on a thematic analysis of qualitative data (N = 201) collected in April 2020, which is explored through the lens of Apperley’s (2010) theory of gaming rhythms. The results illuminate the ways in which gaming was situated in everyday life both during and before the COVID-19 restrictions, and how the pandemic and its associated restrictions disrupted, reinforced, and reconfigured the everyday rhythms of gaming. The situation impacted individuals and families differently, being beneficial to some and detrimental to others, contingent on other aspects of respondents’ lives. The results underline how an individual’s gaming does not happen in isolation, but takes place in the confines of everyday life, shaped by factors outside the individual’s control. Developing Apperley’s theory, the results show that gaming can be a very resilient activity, given the right circumstances.
2021
Kultima, Annakaisa; Park, Solip; Kankainen, Ville; Aurava, Riikka; Piispanen, Laura; Kauppinen, Tomi
Expert-Driven (Online) Game Jams for (Game) Design Education Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons and Game Creation Events, ICGJ 2021 , pp. 64-68, ACM, 2021, ISBN: 978-1-4503-8417-9.
Abstract | Links | Tags: COVID-19, Educational game jams, Expert-driven game jams, Game design education, Game education, Jam-based learning, Online game jam, Online learning
@inproceedings{Kultima2021b,
title = {Expert-Driven (Online) Game Jams for (Game) Design Education},
author = {Annakaisa Kultima and Solip Park and Ville Kankainen and Riikka Aurava and Laura Piispanen and Tomi Kauppinen},
doi = {10.1145/3472688.3472697},
isbn = {978-1-4503-8417-9},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-08-02},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons and Game Creation Events, ICGJ 2021
},
pages = {64-68},
publisher = {ACM},
abstract = {In this paper, we explore a teaching experiment utilizing expert-driven online game jams in the context of game design education. Four online game jams were run as a part of an open lecture series on game development between March 2020 and April 2021. The lectures featured visiting experts exploring the jam themes and giving feedback on the submitted games. For the purpose of evaluating the format, we collected the experiences of the jammers and the experts in addition to observing the events. In this short paper, we concentrate only on the experiences of the experts.},
keywords = {COVID-19, Educational game jams, Expert-driven game jams, Game design education, Game education, Jam-based learning, Online game jam, Online learning},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper, we explore a teaching experiment utilizing expert-driven online game jams in the context of game design education. Four online game jams were run as a part of an open lecture series on game development between March 2020 and April 2021. The lectures featured visiting experts exploring the jam themes and giving feedback on the submitted games. For the purpose of evaluating the format, we collected the experiences of the jammers and the experts in addition to observing the events. In this short paper, we concentrate only on the experiences of the experts.
Thibault, Mattia; Baer, Manuel F.
Urban Gamification During Lockdown and Social Isolation – From the Teddy Bear Challenge to Window Expeditions Proceedings Article
In: Bujić, Mila; Koivisto, Jonna; Hamari, Juho (Ed.): Proceedings of the 5th International GamiFIN Conference Levi, Finland, April 7-9, 2021, pp. 130-139, CEUR-WS, 2021, ISBN: 1613-0073.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Borders, COVID-19, Liminal spaces, Urban gamification
@inproceedings{Thibault2021f,
title = {Urban Gamification During Lockdown and Social Isolation – From the Teddy Bear Challenge to Window Expeditions},
author = {Mattia Thibault and Manuel F. Baer},
editor = {Mila Bujić and Jonna Koivisto and Juho Hamari},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202108176587},
isbn = {1613-0073},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-07},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th International GamiFIN Conference Levi, Finland, April 7-9, 2021},
pages = {130-139},
publisher = {CEUR-WS},
abstract = {The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected many cities around the world during the spring and summer 2020 was often met with regulations requiring people to lockdown, to quarantine or to respect social distancing. Urban spaces often became off-limits and depopulated, filled with borders isolating people confined at home. Nevertheless, in these trying times new forms of urban gamification surfaced, allowing citizens to engage their surroundings playfully, to connect with others and to escape these dire situations. In this paper, we propose an overview of the many playful activities that emerged in the cities hit by the pandemic, organised according to the urban borders they engage (windows, balconies, rooftops). We then focus on how several borders can be engaged by the same play practice, through a gamified application called Window Expeditions, which aims at participatory data generation, while addressing some of the issues related to isolation and reduced mobility of its users. In the conclusions, we discuss the potential role of urban gamification during the pandemic and, in particular, its ability to comfort, connect, increase curiosity and encourage exploration.},
keywords = {Borders, COVID-19, Liminal spaces, Urban gamification},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected many cities around the world during the spring and summer 2020 was often met with regulations requiring people to lockdown, to quarantine or to respect social distancing. Urban spaces often became off-limits and depopulated, filled with borders isolating people confined at home. Nevertheless, in these trying times new forms of urban gamification surfaced, allowing citizens to engage their surroundings playfully, to connect with others and to escape these dire situations. In this paper, we propose an overview of the many playful activities that emerged in the cities hit by the pandemic, organised according to the urban borders they engage (windows, balconies, rooftops). We then focus on how several borders can be engaged by the same play practice, through a gamified application called Window Expeditions, which aims at participatory data generation, while addressing some of the issues related to isolation and reduced mobility of its users. In the conclusions, we discuss the potential role of urban gamification during the pandemic and, in particular, its ability to comfort, connect, increase curiosity and encourage exploration.