The Impact of Human-Centered Design of Game Mechanics on Feelings of Belonging

Abstract

As the population increases, the amount of different people and different cultures also expands. With that comes major problems, one of which is our strong and inevitable need for a sense of belonging to a group of people. As social beings who depend on a sense of common values and beliefs, and seek commonality, the feeling that we belong is very important. The aim of this paper is to reflect on how games can increase our sense of belonging through the human-centered design of mechanics and games. The method used to do so will be a survey conducted with people from different backgrounds and nationalities, which explores the factors that make us feel that we belong. As a result of the survey, a list of things that increase our feeling of belonging was introduced, such as coming from different cultures, yet being supported and not judged, understanding each other’s jokes, or having similar interests. The sense of belonging of the participants was also measured when they’ve lived in countries different from their own. The survey’s results allow us to pick out things that revolve around that feeling and to design game mechanics that empower the feeling of belonging between groups of people. This paper’s aim is to define such mechanics and to contribute to the impact of games on feelings of belonging. It also contributes to the debates on whether games should be recognized as a source of social support, especially since video games have grown out to be a popular medium, which connects people from all around the world and provides them the opportunity to foster connections and build skills. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.