Research

Player research, kept clear.

My academic work focuses on how players frame games and how that framing interacts with empathy to shape prosocial choices in play.
Separately, I explore games as artistic expression through small, observation-to-game studies.

Research question

How do players frame games, and how does that framing interact with empathy to shape helping and coordination in play?

Overview — past findings (anonymized)

Framing & motives.
When players adopt different frames (player-oriented vs. character-oriented), motives and strategies for in-game helping shift in systematic ways.
Empathy dimensions.
Emotional concern, perspective-taking, and personal distress relate differently to prosocial decisions depending on framing and context.
Situational context.
Content analyses of commercial titles mapped where/how prosocial events appear and how they are cued within play (frequency and cue patterns summarized).

Methods at a glance

Surveys & scales (framing, empathy, prosocial intent)
Content / situational analysis of shipped titles
Protocol / think-aloud & case observations

Now — player experience design (escape)

Applying the player research to information scaffolding—the order, amount, and form of text cues—so players can reach answers on their own and quiet coordination can emerge naturally. Notes live in Case studies.

Next — games as artistic expression

Separately from the main research theme, I explore small prototypes that translate everyday observations (signs, waiting, rhythms) into playable form. These modest mini games are archived on itch.io.

Elsewhere

Inputs / field notes (KR) → tistory
Tiny prototypes → itch.io