TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lu, Amy Shirong
AU  - Green, Melanie C
AU  - Thompson, Debbe
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/21
TI  - Using Narrative Game Design to Increase Children’s Physical Activity: Exploratory Thematic Analysis
JO  - JMIR Serious Games
SP  - e16031
VL  - 7
IS  - 4
KW  - narrative
KW  - physical activity
KW  - active game
KW  - children
KW  - thematic analysis
AB  - Background: Physical activity is crucial for child obesity prevention and intervention. Narratives embedded in active games can increase children’s physical activity. Objective: Little is known about the narrative characteristics that would motivate children to exercise. We attempted to fill the gaps in understanding regarding narrative design for active video games. Methods: In this exploratory study, four animated narratives of different genres were professionally generated. Children (N=41) between the ages of 8 and 12 years were interviewed to identify their preferences. Sessions were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using exploratory thematic analysis. Results: Findings revealed that the children rated the dystopian science fiction story as their favorite across all weight, race, and gender groups. The physical activity-friendly narrative strategies included virtuous characters, extraordinary character actions, interesting plots, super powers, and engaging cliffhangers. Alternatively, information not related to physical activity, difficult-to-follow plot lines, passive protagonists, and repetitive narrative tropes were less appealing for physical activity. Conclusions: This research provides preliminary evidence that narratives have characteristics that may increase child physical activity when playing active games. Future empirical studies should verify and test these design principles. 
SN  - 2291-9279
UR  - http://games.jmir.org/2019/4/e16031/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/16031
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31750833
DO  - 10.2196/16031
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/16031
ER  -