Abstract

This thesis presents a more useful visualization and filtering system for the Gameplay
Design Patterns Wiki, the most extensive and up to date collection of gameplay
design patterns. The aim of this research is to understand if an improvement can
be made to the understanding of the wiki without changing the wiki’s content. To
do this a study is conducted, resulting in the discovery of common game design
and analysis tasks which require external information and these form the basis for
requirements for the more useful visualization and filtering system.
The system GDPVis is designed and implemented as an open-source in-browser
single-page application which acts as a visualization and filtering system for information found in the Gameplay Design Patterns wiki. GDPVis incorporates node-link
diagrams to display the relationships between patterns, and a node-based visual filtering system allowing for a fine level of control and granularity of the games or
patterns collection being displayed.
GDPVis is evaluated against the original wiki in two studies, which result in the
system showing promise for being more useful (more time efficient to use, easier to
use, more engaging to use, and more satisfying to use) in many specific scenarios, as
well as generally for teaching students about gameplay design patterns.