Studies Show Games Can Be More Than Just Fun…

In our previous article about responsible innovation can shape children’s digital experiences, we mentioned UNICEF Innocenti’s research into 11 digital play drivers. As we create our game—World of Us—insights like these are crucial to ensuring we create a game that engages and benefits young minds.

To refresh your memory: UNICEF Innocenti is a Global Office of Research and Foresight that studies how children and young people interact with the online space and aims to inform policy and advocacy that will eventually help UNICEF and the global community protect the lives and rights of children, young people and families.

Now, onto the play drivers!

Each child is different—but we know you understand that already. But this is key to creating games. Creating games with multiple avenues to the same solution can allow children of all ages and backgrounds to play together. Children tend to thrive the most in games that address needs that real life is not able to accommodate. For example: a game where the player is able to explore across lands will capture the attention of a child of a family who may not be able to afford travel, and games with multiplayer capabilities will excite children who are seeking community and connection.

The mark of a good game is one that allows the player to explore their deeper interests and needs which are often shaped by their surroundings, including the local environment and culture.

The research led by UNICEF’s Innocenti has done a terrific job in naming the interests, needs, and desires that games can engage with through thoughtful design and engaging game mechanics.

The 11 Play Drivers
The need to explore, construct, and express identities.
The need to experience, explore, and negotiate togetherness.
The drive to master challenges, including strategic challenges and puzzles.
The need to understand and meet one’s own emotional needs.
The need for sensory stimulation, including emotion, humor, and bodily movement.
The need to exert and express control.
The desire to explore and extend ruling passions.
The desire to collect, curate, and classify.
The desire to create.
The need to empathize, tend, and nurture.
The drive to acquire and perform knowledge and skills.

By designing games with these key drivers in mind, developers are able to create experiences that foster a sense of control, offer freedom of choice, and help children achieve mastery and accomplishment. By following these principles, companies and designers can significantly contribute to children's well-being.

The World of Us game is no exception. When we look at these drivers we are able to clearly see the ways in which the world we’re creating can have the most impact. This involves ensuring safety and security, particularly when children interact with others online, and in creating engaging and stimulating play that leaves no child feeling as though they cannot join the action. We have also enhanced our game with the help of young creators providing minigame narratives and mechanics that help better represent the ways they interpret and interact with their lived experiences.

What have we learned? Not all games are created equal: different games support various aspects of well-being depending on their design. At WoU, we are determined to make an online space that not only inspires young people to play together but provides them with a digital experience unlike any other on the market.