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Dark patterns are interface designs that nudge users towards behavior that is against their best interests. Since humans are often not even aware that they are influenced by these malicious patterns, research has to identify ways to protect…
Gamification is a technological, economic, cultural, and societal development toward promoting a more game-like reality. As this emergent phenomenon has been gradually consolidated into our daily lives, especially in educational settings,…
Difficulty is one of the key drivers of player engagement and it is often one of the aspects that designers tweak most to optimise the player experience; operationalising it is, therefore, a crucial task for game development studios. A…
Data is becoming an important central point for making design decisions for most software. Game development is not an exception. As data-driven methods and systems start to populate these environments, a good question is: can we make models…
Throughout the past decade, research in HCI has identified numerous instances of dark patterns in digital interfaces. These efforts have led to a well-fostered typology describing harmful strategies users struggle to navigate. However, an…
Mobile gaming apps increasingly rely on third-party Software Development Kits SDKs for advertising, analytics, attribution, and user engagement, potentially introducing privacy exposure beyond traditional permission based risks. Existing…
Deceptive patterns, dark patterns, and manipulative user interfaces (UI) are a widely used design strategy that manipulates users to act against their own interests in pursuit of shareholder aims. These patterns may particularly affect…
The study examines how Gacha games affect gambling practices by analyzing when players start playing and how often they play and how much money they spend on games. The modified Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) serves as the research…
We introduce DarkBench, a comprehensive benchmark for detecting dark design patterns--manipulative techniques that influence user behavior--in interactions with large language models (LLMs). Our benchmark comprises 660 prompts across six…
Persuasive designs become prevalent on smartphones, and an increasing number of users report having problematic smartphone use behaviours. Persuasive designs in smartphones might be accountable for the development and reinforcement of such…
In recent years, digital games have become increasingly present in people's lives both as a leisure activity or in gamified activities of everyday life. Despite this growing presence, large-scale, data-driven analyses of video games remain…
Emerging extended reality technologies are reshaping how children play, learn, and socialize. Yet, they also present serious safety risks. Gaming, a primary form of entertainment for children, is also one of the key applications of XR.…
Toxic behavior is one of the problems most associated with the gaming community. Reports of hate speech and anti-gaming behavior are common in many online multiplayer games. Many studies address this area, focusing on players and,…
The mobile gaming industry, particularly the free-to-play sector, has been around for more than a decade, yet it still experiences rapid growth. The concept of games-as-service requires game developers to pay much more attention to…
Mobile gaming's global growth has introduced evolving monetization strategies, such as in app purchases and ads, designed to boost revenue while maintaining player engagement. However, there is limited understanding of the scope and…
Toxicity and harassment are widespread in the video-gaming context. Especially in competitive online multiplayer scenarios, gamers oftentimes send harmful messages to other players (teammates or opponents) whose consequences span from mild…
Today's largest technology corporations, especially ones with consumer-facing products such as social media platforms, use a variety of unethical and often outright illegal tactics to maintain their dominance. One tactic that has risen to…
Reflection is a critical aspect of the learning process. However, educational games tend to focus on supporting learning concepts rather than supporting reflection. While reflection occurs in educational games, the educational game design…
Strategic interactions between a group of individuals or organisations can be modelled as games played on networks, where a player's payoff depends not only on their actions but also on those of their neighbours. Inferring the network…
Dark patterns are deceptive user interfaces employed by e-commerce websites to manipulate user's behavior in a way that benefits the website, often unethically. This study investigates the detection of such dark patterns. Existing solutions…