Social network games in an ageing society: Co-designing online games with adults aged 50 and over

Game design demands a comprehensive understanding of the audience. Although recent developments in the video game industry have heightened the need to involve players in the design process, the research to date has tended to focus on participatory design with children rather than older adults. Moreover, due to the lack of information regarding gamers´ social context and their experiences, there has been little agreement on whether video games with a multiplayer dimension are suitable for this age group. Through online and face-to-face group workshops with five experienced and five novice gamers aged 50 and over, we discuss the potential of social network games for older adults and the main game design components, which can encourage them to play. The results of this study suggest that a player versus environment (PvE) mode is preferred to player versus player (PvP) games and that collaboration between players should be prioritized over competition. This target also seems to prefer off-game communication tools to extend their virtual relationships.