Designing the Non-player Character of an Educational Adventure-game: the Role of Personality, Naturalism, and Color

The basic idea of game-based learning is the fusion of fun and learning by using the motivational potential of video games in the educational context. Thus, the design of an educational game should be adaptive not only to the learner’s cognitive abilities, but also to the individual preferences of the player. Especially the design of the non-player character (NPC) that takes the role of a teacher by providing guidance, hints, and companionship seems of crucial importance. The presented study addresses to three design question with respect to an optimal NPC-design, namely the NPC’s personality as well as the role of naturalism and color. Based on media equation and related research several hypotheses were derived. Independent variables were the NPC’s personality (funny & friendly vs. severe & unfriendly), color (black & white vs. colored design), and naturalism (naturalistic vs. comic-like appearance), resulting in a 2 x 2 x 2-design. By means of eight different NPC-versions the players had to rate and indicate which of the versions they prefer for an NPC that provides guidance and companionship in an educational adventure-game. Dependent measurements include the selection of the preferred NPC as well as an NPC-rating. The results of the used 2-tests indicate a clear preference for a colored, naturalistic NPC-design. For the NPC’s personality the pupils favor a personality that was similar to their own, indicating similarityattraction. Further results and implications for the design of educational games will be discussed.