The document analyzes the usability, gameplay, and user experience of several news games. It describes the methodology for testing the games with 12 users aged 18-35. The tests examined elements like navigation, clarity of goals, difficulty, and fun. While the historical plots were engaging, the games often lacked intuitive controls, clear goals, and balancing of gameplay elements. Improving these aspects could increase player engagement and immersion in the news stories being portrayed.

1. a comparative analysis of
the genre of documentary
published in brazilian
news portals
USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMESCarla Teixeira, Breno Carvalho
Marcelo Soares, André Neves
Anthony Lins, Jarbas Agra
Valeska Martins, Gabriel Soares
Unicap | UFPE
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2015LAS VEGAS | USA

2. NEWSGAMES
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USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES
The games of this genre share similar objectives:
they seek to record an event, its space and the
parties involved, for posterity.

3. RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
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2015LAS VEGAS | USA
USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES
This article sets out to analyze the usability,
ergonomics and gameplay of the selected games.

4. The gameplay analysis guided the guidelines of
the questionnaire applied in the user tests in
which 12 people, aged from 18 to 35s, 10
males and two females, randomly selected
took part.
The test was conducted with remote
monitoring by two moderators, on PC
computers connected to the internet and
provided with a sound box, monitor, keyboard
and mouse.
Each user was asked to play an entire game,
and thus to go through all the stages of the
game and, after the game, to reply to the
questionnaire.
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
AHFEInternacional
2015LAS VEGAS | USA
USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES

6. AHFEInternacional
2015LAS VEGAS | USA
USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES
The newsgame was published in 2009 in the
online version of the magazine
Superinteressante. The language is flash and
the platform used was the web.Its plot is about
the part played by Brazilian soldiers in taking
Monte Castelo during the Second World War.

7. USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES
User's Freedom and control: the player
interacts via the mouse and keyboard. The
game says when the latter needs to be used.
Every action involves three possible options. Once
the final stage of the phase is reached, there is
no return.
Homogeneity: the same visual codes,
captions and actions to be taken by the player
are used. The environment changes according
to the phase as well as the challenges. The
contextualization contributes to
understanding the historical moment.
Gameplay: immersion in the environment
and the incentive to stay in the game,
balancing between phases and fun.

9. The game was published by the magazine
Superinteressante in 2014, on the occasion
of the 50th anniversary of the military coup
in Brazil. It is a quiz in which the player can
return to the past and chart his/her destination
according to the main events of the Brazilian
military dictatorship. The platform is web,
HTML5 is the language.
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NEWSGAMES

10. USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES
System visibility: there is an introductory
video about the context of the 1964 military
coup, the only element of the game that has
audio. There are no indications of the time
limit on playing. The feedback is clear.
Mapping between the system and the real
world: the typography, photos and narrated
situations are based on real events. The color
pattern makes clear reference to the revolution,
with a predominance of black and red.
The photos in black and white contribute
to signaling the epoch.
On the user's freedom and control: there is
no possibility of returning or restarting the
game. The user interacts exclusively through
the mouse.

11. The homogeneity of the interface is explicit
in the screens and clickable objects. Visual
identity as a whole goes back to the 60s.
USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES
The gameplay is simple as it is a quiz. One sees
the use of balancing in the gradual increase in
the complexity of the questions.
Immersion takes place because of the
involvement in real situations and the choices
based on criteria such as physical integrity,
harming someone, and helping the family.

13. The newsgame recreates one of the most
important events in southern Brazil: the battle
of the Farroupilha Revolution in Rio Grande do Sul.
Inspired by the classic "Age of Empires". It was
published in 2011. It uses a web platform and
Flash language.
USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES
Visibility of the status of the system: offers
feedback to the player. The minimap at the
bottom of the screen makes the advance of the
troops visible but can interfere with the
gameplay. Subtitles appear with the meaning
and characteristics of the soldier actioned.
Mapping between the system and the real
world: the setting is consistent with a
battlefield. It favors immersion in this regard.

14. USABILILITY AND
GAMEPLAY IN
NEWSGAMES

15. The questionnaire had ten questions,
evaluating a range of issues from the ease of
play and the effectiveness of the controls in
the tasks to the enjoyment that it provided.
The answers attributed concepts to the items
analyzed, ranging from 1 (poor) to 5
(excellent). The players were also able to
comment on the negative points of the game
and give suggestions for improving it.
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16. The navigation system ranged from
satisfactory - 33.3% -, excellent - 16.6% - and
good 16.6%. Of the players, 25% found it very
poor and 8.3% said it was bad.
The lack of clarity in the goals to be
achieved in the game is one of the main
problems raised by users.
Among the negative points raised by the
players are the lack of feedback; bugs; very
fast captions; dispersed controls, offering
little interaction between player and
newsgame; it does not show the objectives of
the game clearly.
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USABILILITY AND
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NEWSGAMES

17. AHFEInternacional
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USABILILITY AND
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NEWSGAMES
The games varied between 5 and 30 minutes.
Most players found the game easy (58.3%) and
very easy (16.6%).
The navigation system screens and game menus
were considered excellent by 50% of respondents.
The clarity of the goals was considered excellent
by 50% of respondents.
Regarding it being fun, 50% of the players
considered this was satisfactory.
The negative points include: navigation; a
limited number of choices; a lot of information
but a lack of clear goals, rules and of a plot that
grips the player.

18. AHFEInternacional
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USABILILITY AND
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NEWSGAMES
The duration of each starting varied from
four to thirty minutes.
Negative points: the navigation has little
that is intuitive; controls are dispersed and
there is little gameplay; layout, gameplay,
loading takes a long time.
On the ease of playing, 41.66% considered the
game difficult.
On the screen navigation system and the game
menu, 41.6% of the players considered it good
and 33.3% excellent.
As to the clarity of the goals, this was
assessed as good by 41.6%.
On the fun that the game provides, 58.3%
considered it good.

19. As a genre of documentary, the plot of the
games was positively evaluated among the
players who took part in the test.
The gameplay could be enhanced by using
elements that favor immersion, such as music
and sound effects.
The criterion of homogeneity in the interface
favors the ergonomics of the games and is
worked on mainly in the Newsgames Back to
1964 and the Battle of Red Clay.
What needs further exploration is to develop
more the balance and the rhythm in games of
this format, and the clear presentation of the
goals and challenges proposed, thus increasing
engagement with the fact narrated as well as
immersion in the experience.
CONCLUSION
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20. THANKS!
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