JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Alcohol abuse is the primary cause of (public) health problems in most parts of the world. However, it is undeniable that alcohol consumption is a practice widely accepted socially in many places, even being protected by law as a cultural and historical heritage. The issue of alcohol abuse is complex and urgent and, consequently, it is necessary to create innovative approaches, such as the proposal explored in this research.

Objective:

This research explores the development and evaluation of a serious game for mobile devices (Android) to present a novel approach to address the issue of alcohol abuse.

Methods:

Development of a serious game to instill the consequences of alcohol abuse into the player through experimentation in the game. The consequences of alcohol use are represented by increasing the game speed, giving an illusion of fun, but also leading, proportionally to its abuse, to a premature death. The evaluation employs an assessment based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ). The evaluation participants belong to the university student’s house.

Results:

The general game development process is presented, including its mechanics and gameplay. The game developed in Unity3D has the style of action and adventure games, in which the player controls an indigenous avatar that can deflect or attack opponents coming his way. The game evaluation comprised an assessment based on 23 participants, aged 20 to 29. According to the AUDIT assessment, 18 reported having a low or nonexistent degree of alcohol dependence, and 5 declared an average dependence. Regarding their habit of playing games on smartphones, 9 participants declared they have this habit (H) and among the 14 that do not have this habit (NH), 3 participants declared not having a smartphone at all. The GEQ core assessment shows a higher positive affect among the participants with a habit of playing games, getting 2.80 (H), in a scale to 4.0, vs 1.61 (NH), and a higher tension as an opposite relationship of 0.81 (NH) vs 0.37(H). The overall GEQ evaluation shows the game presents more positive than negative effects to all users, besides showing the other desirable characteristics for serious games.

Conclusions:

The authors present a new way of dealing with issue of alcohol abuse through a game designed for mobile devices. It promotes an overall positive user experience, having a greater impact on users accustomed to games. The proposed game-based approach has its niche, though it is still a minority in the evaluated population. Further research would explore new game features, like new styles, to become more attractive to a wider audience, in addition to performing an in-depth study of the game playing effect.