Feedback Mechanisms in Human-Computer Interaction Serious Games

The use of serious games (SGs) as a learning tool in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) supports teaching concepts from the area through entertainment. The feedback mechanisms assist in keeping the user informed about what is happening, and on alert, regarding decision making. To ensure that the player always receives adequate feedback, it is important to evaluate the employability of these mechanisms by employing well-defined evaluation criteria that characterize which feedback should be conveyed to the player. This paper aims to investigate feedback mechanisms in HCI SGs by evaluating a set of SGs. Such an evaluation was conducted by matching the concepts of different feedback mechanisms and evaluation criteria involving feedback. The evaluation results indicate that all the evaluated SGs present at least the "immediate feedback on my actions" mechanism in their dynamics.