Interface-Centric Art Games

The design of game interfaces is a decisive factor for game perception and play experience; in many cases, interfaces are tightly interwoven with the gameplay. According to Jesper Juul “it is rare to find a clear-cut border between interface and gameplay and that the fluidity of this border characterizes games in general.” Currently, input devices are regarded as “the most neglected aspect of video games.” The central argument of this article is that alterations to the interface can affect both how the game is perceived and the play experienced; this is backed by some well-known examples from the field of game arts, for example, the Giant Joystick of Mary Flennigan and the PainStation of Tilman Reiff and C. Sommerer (*) • U. Brandstatter • L. Mignonneau Interface Culture, University of Art and Design Linz, Linz, Austria e-mail: Christa.Sommerer@ufg.at; Ulrich.Brandstaetter@ufg.at; Laurent.Mignonneau@ufg.at # Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2015 R. Nakatsu et al. (eds.), Handbook of Digital Games and Entertainment Technologies, DOI 10.1007/978-981-4560-52-8_14-1 1 Volker Morawe. In both of these, a transformation of the gameplay is realized solely by altering the interface. Specifically created user interfaces have several key advantages, as they are able to transform available games into more intimate and rewarding experiences, to improve game accessibility, to put players in a ludic state of mind, and to communicate both overall game goal and some of the relevant game rules even before the game commences. These attributes are demonstrated on the basis of relevant art game installations that have been created by students and graduates of the Interface Cultures department at the University of Art and Design in Linz, Austria.