The effects of age on player behavior in educational games

Casual games attract a diverse group of players with varied needs and interests. In order to effectively tailor games to specific audiences, designers must consider the effects of demographics on player behavior. This is particularly important when developing educational games for children, since research shows that they have different design needs than adults. In this work, we develop in-depth metrics to capture demographic differences in player behavior in two educational games, Refraction and Treefrog Treasure. To learn about the effects of age on behavior, we use these metrics to analyze two player populations, children on the educational website BrainPOP and adults of the popular Flash website Kongregate. We show that BrainPOP players make more mathematical mistakes, display less strategic behavior, and are less likely to collect optional rewards than Kongregate players. Given these results, we present design suggestions for casual games that target children.