Social network games are popular pastime for millions of players on Facebook. Despite their popularity, qualitative research on experiences in these games has been scarce. In our study, 110 informants played 23 games on Facebook and reported their experiences using the Playful Experiences (PLEX) framework. We analyzed 110 reports containing 330 PLEX descriptions and present findings from three ...

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...

The variety and availability of casual video games presents an exciting opportunity for applications such as cognitive training. Casual games have been associated with fluid abilities such as working memory (WM) and reasoning, but the importance of these cognitive constructs in predicting performance may change across extended gameplay and vary with game structure. The current investigation exa...

CONTEXT Few studies of incarcerated women have examined potential associations between risky sexual behavior and relationship context factors; thus, little is known about the correlates of intentions to use condoms with main and casual partners in this underserved population. METHODS A sample of 221 women incarcerated in a Rhode Island Department of Corrections facility in 2002-2003 were inte...

This paper presents a study investigating cooperation between players in casual games. Although widely used in co-located or asynchronous settings, cooperative gameplay elements are not popular in networked synchronous casual games. In our study, we have analyzed different types of cooperation between players in casual games. Each of these is based on a certain cooperative game design pattern, ...

BACKGROUND Every summer, young people flock to nightlife-focused holiday resorts around the world to find casual work. Despite being exposed to hedonistic environments, often for several months, little is known about their substance use, sexual activity and health service needs over this extended amount of time abroad. METHODS A short anonymous questionnaire examining alcohol and drug use, se...

BACKGROUND Nitrite inhalants ("poppers") are peripheral vasodilators which, since the beginning of the epidemic, have been known to increase risk for acquiring HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM). However, few studies in recent years have characterized use. From 1999 to 2004, new HIV diagnoses among MSM in British Columbia increased 78%, prompting us to examine the prevalence an...

Abstract Background Sexual compulsivity (SC) and its relationship with unprotected intercourse (UI) have long been an intriguing topic, but existential meaning in the management of public health or, more precisely, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has rarely studied to date. This study examines whether SC plays a role UI among active STI patients. Method A cross-sectional was conducted tw...