Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Conference on Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment

INTETAIN 2014: Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment pp 81–90Cite as

Fools, Tricksters and Jokers: Categorization of Humor in Gameplay

  • Conference paper

Abstract

Humor in videogames is quite complex and rich. It pervades a range of games and can adopt many forms, from slapstick to parody to dark humor. This paper reviews and categorizes humor in the videogame space, suggesting that humor can be described through game-to-player, player-to-player, and player-to-game trajectories. Scripted humor (game-to-player) is contrasted with spontaneous humor (player-to-player) and emergent humor (player-to-game). The paper concludes by exploring how computational humor could sustain the design of humor in videogames.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   34.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Gonzales, L.: Humour 101: A brief history of video game humor, http://www.gamespot.com/features/6114407/p-2.html

  2. Meyer, J.: Humour as Double-Edged Sword: Four Functions of Humour in Communication. Communication Theory 10(3), 310–331

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dormann, C., Biddle, R.: A Review of Humour for Computer Games: Play, Laugh and More. Simulation & Gaming 40(6), 802–824 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Grönroos, A.M.: Humour in Video Games: Play, Comedy, and Mischief. Master Thesis of Art. Aalto University, Finland (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Comic Relief, http://www.giantbomb.com/comic-relief/3015-1125/

  6. Dormann, C., Boutet, M.: Incongruous Avatars and Hilarious Sidekicks: Design Patterns for Comical Game Characters. In: Proceedings of Digital Games Research Association, DIGRA (2013), http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/incongruous-avatars-and-hilarious-sidekicks-design-patterns-for-comical-game-characters/

  7. Wright, T., Boria, E., Breidenbach, P.: Creative Player Actions in FPS Online video games. Game Studies, 2(2) (2002), http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/wright/

  8. Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., Moore, R.: Alone Together? Exploring the Social Dynamics of Massively Multiplayer Online Games. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 407–416. ACM, New York (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Parkin, S.: Can Video Games ever be Funny?, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140320-are-these-video-games-funny

  10. Wade, C.: Octodad and Portal: The Two Types of Comedy Games, http://leviathyn.com/pc/2014/02/10/octodad-portal-two-types-comedy-games/

  11. Rigney, P.: Halo is Gaming’s Funniest Comedy, Even if its Maker Does not Know it, http://www.wired.com/2013/08/halo-4-as-comedy/

  12. Aarseth, E.: I Fought the Law: Transgressive Play and the Implied Player. In: Proceedings of Digital Games Research Association DIGRA (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Naylor, M.: Q&tAy: Necrophone Games Jazzpunk, http://tay.kotaku.com/q-tay-necrophone-games-jazzpunk-1530565142/

  14. Tolino, A.: Beyond Play: Analyzing Player-Generated Creations, http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4008/beyond_play_analyzing_.php

  15. Sinclair, B.: Comedy in Games no Laughing Matter, http://www.gamespot.com/articles/comedy-in-games-no-laughing-matter/1100-6253577/

  16. Ritchie, G.: Can Computers Create Humor? AI Magazine 30(3), 71–81 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Nijholt, A.: Embodied Agents: A New Impetus to Humor Research. In: Proceedings of Fools’ Day Workshop on Computational Humor, Trento, Italy (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Binsted, K., Ritchie, G.: Computational Rules for Punning Riddles. International Journal of Humor Research 10(1), 25–76 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Mihalcea, R., Strapparava, C.: Technologies that Make You Smile: Adding Humor to Text-based Applications. IEEE Intelligent Systems 21(5), 33–39 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Niewiadomski, R., Hofmann, J., Urbain, J., Platt, T., Wagner, J., Piot, B., Cakmak, H.: Laugh-Aware Virtual Agent and its Impact on User Amusement. In: Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-agent Systems, pp. 619–626 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Urbain, J., Bevacqua, E., Dutoit, T., Moinet, A., Niewiadomski, R., Pelachaud, C., Picart, B., Tilmanne, J., Wagner, J.: AVLaughterCycle: An Audiovisual Laughing Machine. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Summer Workshop on Multimodal Interfaces, pp. 79–87 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Augello, A., Saccone, G., Gaglio, S., Giovanni, P.: Humorist Bot: Bringing Computational Humour in a chat-bot system. In: Proceeding of the International Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, CISIS 2008, pp. 703–708. IEEE (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Nijholt, A.: Why and When ‘Laughing out Loud’ in Game Playing, http://eprints.eemcs.utwente.nl/21848/

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information studies, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier E. 17, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Claire Dormann

Authors
  1. Claire Dormann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Human Media Interaction, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Dennis Reidsma

  2. Creative Technology Strategy, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Insook Choi  & Robin Bargar  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

About this paper

Cite this paper

Dormann, C. (2014). Fools, Tricksters and Jokers: Categorization of Humor in Gameplay. In: Reidsma, D., Choi, I., Bargar, R. (eds) Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment. INTETAIN 2014. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 136. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08189-2_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08189-2_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08188-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08189-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation