This research will assess the effectiveness of a social game as a lifestyle change intervention. The game will employ known effective game mechanics from casual games and features from online social networking in order to enable players to leverage their social network to meet individual and/or group wellness goals. This study aims to advance theory and practice through the evaluation of the following key methods, measures, and outcomes.

The study will:

• Empower adults to meet their lifestyle change goals, independent of their gender and generation characteristics, using a combination of social games for web and mobile platforms. We will assess effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages of a new game as a supplement to an established group intervention.
• Investigate the feasibility of a cross-gender, intergenerational social mobile game for lifestyle change and ways in which players respond socially to the game play  experience. We will capture social network expansion paths, diffusion methods and patterns, and platform preference (cell phone vs. web).
• Assess the effectiveness of common social game reward mechanisms for initiating and sustaining healthy behaviors. We will survey the suitability of common social game mechanics and features within a health behavior modification program.

Participants will be invited to participate regardless of their desire to initiate or sustain physical activity in support of overall wellness, and/or in support of chronic illness management (e.g., hypertension, diabetes) and will be enrolled through the USC Center for Work and Family Life (CWFL) wellness program. We will be using a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis to conduct research to assess the effectiveness of mobile social games in lifestyle change health behavior modification programs.

We are developing Wellness Partners (WP), a networked activity diary and casual game for web browsers with optional mobile phone access. WP is a character-driven social game that uses elements from virtual pets (e.g., Tamagotchi), role-playing games (RPG) (e.g., Maple Story), and online social networking tools (e.g., IM, MySpace, Flickr) to motivate real-world wellness through a quest or goal model linked to a player support system that consists of family members, domestic partners and/or friends. There is no similar game in the market that could be used or modified to fit the aims of this study. We selected a relatively easy and inexpensive development platform (Adobe Flash, PHP/mySQL) and planned for a limited game design scope. The game is a networked single player experience, but in addition to the game character, players can enlist members of their social network as partners or helpers, to function as sources of encouragement, community, and support. The WP character is a fictional creature, (e.g., Pokemon) that can offer encouragement, reminders, progress checking, and communication with other WP characters. It becomes both the face of the game and an alter ego for the player. Study of individual and group game play experiences will help us gain a deeper understanding of fundamental social, emotional, and cognitive processing as they relate to health communication and related behavior changes. Players are rewarded with new character abilities, attributes, and props in the game space for completing goals and helping others.

In partnership with USC’s Center for Work and Family Life.