Publications

2024

Shields, S., & Melcer, E. (2024). “Papers, Please”. In Learning, Education & Games, Volume 4: 50 Games for Inclusion, Equity, and Justice. ETC Press.

2023

Melcer, E. F., Liebert, C. A., Shields, S., Keehl, O. G., Tsai, J.,Camacho, F., Eddington, H., Trickey, A., Lee, M., Bereknyei Merrell, S., Korndorffer Jr.,J.R., & Lin, D. T. (2023). “ENTRUST: Co-Design and Validation of a Serious Game for Assessing Clinical Decision-Making and Readiness for Entrustment”. In Software Engineering for Games in Serious Contexts – Theories, Methods, Tools, and Experiences. Springer.

2021

Grasse, K M, Melcer, E F, Kremenski, M., Junius, N., Ryan, J., &
Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2021). “Academical: A Choice-Based Interactive
Storytelling Game for Enhancing Moral Reasoning, Knowledge, and
Attitudes in Responsible Conduct of Research”. In Games and Narrative:
Theory and Practice. Springer.

Melcer, E. F. (2021). “Foundations of Alternative Controller Games
(GAME 202)”. In Teaching the Game: An interdisciplinary collection of game
course syllabi. ETC Press.

Melcer, E. F., & Isbister, K. (2021). “Learning with the Body: A Design
Framework for Embodied Learning Games and Simulations”. In Software
Engineering Perspectives in Computer Game Development. CRC Press,
Taylor & Francis Group.

2020

Melcer, E. F., & Cuerdo, M. A. M. (2020). “Death & Rebirth in Platformer
Games”. In Game User Experience and Player-Centered Design. Springer.

2026

In Press: Melcer, E. F., Chen, P., Engel, A. A., Friedman, A., Logan, D., Arnow, K., Saruni, I. S., Getachew, H., Mwachiro, M., Tsai, J., Bekele, A., Lin, D., & Liebert, C. A. (2026). “Comparing Game-Based and Virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examination Formats: Perceived Fairness and Achievement Emotions in Clinical Competency Examinations for Low- and Middle-Income Countries”. CHI PLAY.

Gan, C. Y., Chan, M., Sharma, N., Wang, S., Flynn, L., Melcer, E., Liebert, C., Lin, D. T., Parker, A. and Pratt, M. (2026). “Comparative Evaluation of Large Language Models for Surgical Case Creation“. Journal of Surgical Education, 83(9), 104034.

Lam, N., Tee, M. C., Nembhard, C. E., Son, Y. A., Anand, A., Arnow, K., Tsai, J., Peralta, F.C., Melcer, E.F., Liebert, C.A., & Lin, D. T. (2026). “Multi-Institutional Analysis of Entrust Performance With Competency-Based Surgical Education Metrics“. Journal of Surgical Education, 83(5), 103887.

Hoang, N.H., Villeneuve, J., Morrison, H., Tu, A., Karunarathna, T., Hwang, D., Chen, S., Khotchasing, K., Liang, Z., & Melcer, E. (2026). “Delivering Sleep Hygiene Interventions through Smartwatch-based Serious Sleep Games”. In Sleep Medicine, Volume 138, Supplement, 108585.

Belachew, A. G., Pratt, M., Ehsan, A. N., Alayande, B., Wilson, T., Bronk, M., Gashaw, Z. M., Ayana, B. A., Zelelew, B. E., Nega, S. and Cotter, B. (2026). “Implementation of the ENTRUST Learning and Assessment Platform for Undergraduate Medical Education: Multidisciplinary Curriculum Integration at the University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda”. East & Central African Journal of Surgery, 31(1), 99.

Ehsan, A. N., Pratt, M., Saruni, I. S., Getachew, H., Mwachiro, M., Parker, A., Melcer, E., Tsai, J., Logan, D., Arnow, K. and Miller, P. (2026). “Enhancing Usability of the ENTRUST Assessment Platform: Comparative Analysis of the 2023 and 2024 Membership Examinations of the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa”. East & Central African Journal of Surgery, 31(1), 100.

2025

Shields, S., Lafosse, C., Johnson-Bey, S., Hwang, D., Mateas, M., Wardrip-Fruin, N., & Melcer, E. (2025). “Could vs Should: Exploring Prompting Strategies and Writer Perspectives Towards LLM Assistance in Storylet Authoring“. In IEEE Transactions on Games.

Best Paper Award: Johns, M. J., Escarce Junior, M., Crosby, A., Lu, Y., Seif El-Nasr, M., Melcer, E. F., & Isbister, K. (2025). “Wildfire Games: A Community Approach to Designing Serious Games as Interventions for Wildfire Preparedness“. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 9(6), 172-202.

Liang, Z., Melcer, E., Hoang, N. H., & Khotchasing, K. (2025). “Sleep hygiene games and gamification: where are we and where are we heading?“. Frontiers in Sleep, 4, 1607117.

Wong, L. Y., Lam N., Son Y. A., Eddington H., Arnow K. D., Tsai J., Anand A., Peralta F. C., Shields S., Melcer E. F., Lin D. T., Liebert C. A. (2025). “Correlation of Performance on the ENTRUST Assessment Platform with Other Variables in Competency-Based Surgical Education“. In Journal of Surgical Education, 82(1), 103293.

2024

Liang, Z., Melcer, E., Khotchasing, K., Chen, S., Hwang, D., & Hoang, N. H. (2024). “The role of relevance in shaping perceptions of sleep hygiene games among university students: mixed methods study“. JMIR Serious Games, 12, e64063.

Liang, Z., Melcer, E., Khotchasing, K., & Hoang, N. H. (2024). “Co-design personal sleep health technology for and with university students“. Frontiers in digital health, 6, 1371808.

2023

Lee, M. C., Melcer, E. F., Merrell, S. B., Wong, L. Y., Shields, S., Eddington, H., Trickey, A. W., Tsai, J., Korndorffer Jr, J. R., Lin, D. T., & Liebert, C. A. (2023). “Usability of ENTRUST as an assessment tool for entrustable professional activities (EPAs): a mixed methods analysis“. Journal of Surgical Education, 80(11), 1693-1702.

Liebert, C. A., Melcer, E. F., Eddington, H., Trickey, A., Shields, S., Lee, M., Korndorffer Jr, J. R., Bekele, A., Wren, S. M., & Lin, D. T. (2023). “Correlation of performance on ENTRUST and traditional oral objective structured clinical examination for high-stakes assessment in the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa“. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 237(1), 117-127.

Lin, D. T., Melcer, E. F., Keehl, O., Eddington, H., Trickey, A. W., Tsai, J., Camacho, F., Merrell, S. B., Korndorffer Jr, J. & Liebert, C. A. (2023). “ENTRUST: a serious game-based virtual patient platform to assess entrustable professional activities in graduate medical education“. Journal of graduate medical education, 15(2), 228-236.

Bucchiarone, A., Cooper, K. M., Lin, D., Melcer, E. F., & Sung, K. (2023). “Games and Software Engineering: Engineering fun, inspiration, and motivation“. ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes, 48(1), 85-89.

2022

Liebert, C. A., Melcer, E. F., Keehl, O., Eddington, H., Trickey, A. W., Lee, M., Tsai, J., Camacho, F., Merrell, S. B., Korndorffer Jr, J. R., & Lin, D. T. (2022). “Validity Evidence for ENTRUST as an assessment of surgical decision-making for the inguinal hernia entrustable professional activity (EPA)“. Journal of Surgical Education, 79(6), e202-e212.

Grasse, K. M., Kreminski, M., Wardrip-Fruin, N., Mateas, M., & Melcer, E. F. (2022). “Using self-determination theory to explore enjoyment of educational interactive narrative games: A case study of academical“. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 3, 847120.

2021

Keehl, O. G., & Melcer, E. F. (2021). “Music to my ears: Developing Kanji stroke knowledge through an educational music game“. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 5(12), 83.

Liebert, C. A., Lin, D. T., Melcer, E. F., Keehl, O. G., Trickey, A., Eddington, H., Merrell, S. B., & Korndorffer Jr, J. R. (2021). “ENTRUST: A Serious Game-Based Virtual Patient Platform to Assess Entrustable Professional Activities in Surgical Education“. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 233(5), S224.

Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Camingue, J., Carstensdottir, E., & Melcer, E. F. (2021). “What is a visual novel?“. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CHI PLAY), 1-18.

2026

Zhou, H., Melcer, E., & Chiasson, S. (2026). “Game as Inquiry: A Diffractive and Experimental Approach for Games with a Message“. In Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2026.

Johns, M. J., Lai, T., Murugesh, S., Wilmot, E., Emens, Kieren, Melcer, E., & Isbister, K. (2026). “Quantifying the Impact of a Wildfire Game on Changes in “Feelings of Preparedness” for a Wildfire Evacuation”. In Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Liang, Z., Hwang, D., Khotchasing, K., & Melcer, E. F. (2026). “Unlocking Collaborative Creativity: Co-design Smartwatch-based Serious Games for Sleep Hygiene Intervention”. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Health Informatics.

2025

Shields, S., Wardrip-Fruin, N., & Melcer, E. F. (2025). “Searching Playtrace Data to Identify and Evaluate Dramatic Arcs in Game Systems“. In International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (pp. 385-395). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

Shields, S., & Melcer, E. (2025). “FighterDDA: a simulation testbed for evaluating director-based dynamic balancing“. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 401-405).

Shields, S., Withington, O., & Melcer, E. (2025). “Designer Difficulties: Visualizing the Possibility Spaces of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Systems“. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 315-325).

Shields, S., Wardrip-Fruin, N., & Melcer, E. F. (2025). “Playtrace arc search: a tool to explore and evaluate large spaces of playtrace metrics through user-defined curves“. In Proceedings of the 12th Experimental Artificial Intelligence in Games (EXAG 2025) Workshop co-located with the 21st AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE 2025), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Liang, Z., Hwang, D., Chen, S., Hoang, N. H., Khotchasing, K., & Melcer, E. F. (2025). “User Preferences for Interaction Timing in Smartwatch Sleep Hygiene Games“. In Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-17).

Johns, M. J., Hirsch, L., Lu, Y., Ho, B., Toledo, A., Lai, T., Dhandapani, K., Melcer, E. F., & Isbister, K. (2025). “A Playful Wildfire Simulation System in Two Minigames“. In Companion Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 245-252).

Patel, P., & Melcer, E. F. (2025, June). “Exploring Student Developers’ Trust, Adoption, and Usage of AI-Powered Coding Assistants for Web Accessibility Compliance“. In Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (pp. 298-301).

Shao, A. A., Maram, S. S., Matuk, C., Shirshekar, S., Carstendottir, E., Melcer, E., Sutherland, S., Seif El-Nasr, M., & Harteveld, C. (2025). “Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning with AI in an Undergraduate Research Methods Course”. In 19th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2025.

Johns, M. J., Nidam, Y., Escarce Junior, M., Hirsch, L., Lu, Y., Ho, B., Toledo, A., Seif El-Nasr, M., Collier, S., Melcer, E. F., & Isbister, K. (2025). “Translating Social Dilemmas into Gameful Designs for Wildfire Resilience“. In Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-9).

Liang, Z., Hwang, D., Chen, S., Hoang, N. H., Khotchasing, K., & Melcer, E. F. (2025). “User preferences for interaction timing in smartwatch sleep hygiene games“. In Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-17).

Liang, Z., & Melcer, E. (2025). “Fostering Knowledge Convergence: Pedagogical Value of International and Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration“. In JSEE Annual Conference International Session proceedings: international cooperation in engineering education (pp. 2-5). Tokyo: Japanese Society for Engineering Education.

2024

Johnson-Bey, S., Liao, K., Shields, S., Hwang, D., Wardrip-Fruin, N., Mateas, M., & Melcer, E. (2024). “Building visual novels with social simulation and storylets“. In International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (pp. 145-161). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

Hwang, D., & Melcer, E. (2024). “Mindfulness techniques taught through game mechanics“. In Companion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 300-305).

Choi, E. S., Xie, Y., Chen, S., Carstensdottir, E., & Melcer, E. F. (2024). “Scented Days: Exploring the Capacity of Smell Narratives“. In Companion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play(pp. 288-293).

Shields, S., Calderwood, A., Johnson-Bey, S., Wardrip-Fruin, N., Mateas, M., & Melcer, E. (2024). “Generating together: Lessons learned from developing an educational visual novel with AI collaboration“. In 2024 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

Hwang, D., & Melcer, E. F. (2024). “Exploring engagement in idle game design“. In 2024 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

Cuerdo, M., Baskaran, D., Yang, T., & Melcer, E. (2024). “(Anti) Social Challenge: Emotionally Challenging Interaction Dynamics in Multiplayer Experiences“. In 2024 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

Johnson-Bey, S., Shields, S., Wardrip-Fruin, N., & Melcer, E. (2024). “Academical: A Dynamic Interactive Narrative Game for Responsible Conduct of Research Training“. In 2024 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) (pp. 1-2). IEEE.

Shields, S., Mateas, M., & Melcer, E. (2024). “Towards Qualia-Driven Game Design“. In Conference Proceedings of DiGRA 2024 Conference: Playgrounds.

Baskaran, D., Ringland, K. E., & Melcer, E. F. (2024). “Playing Well Together with a Reward System: Understanding Player Preferences for the PS Trophy System“. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (pp. 1-4).

Cuerdo, M., Baskaran, D., & Melcer, E. (2024). “Exploring how emotional challenge and affective design in games relates to player reflection“. In Proceedings of the 19th international conference on the foundations of digital games(pp. 1-12).

Nguyen, D. V., Melcer, E. F., & Adams, D. (2024). “Exploring Gender and Racial/Ethnic Bias Against Video Game Streamers: Comparing Perceived Gameplay Skill and Viewer Engagement“. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (pp. 1-11).

Shields, S., & Melcer, E. F. (2024). “Soothing Systems: A Meditative Somaesthetic Experience“. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(pp. 1-5).

Johns, M. J., Ezenwa, E. C., Lee, S., Maiorana, T., Wood, C., Levano, J. D., Tesfay, R. A., Takami, M., Dodd, C. A., Li, M., Manning, H., Pak, R., Chen, L., Saini, R. K., Escarce, M., Hendawy, M., Seif El-Nasr, M., Melcer, E. F., & Isbister, K. (2024). “Participatory design of a serious game to improve wildfire preparedness with community residents and experts“. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-8).

Maram, S. S., Amato, A., Troiano, G. M., Sutherland, S. C., Matuk, C., Melcer, E., Carstensdottir, E., Harteveld, C., & Seif El-Nasr, M. (2024). “An Instructor’s Lens into the Role of AI in Teaching Experimental Research via Gamification“. In Proceedings of the 39th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing (pp. 98-100).

2023

Cuerdo, M. A. M., Mahajan, A., Mao, J., & Melcer, E. F. (2023). “Try again?: A macro-level taxonomy of the challenge and failure process in games“. In 2023 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

2022

Best Artifact Nomination: Shields, S., Mawhorter, R., Melcer, E., & Mateas, M. (2022). “Searching for balanced 2d brawler games: successes and failures of automated evaluation“. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 189-198).

Picho, K., Osborne, E., Camacho, F., Ouellette, A., Woodford, M., & Melcer, E. (2022). “Resilient IN: Design of an Interactive Narrative HRV-Biofeedback Game to Develop Stereotype and Social Identity Threat Resilience“. In Joint International Conference on Serious Games (pp. 84-101). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Keehl, O., Kao, D., & Melcer, E. F. (2022). “Zen Hanzi: A game for raising hanzi component awareness“. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (pp. 1-11).

Sharma, R., Melcer, E., & Kao, D. (2022). “Exploring relevance, meaningfulness, and perceived learning in entertainment games“. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2022 Conference: Bringing Worlds Together.

Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Kao, D., Ratan, R., Mousas, C., Joshi, A., & Melcer, E. F. (2022). “Audio matters too: How audial avatar customization enhances visual avatar customization“. In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-27).

2021

Grasse, K. M., Melcer, E. F., Kreminski, M., Junius, N., & Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2021). “Improving undergraduate attitudes towards responsible conduct of research through an interactive storytelling game“. In Extended abstracts of the 2021 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems(pp. 1-8).

Cuerdo, M. A. M., Mahajan, A., & Melcer, E. F. (2021). “Die-r consequences: Player experience and the design of failure through respawning mechanics“. In 2021 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) (pp. 01-08). IEEE.

Grasse, K. M., Cuerdo, M. A. M., & Melcer, E. F. (2021). “Mad Mixologist: exploring how object placement in tangible play spaces affects collaborative interaction strategies“. In 2021 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

2020

Grasse, K. M., & Melcer, E. F. (2020). “Generation: A novel fabrication game for simulating evolution and natural selection“. In Extended abstracts of the 2020 annual symposium on computer-human interaction in play (pp. 38-42).

Diez, J. D. S., & Melcer, E. F. (2020). “Cookie mania: a serious game for teaching internet cookies to high school and college students“. In Joint International Conference on Serious Games (pp. 69-77). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Cuerdo, M. A. M., & Melcer, E. F. (2020, April). ““I’ll Be Back”: A Taxonomy of Death and Rebirth in Platformer Video Games“. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).

Melcer, E. F., Ryan, J., Junius, N., Kreminski, M., Squinkifer, D., Hill, B., & Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2020). “Teaching responsible conduct of research through an interactive storytelling game“. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-10).

Camingue, J., Melcer, E. F., & Carstensdottir, E. (2020). “A (visual) novel route to learning: a taxonomy of teaching strategies in visual novels“. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games(pp. 1-13).

Exceptional Paper Award: Melcer, E. F., Grasse, K. M., Ryan, J., Junius, N., Kreminski, M., Squinkifer, D., Hill, B., & Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2020). “Getting academical: a choice-based interactive storytelling game for teaching responsible conduct of research“. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (pp. 1-12).

2019

Kreminski, M., Samuel, B., Melcer, E., & Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2019). “Evaluating AI-based games through retellings“. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 45-51).

Keehl, O., & Melcer, E. (2019). “Radical tunes: exploring the impact of music on memorization of stroke order in logographic writing systems“. In Proceedings of the 14th International conference on the foundations of digital games(pp. 1-6).

2018

Isbister, K., Márquez Segura, E., & Melcer, E. F. (2018). “Social affordances at play: Game design toward socio-technical innovation“. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-10).

Best Paper Honorable Mention Award: Melcer, E. F., & Isbister, K. (2018). “Bots & (Main) frames: exploring the impact of tangible blocks and collaborative play in an educational programming game“. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).