Guest Editorial: Special issue on 'Artificial Intelligence and Entertainment Science: Empathic Entertainment Technology'

Since the era of Chinook, a computer program had won its first title against Marion Tinsley in the game of draughts. While most computer program in a variety of games has been designed to be a competitive opponent, it had derailed from one of the crucial aspects of games: fosters learning. This paper proposes a paradigm shift, from the foregoing methods of optimal play to sophisticated game design in the context of learning. A new theory, called “Momentum-in-Mind” (p→) was proposed and its relationship to the Game Refinement (GR) theory was conducted where the preliminary understanding of game sophistication in the context of curiosity, uncertainty and its application to game design were identified. We applied it to two distinct game genres (fun and educational) to identify its sophisticated zone and potential learning curves. It was found that curiosity and uncertainty decrease in most educational games where a good balance between the values of GR and p→ is important in order to maintain players interest and their learning growth rate. As such, the findings of this study presents as a paradigm shift in game research, where the focus has shifted towards a sophisticated environment which optimally designed for learning and enjoyment.