Using emotion in games: emotional flowers

It can be argued that one of the main reasons for playing games is to achieve an emotional reaction of the player. To be surprised, happy, angry or anxious - to perceive different emotional states - is one of the main reasons to play games. The "Emotional Flowers" game harnesses the player's emotions as the primary means for the game interaction. Within the game the player's facial expression of emotion is used to control the growth of a flower. Multiple players can play "Emotional Flowers" simultaneously. The main idea is to grow the flower as fast as possible based on positive emotions like happiness and surprise. Flowers of all participants within the game are additionally displayed on an ambient display in a public area. This influences not only emotions by the user, but also has an effect on social interactions within the group of players. In this paper, we present design, implementation and evaluation of the "Emotional Flowers" game.