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Hi! I am Luiz Cláudio Silveira Duarte. In this site, you will find pages on several of my activities — professional, academic, and personal.

I have a master's degree in Design (2015). In my dissertation, I presented a proposal for an ontological framework for games, using distinctive features (DFs), a concept borrowed from Linguistics.

My current research expands on my dissertation, following two interrelated branches: further uses of the DF framework, and exploring whether other concepts from Linguistics may be relevant in Game Studies.

Distinctive Features and Game Design (2017)

This article was published in Elsevier's Entertainment Computing. In it, I presented the DF framework, showing its chronological development and refinement. I discussed both the empirical data collected during research, and the theoretical underpinnings of the DF framework, and concluded presenting some ideas for further research. This article was an expanded version of two articles from 2015 (see below).

Distinctive Features and Game Design and Cooperation in Board Games (2015)

These two articles were presented to SBGames XIV (2015 Brazilian Symposium on Digital Games and Entertainment, organized by the Brazilian Computation Society). The first one presents a summary of the DF framework, and the developments and refinements since the previous year. In the second article, I discussed the empirical research from which several of the model refinements were derived. The research focused on DFs linked to the cooperative dynamics in board games.

Revisiting the MDA framework (2015)

This is a Gamasutra blog post. Here, I discussed the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics) theoretical framework (proposed by Hunicke, LeBlanc and Zubeck in 2004), noting some of its limitations with regard to board games.

The modification to MDA that I presented here arose from the discussions of my master's dissertation, and it is an important part of the theoretical foundations for the DF framework.

Distinctive Features in Games (2014)

This article was submitted to SBGames XIII (2014 Brazilian Symposium on Digital Games and Entertainment, organized by the Brazilian Computation Society). It dealt with the theoretical foundations of the DF framework, as pertaining to Game Studies. The framework would be fully developed in my master's dissertation, which I presented a few months later.

This article was selected as one of the three best articles in the Arts & Design track of SBGames XIII.

Education and training

2015 Master's degree in Design. Federal University of Paraná (UFPR, Curitiba, Brazil). Courses on Information Systems Design, User-centered Design, Human-Computer Interfaces, Digital Entertainment. All grades A, except for Information Systems Design (B). Master’s dissertation grade also A.

1997-1998 Postgraduate course in History of International Relations (unfinished) University of Brasília (UnB, Brasília, Brazil)

1987-1991 Bachelor’s degree in Law University of Brasília (UnB, Brasília, Brazil)

1982-1987 Undergraduate course in Computer Science (unfinished) University of Brasília (UnB, Brasília, Brazil)

Work experience

since 2016 Technical editor for Gradus – Revista Brasileira de Fonologia de Laboratório.

2016-2018 General editor for Acta Ludica – International Journal of Game Studies.

1993-2010 Federal Senate of Brazil: Senior legislative aide in the fields of National Security and Criminal Law

1998-1999 University of Brasília: Substitute lecturer in Ancient History and World History

1987-1993 Federal government of Brazil: Computer programmer (High Military Court, Foreign Ministry, Ministry for Agrarian Reform)

My Lattes CV (in Portuguese) may be found at http://lattes.cnpq.br/5582052937920160.

My Boardgamegeek profile may be found at https://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/lclaudius.

Olá! Eu sou Luiz Cláudio Silveira Duarte. Nestas páginas, você encontrará informações sobre várias das minhas atividades — profissionais, acadêmicas e pessoais.

Sou mestre em Design (2015). Em minha dissertação, apresentei a proposta de uma estrutura ontológica para jogos, usando traços distintivos (DFs, ou distinctive features), um conceito que tomei emprestado da Linguística.

Minha pesquisa atual amplia esta proposta, seguindo dois caminhos conexos: novos usos da estrutura de DFs, e explorar o uso de outros conceitos da Linguística para o estudo dos jogos.

Meu curriculum Lattes pode ser encontrado em http://lattes.cnpq.br/5582052937920160.

Meu perfil do Boardgamegeek pode ser encontrado em https://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/lclaudius.