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This article defines a distinction between these similar terms and uses their definitions to describe how players emotionally engage with a game. This helps define an empathy spectrum, ranging from pity to compassion, that can be used to subjectively classify different games. To show the spectrum in use, the article discusses a variety of video games that can be placed at the spectrum\u2019s key points, before discussing how games might reach the spectrum\u2019s furthest point: compassion. The research hopes that modelling these abstract psychological concepts on this spectrum can help game designers, players and scholars better understand the range of emotional responses present in games.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412020954019","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,5]],"date-time":"2020-09-05T09:12:26Z","timestamp":1599297146000},"page":"635-659","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Developing an Empathy Spectrum for Games"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2409-5756","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adam","family":"Jerrett","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4673-6422","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter","family":"Howell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Neil","family":"Dansey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,5]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"bibr1-1555412020954019","first-page":"1","volume":"141","author":"Alonso-D\u00edaz L.","year":"2019","journal-title":"Computers & Education"},{"key":"bibr2-1555412020954019","volume-title":"Metagames: Postmodern narrative and agency in the video games of Davey Wreden","author":"Andrews R. 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