Exploring the Potential of Disengagement-Friendly Game Design to Support Children's Exit from Play Sessions

Disengagement from games is challenging for children, and can lead to family conflict. While parental mediation is well-understood, the role of game design in supporting children’s disengagement remains underexplored. Our work addresses this gap through a qualitative study with 39 participants (22 children aged 4-11 and 17 parents), in which children played "Snarky’s Adventure", a prototype featuring disengagement-friendly mechanics supporting player understanding of progress, and the experience of satisfaction and closure at the end of play. Through Qualitative Content Analysis, we show that the features help children anticipate the end of play, but in some cases spark curiosity and the desire to re-engage. Additionally, while parents valued the mechanics to understand game progress, future work should explore how to actively engage them in children’s disengagement. Our work provides the first empirical exploration of disengagement-friendly game mechanics, and outlines challenges and opportunities for their future integration in children’s games.