Player experience and deceptive expectations of difficulty adaptation in digital games

Increasingly, digital games are including adaptive features that adjust the level of difficulty to match the skills of individual players. The intention is to improve and prolong the player experience by allowing the player to have the feeling of challenge without it being overwhelming and leading to repeated failure and frustration. Previous work has shown that player experience is indeed improved by such adaptations but also that the player experience can be improved by simply claiming such an adaptation is present even when it is not. It is therefore possible that claims about adaptations and the actual adaptations could interact and not lead to the intended outcomes for the players or worse disappoint players. This paper reports on two studies that were conducted to experimentally investigate the interaction between game adaptations and player information about adaptations on the player experience, specifically their sense of immersion in the game. For this, two games were developed using two different kinds of adaptations to adjust difficulty based on players’ performance in the game. Participants were provided with information about game adaptations independently of whether the adaptations were present. The results suggest that players felt more immersed in the game when told that the game adapts to them, regardless of whether the adaptation was present in the game or not. This effect was observed in both games despite their different adaptations and it remained prominent even during longer gaming sessions. These findings demonstrate that players’ knowledge of adaptations influences their experience independently of adaptations. In this particular context, the knowledge reinforced the experience of the adaptations. This suggests that, at least in some circumstances, developers do not need to be concerned about negative effects of telling players about in-game adaptations

Balance ninja: towards the design of digital vertigo games via galvanic vestibular stimulation

Vertigo – the momentary disruption of the stability of perception – is an intriguing game element that underlies many unique play experiences, such as spinning in circles as children to rock climbing as adults, yet vertigo is relatively unexplored when it comes to digital play. In this paper we explore the potential of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) as a game design tool for digital vertigo games. We detail the design and evaluation of a novel two player GVS game, Balance Ninja. From study observations and analysis of Balance Ninja (N=20), we present three design themes and six design strategies that can be used to aid game designers of future digital vertigo games. With this work we aim to highlight that vertigo can be a valuable digital game element that helps to expand the range of games we play

The impact of in-game advertising on brand recall and recognition within non-linear video games

Video games have changed throughout the years and new game releases have shown a shift to more non-linear video games, where players are free to choose what to do without the game forcing them to make a specific choice. This can change the effectiveness of advertisements. Recall and recognition are two variables that have been studied over the past years and are crucial to measure the successfulness in an advertisement, including advertisements integrated in a game. In-game advertising has been studied recently by researchers, with most analyzing the factors that impact recall and recognition levels. However, most studies tend to rely on extremely controlled scenarios where player action and freedom are not allowed. The purpose of this study is to test recall and recognition levels in a non-linear multiplayer video game where players can freely roam the map, almost depicting a real-life scenario. Results suggested that area population and consumer brand involvement are significant as predictors of brand recall and recognition, but advertisement size seemed insignificant. Using decision trees, individual player factors proved to have the same importance (sometimes more) as area population and involvement for predicting recall and recognition. Repetition was the most important predictor, which was measured by the number of times a player saw the advertisement fully on screen. The results are in line with previous research, but in a non-linear video game context. Businesses should be take area population into consideration when placing advertisements in games but should also think about player characteristics.Os videojogos têm sofrido alterações com o tempo e os novos lançamentos mostram uma mudança para videojogos não-lineares, ondes os jogadores têm mais liberdade de escolha no jogo. Isto pode mudar a eficácia dos anúncios no jogo. As variáveis recordação e reconhecimento têm sido estudadas durante anos e são cruciais para medir o sucesso de um anúncio, incluindo anúncios em jogos. Publicidade in-game é um tópico recentemente relevante para investigadores e muitos estudam o que impacta os níveis de recordação e reconhecimento. Contudo, muitos dos estudos tendem a contar com senários extremamente controlados em que a ação e liberdade do jogador são desautorizadas. O objetivo deste estudo é testar os níveis de recordação e reconhecimento num videojogo multiplayer não-linear onde os jogadores são livres de caminhar pelo mapa. Os nossos resultados sugerem que a população da área e o envolvimento do consumidor na marca são variáveis significantes na previsão dos níveis de recordação e reconhecimento, mas o tamanho do anúncio mostrou-se insignificante. Com árvores de decisão, os fatores individuais do jogador pareceram ser preditores tão ou mais importantes que a população da área e o envolvimento do consumidor na marca. Repetição foi o preditor mais importante, tendo sido medida pelo número de vezes um anúncio apareceu completamente no ecrã do jogador. Os nossos resultados estão de acordo com outros estudos, mas num contexto de jogo não-linear. A população da área deve ser considerada por empresas se usarem anúncios em jogos, tendo também em consideração as características dos jogadores

How to model and augment player satisfaction : a review

This is a review on approaches for modeling satisfaction perceived by users interacting with entertainment systems. Experimental studies with adult and children users of games (screen-based and physical-interactive) are outlined and the most promising approaches for augmenting player satisfaction while the game is played (i.e. in real-time) are discussed.peer-reviewe