Challenge in Digital Games: Towards Developing a Measurement Tool

Challenge is arguably the most important experience that players seek in digital games. However, without a measure of how challenged players feel during the act of play, it is hard to design games that are neither too easy nor too hard and, therefore, truly enjoyable. Especially in industry, challenge is dominantly assessed by means of manual play testing in ad-hoc trials. The aim of this research is to create a more systematic, complete, and reliable instrument to evaluate the level of players' experienced challenge in games in the form of a questionnaire. This paper presents the key results from an extensive literature survey which will inform further development. We survey definitions of challenge, challenge types, and their relation to player experience based on the observations of game designers. We furthermore draw from empirical findings in a diverse range of fields such as game studies, human-computer interaction (HCI) and artificial intelligence (AI)

A Palette of Deepened Emotions: Exploring Emotional Challenge in Virtual Reality Games

Recent work introduced the notion of ‘emotional challenge’promising for understanding more unique and diverse player experiences (PX). Although emotional challenge has immediately attracted HCI researchers’ attention, the concept has not been experimentally explored, especially in virtual reality (VR), one of the latest gaming environments. We conducted two experiments to investigate how emotional challenge affects PX when separately from or jointly with conventional challenge in VR and PC conditions. We found that relatively exclusive emotional challenge induced a wider range of different emotions in both conditions, while the adding of emotional challenge broadened emotional responses only in VR. In both experiments, VR significantly enhanced the measured PX of emotional responses, appreciation, immersion and presence. Our findings indicate that VR may be an ideal medium to present emotional challenge and also extend the understanding of emotional (and conventional) challenge in video games

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

InterFlowCeption: Foundations for Technological Enhancement of Interoception to Foster Flow States during Mental Work: About the potential of technologically supported body awareness to promote flow experiences during mental work

Conducting mental work by interacting with digital technology increases productivity, but strains attentional capacities and mental well-being. In consequence, many mental workers try to cultivate their fow experience. However, this is complex and difcult to achieve. Nevertheless, current technological systems do not yet provide this support in mental work. As interoception, the individual bodily awareness is an underlying mechanism of numerous fow correlates, it might ofer a new approach for fow-supporting systems in these scenarios. Results from a survey study with 176 digital workers show that adaptive regulation of interoceptive sensations correlates with higher levels of fow and engagement. Additionally, regular mindfulness practices improved workers’ adaptive regulation of bodily signals. Based on these results and integrating the current literature, this work conceptualizes three future technological support systems, such as interoceptive biofeedback, and electrical or auditory stimulation to enhance interoceptive awareness and foster fow in mental work

Measuring perceived challenge in digital games: Development & validation of the challenge originating from recent gameplay interaction scale (CORGIS)

Challenge is a key element of digital games, but a clear conceptualisation and operationalisation of this player experience were long missing. This made it hard for game researchers to measure this experience in different video games across different skill sets and impeded the synthesis of challenge-related games research. To overcome this, we introduce a systematic, extensive, and reliable instrument to evaluate the level of players’ perceived challenge in digital games. We conceptualise challenge based on a survey of related literature in games user research, design and AI, as well as interviews with researchers and players. Exploratory factor analysis (N=394) highlights four components of experienced challenge: performative, emotional, cognitive and decision-making challenge. Refinement of the items allowed us to devise the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS), which has been further validated in a study with nearly 1000 players. The questionnaire exhibits good construct validity for use by both game developers and researchers to quantify players’ challenge experiences

Metacognitions of Flow Experience: Towards an Understanding of the Self-Regulation of Optimal Experience

Flow has been described as a state of cognitive efficiency and intrinsic enjoyment, whereby a person feels at one with the activity. The existence of an autotelic personality’, an inter-individual difference dimension characterised by the propensity with which a person experiences flow, has been proposed, but the construct has proven to be relatively elusive. The overall aim of this PhD dissertation was to advance flow theory, and in particular enhance the knowledge of individual differences in flow experiences by the investigation of a new construct, flow metacognitions. Flow metacognitions were defined as people’s metacognitive knowledge and beliefs on flow as a state of optimal cognitive functioning. Building upon the concepts of adaptive and maladaptive metacognitions (Beer & Moneta, 2010; Wells, 2000) that were found to impact self-regulation efforts during demanding situations, it was postulated that people would also hold metacognitions on flow, a cognitive state of deep absorption usually elicited by a demanding activity. However, to date, flow metacognitions had not been defined, measured, or tested for their relevance in the context of flow experiences (or in other contexts of optimal experience). This dissertation presents four studies that were conducted to identify flow metacognitions, comprising the development and validation of a self-report questionnaire to measure them validly and reliably, as well as the examination of the scientific relevance of the operationalised constructs. Preliminary instances of potential flow metacognitions were identified in qualitative analyses, whereby the qualitative content of Flow Questionnaires (FQ, Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988) administered to a sample of 371 workers was analysed. In addition, semi-structured interviews with 12 workers were held about their experiences of flow in work (Study 1, Chapter 2). From these analyses, two broad metacognitions emerged: people’s beliefs in the ‘usefulness’ of being in flow, and individual differences in their beliefs and confidence in the self-regulation of flow experiences. Based on the metacognitive constructs identified in the qualitative analyses, a 53-item pilot Flow Metacognitions Questionnaire (FMQ) was developed and tested on a sample of 204 UK students. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a two-component solution, with item reduction procedures leading to a 12-item scale. Subsequent principal component analysis on the same sample confirmed that the 12 items loaded onto two main components: Beliefs that Flow Fosters Achievement (FMQ-1) and Confidence in Ability to Self-Regulate Flow (FMQ-2). The subscales explained a total of 52.4% of the variance; 28.3% for FMQ-1; and 24.1% for FMQ-2 (Study 2, Chapter 4). Confirmatory factor analysis performed on the data of a sample of 159 workers supported the two subscales of the final 12-item FMQ. After gathering evidence of the construct validity, the FMQ was used to test the impact of flow metacognitions on the frequency (measured by the FQ), and the intensity of people’s flow experiences, as measured by three well-established flow scales (the Short Dispositional Flow Scale-2, Jackson, Martin, & Eklund, 2008; the Flow Short Scale; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, & Engeser, 2003; and the Short Flow in Work Scale, Moneta, 2012a). Flow was measured as a general disposition in the context of work. Analyses controlled for maladaptive metacognitions (MetaCognitions Questionnaire, Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004), and adaptive metacognitions (Positive Metacognitions and Meta-Emotions Questionnaire, Beer & Moneta, 2010). Confidence in Ability to Self-Regulate Flow (FMQ-2) was found to be a significant predictor of the intensity and frequency of flow experiences in work, and outperformed established measures of flow, adaptive, and maladaptive metacognition. The results indicated a positive relationship between people’s confidence in self-regulating flow experiences and work-flow. Interestingly, people’s beliefs about the positive consequences of flow in terms of achievement did not predict flow in work (Study 3, Chapter 5). These findings supported the predictive and concurrent validity of the FMQ-2. Building upon these correlational findings, a longitudinal study was conducted in order to identify potential causal mechanisms between flow metacognitions and flow at work. A sample of 101 professionals took part in a two-wave longitudinal study by completing the FMQ and the three flow scales used in Study 3, measuring the experience of flow as a domain specific trait in the context of work. A series of structural equation models (SEM) supported a longitudinal causal relationship between FMQ-2 and flow. For FMQ-1, this relationship was not found (Study 4, Chapter 6). Overall, the findings from the four studies conducted in this dissertation indicate that the FMQ-2 could be conceptualised as an antecedent of flow and a marker of the autotelic personality, because it was found to causally influence people’s experience of flow in the work context. The dissertation concludes with an outline of its limitations as well as an outlook for future research. In particular, avenues for gaining a more in-depth understanding of the underlying processes with which flow metacognitions might influence the experience of flow, e.g. by investigating moment-to-moment variations of flow as a state, are given. It is believed that this PhD dissertation has met its aims by having identified a new and important construct that was found to be positively associated with flow as well as adaptive metacognitions. Furthermore, it has provided a starting point for future programmes of research – both in terms of flow and adaptive metacognitions, as well as applications in achievement contexts, in particular work environments

Mastering uncertainty: A predictive processing account of enjoying uncertain success in video game play

Why do we seek out and enjoy uncertain success in playing games? Game designers and researchers suggest that games whose challenges match player skills afford engaging experiences of achievement, competence, or effectance—of doing well. Yet, current models struggle to explain why such balanced challenges best afford these experiences and do not straightforwardly account for the appeal of high- and low-challenge game genres like Idle and Soulslike games. In this article, we show that Predictive Processing (PP) provides a coherent formal cognitive framework which can explain the fun in tackling game challenges with uncertain success as the dynamic process of reducing uncertainty surprisingly efficiently. In gameplay as elsewhere, people enjoy doing better than expected, which can track learning progress. In different forms, balanced, Idle, and Soulslike games alike afford regular accelerations of uncertainty reduction. We argue that this model also aligns with a popular practitioner model, Raph Koster’s Theory of Fun for Game Design, and can unify currently differentially modelled gameplay motives around competence and curiosity

Predicting Player Experience Without the Player. An Exploratory Study

A key challenge of procedural content generation (PCG) is to evoke a certain player experience (PX), when we have no direct control over the content which gives rise to that experience. We argue that neither the rigorous methods to assess PX in HCI, nor specialised methods in PCG are sufficient, because they rely on a human in the loop. We propose to address this shortcoming by means of computational models of intrinsic motivation and AI game-playing agents. We hypothesise that our approach could be used to automatically predict PX across games and content types without relying on a human player or designer. We conduct an exploratory study in level generation based on empowerment, a specific model of intrinsic motivation. Based on a thematic analysis, we find that empowerment can be used to create levels with qualitatively different PX. We relate the identified experiences to established theories of PX in HCI and game design, and discuss next steps

Enjoying the Unpleasant : An Autoethnography of Bloodborne

This thesis expands on existing literature about difficult digital/video games and enjoying hard difficulty via an autoethnography of Bloodborne (Sony Computer Entertainment, 2015), with the aim to discover what makes difficult games enjoyable. It highlights gaps in current studies of game enjoyment about the enjoyability of difficult games. In critiquing these common game enjoyment concepts, this thesis argues for the need for interdisciplinary approaches to difficult games and draws on theoretical viewpoints from horror scholarship to expand understanding of the topic. Using personal experiences gathered through an autoethnography of playing Bloodborne contrasted with relevant literature, this thesis creates a framework for enjoying difficult games and suggests an application for wider unpleasant experiences. The proposed framework presents that enjoyment of difficult games and other unpleasant experiences consists of aspects of the experience, personality characteristics, rewards that may be gained from the experience, and the inherent paradoxical nature of how people experience enjoyment. The framework presents a starting point for understanding the enjoyability of unpleasantness, informed by interdisciplinary knowledge on games and horror, and detailed autoethnographic experience. This thesis also argues for the usefulness of autoethnography when researching games and the need for further research on difficult games overall, including possible expansions on the proposed framework