Assessing the player interaction experiences based on playability

2009

The quality of a software product is a main objective that every interactive system should aspire. There are many challenges to achieve this quality that require a previous characterization to ensure it. The International Standards Quality Models help to characterize the quality of a software system. But, there are some products that present "special" quality requirements. In this paper we focus on special interactive systems: Video Games, whose quality requirements are different than traditional software. This additional dimension is called "Playability". In this paper, an extension of Quality in use Model for Playability decomposition (PQM) is introduced. In our playability quality model metrics are also considered and interpreted. Finally, we review different usability evaluation methods in order to identify what are the best evaluation methods for supporting playability evaluation tasks.

PLAYABILITY AND PLAYER …

This pilot study investigates an experimental methodology for gathering data to create correlations between experiential factors measured by a gameplay experience questionnaire and player quality measures, such as playing frequency, choice of game, and playing time. The characteristics of two distinct games were examined concerning the aspects of game experience, subjective game quality, and game usability. Interactions within the three aspects were identified. The results suggest that gameplay experience dimensions flow and immersion are similarly motivating in different game genres, which however might not be equally enjoyable. On the one hand, usability ratings may be positively influenced when a game provides immersion and flow or on the other hand, flow and immersion may be negatively influenced by poor usability ratings. These results emphasize the need for an approach to classify games based on correlation patterns involving game experience, quality, and usability.

Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2011

Player experience constitutes one of the most significant factors in determining the success rate of games. Games which do not provide enormous user experience usually will not gain intense interest from players. The concept of player experience is normally interchanged with concepts such as fun, flow, fulfillment, enjoyment, engagement, satisfaction, pleasure and playability. In this paper, we reviewed, analyzed and discussed the different attributes and methodologies used to evaluate player experience for game play. We concluded the finding in a playability matrix based on an analysis of methodologies for evaluating player experience in game play. The matrix was constructed from literature analysis, which comprised of attributes consisting of qualitative and quantitative, verbal and non-verbal, empirical and non-empirical methods.

GIS Business, 2019

Educational video games (EVG) provide a rich platform to improve the Player Experience (PX), and constitute some of the main edutainment applications currently in the market. However, the evaluation of video games as educational tools is very difficult due to their dual nature (fun and education). In some cases, PX (as an usability measure) is a very important aspect of the EVGs and is a good measure of the level of fun and education presented to players. Educational Playability (playability in EVG) attributes are a suitable and effective tool to analyze and measure the experience obtained by a player during a game. To this end, it is necessary to evaluate the playability to determine the degree of improvement in PX. Playability evaluation through different methods is one of the major topics of PX in video games. In this paper, we present a new approach to evaluate the PX by using the educational playability.

Human-Computer …, 2002

In the 1990s, the videogame industry has managed to become the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry in America. However, only a very low number of videogame products manage to cover the costs of production and generate earnings. According to traditional marketing wisdom, players' preferences are a core issue in creating successful products, and the game design process is crucial for guaranteeing players' satisfaction. Then, an important question arises: What do players want in videogames? The purpose of this work is to propose a game design reference that directly mirrors players' preference, shaped as a qualitative model based on empirical

This work intends to articulate definitions on gameplay and playability, as there is no consensus in the academic field about these terms, which may be mistaken for one another or described as being just one. Through the description of several different proposals by game scholars, this article tries to articulate the main similarities and differences between some of the notions of gameplay and playability in order to delineate characteristics that might give us accounts to understand the meaning of analyzed terms. At last, the authors conclude that definitions and the scope of concepts of gameplay and playability rely on the starting point of the study as well as the goals of the researcher when carrying out researches in game design, game software or even about players’ actions and their psychological matters.

Human Centered Design, 2009

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2014

This paper reports our experience in applying an empirical userexperience testing method to improve a computer game. We sought to understand the differences in practice between usability and playability, and correspondingly to assess the usefulness of different approaches to taxonomies for playability. Our experience suggests that the evaluation technique for playability can be the same as for usability and that some existing taxonomies for playability do not provide effective support for translating experience of evaluation into heuristics for design. For formative evaluation, understanding episodes for playability depends on specific circumstances of each episode; taxonomies may be more useful for summative evaluation.

We report research on player modeling using psychophysiology and machine learning, conducted through interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers of computer science, psychology, and game design at Aalto University, Helsinki. First, we propose the Play Patterns And eXperience (PPAX) framework to connect three levels of game experience that previously had remained largely unconnected: game design patterns, the interplay of game context with player personality or tendencies, and state-of-the-art measures of experience (both subjective and non-subjective). Second, we describe our methodology for using machine learning to categorize game events to reveal corresponding patterns, culminating in an example experiment. We discuss the relation between automatically detected event clusters and game design patterns, and provide indications on how to incorporate personality profiles of players in the analysis. This novel interdisciplinary collaboration combines basic psychophysiology research with game design patterns and machine learning, and generates new knowledge about the interplay between game experience and design.