Abstract
This study aimed at identifying and interpreting relevant relationships between players’ perceptions of meaning-making affordances and: 1) players’ reported quality of the gameplay experience; 2) general player game ratings; 3) expert game ratings. The theoretical framework underpinning this study conceptualized gameplay as an iterative and contextualized activity driven by meaning-making processes that integrate rational interpretation and affective valorization of key game aspects. This was used to evaluate 14 games using an ad-hoc questionnaire that was completed by experienced players and compared to scores of game quality provided by the players and by external sources. The results of this exploration suggest an association between meaning-making affordances and critics’ evaluations, but not with players’ game experience and player ratings. The analysis revealed that key methodological issues should be accounted for when investigating game features and their affective meaning-making implications on the perceived quality of a game and the gameplay experience. Insights on important theoretical and methodological issues that may orient and support future research are discussed.
Highlights
Different perspectives have been used to understand the player experience and the factors that affect it
Emphasis on isolated motivational affordances and generic game features may be insufficient to explain the systemic interplay of psychological aspects of the gameplay activity, and how this defines the players’ experience
As the study of games and the player experience evolved, the need emerged for integrative perspectives and instruments, suitable to account for the complex interplay of game features and the diverse psychological processes that underpin the gameplay activity [8, 15, 39]
Summary
Different perspectives have been used to understand the player experience and the factors that affect it. Player-centrism is instead focused on the psychological factors that trigger and sustain players’ engagement in the gameplay activity, and their relationship with generic game features such as the intuitiveness of controls [9, 34]. Emphasis on isolated motivational affordances and generic game features may be insufficient to explain the systemic interplay of psychological aspects of the gameplay activity, and how this defines the players’ experience. Player-centric instruments have been developed to investigate perceived aspects of psychological processes involved in the gameplay experience (e.g. motivation, engagement, learning, etc.), without emphasizing the relationship between these processes and concrete features of game systems [1, 7, 8, 10, 13, 29, 32, 33, 35, 41]. As the study of games and the player experience evolved, the need emerged for integrative perspectives and instruments, suitable to account for the complex interplay of game features and the diverse psychological processes that underpin the gameplay activity [8, 15, 39]
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