Abstract
Validation of serious games tends to focus on evaluating their design as a whole. While this helps to assess whether a particular combination of game mechanics is successful, it provides little insight into how individual mechanics contribute or detract from a serious game's purpose or a player's game experience. This study analyses the effect of game mechanics commonly used in casual games for engagement, measured as a combination of player behaviour and reported game experience. Secondly, it examines the role of a serious game's purpose on those same measures. An experimental study was conducted with 204 participants playing several versions of a serious game to explore these points. The results show that adding additional game mechanics to a core gameplay loop did not lead to participants playing more or longer, nor did it improve their game experience. Players who were aware of the game's purpose, however, perceived the game as more beneficial, scored their game experience higher, and progressed further. The results show that game mechanics on their own do not necessarily improve engagement, while the effect of perceived value deserves further study.
Highlights
Serious games (SG) are games with a purpose other than pure entertainment [34]
The coding protocol consisted of labelling responses mentioning different game aspects, those related to categories of the Game User Experience Satisfaction Survey (GUESS) survey, and those mentioning the purpose of the game
To determine whether a comment related to a GUESS category, the questions of the category were used as a guideline
Summary
Serious (digital) games (SG) are games with a purpose other than pure entertainment [34]. Designers of SGs apply game mechanics, to drive engagement with the game itself (resulting in an enjoyable experience), and to achieve this purpose [24]. In academic literature, such games tend to be validated and evaluated as a whole both on their entertainment value and whether they fulfil their intended purpose [58]. Methods are phrased as verbs, e.g., climb, take cover, shoot, or steer They are invoked through input methods (e.g., pressing a button) and have visible effects on game elements (e.g., objects or characters in the game world), causing them to undergo designed changes and/or interact with one another. Game elements and rules define the game system and its sub-systems (e.g., a ‘crafting’ or ‘cover’ system)
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