The effects of input modality and story-based knowledge on users' game experience

Abstract

This study examines how input modality (finger touch vs. stylus) and story-based knowledge (eWOM only vs. eWOM + visual game-metaphor-based knowledge) affect assessments of the dynamics of gameplay experience over time: ergonomic and hedonic quality, judgment of appeal, and perceived enjoyment. In the immediate evaluation, we asked two groups with different story knowledge to complete close-ended questionnaires after playing a paid mobile game with different input modalities. After a four-week delay, eighty participants returned and completed the same close-ended and new open-ended questionnaires to measure their impressions of the game and their remembered experiences across the input methods for game interaction. The results show significant main and interaction effects only for the input modality and time in the evaluation of the complete gaming experience, but the results of the univariate analysis show significant differences across story-knowledge groups in the assessment of hedonic quality. Although it was difficult to draw a clear conclusion about which input modality was better, the stylus has good potential as an alternative game controller.