The Pursuit of Fun in Digital Games: From the Sandpit to the Console and Beyond

Abstract

Fun has long been considered inherent in the act of playing. Some authors argue that it is an element always present in games, and others that it is not, that there are several types of fun and several factors that change the perception of fun, but fun has always been associated with positive effects on players. As a subjective concept, and dependent on context and player experience, understanding fun in games is a challenge for developers. With the development of the industry and the research on digital games, it became necessary to create new artifacts for the design and validation of fun. Understanding fun is also essential for serious games, which have been criticized for not being fun. Thus, better understanding fun and how to achieve it is a big challenge where crucial outcomes could benefit application areas such as education, health, and others. But the roadmap for such an area of research has not been established. This chapter presents fun as a grand challenge in games and digital entertainment and proposes a path for future research.