City Research Online

Abstract

Challenge is a key element of digital games, but a clear conceptualisation and operationalisation of this player experience were long missing. This made it hard for game researchers to measure this experience in different video games across different skill sets and impeded the synthesis of challenge-related games research. To overcome this, we introduce a systematic, extensive, and reliable instrument to evaluate the level of players’ perceived challenge in digital games. We conceptualise challenge based on a survey of related literature in games user research, design and AI, as well as interviews with researchers and players. Exploratory factor analysis (N=394) highlights four components of experienced challenge: performative, emotional, cognitive and decision-making challenge. Refinement of the items allowed us to devise the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS), which has been further validated in a study with nearly 1000 players. The questionnaire exhibits good construct validity for use by both game developers and researchers to quantify players’ challenge experiences.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© Elsevier 2020. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Publisher Keywords:	Perceived challenge, Difficulty, Emotional challenge, Questionnaire, Player experience, PXGame experience, Games user research, GUR, Digital games, Scale development, Scale validation, Measurement instrument
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Computer Science > Human Computer Interaction Design
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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