Title
"Horror, Guilt And Shame" - Uncomfortable Experiences In Digital Games
Abstract
Gameplay frequently involves a combination of positive and negative emotions, where there is increasing interest in how to design for more complex forms of player experience. However, despite the risk that some of these experiences may be uncomfortable, there has been little empirical investigation into how discomfort manifests during play and its impact on engagement. We conducted a qualitative investigation using an online survey (N=95), that focused on uncomfortable interactions across three games: Darkest Dungeon, Fallout 4 and Papers, Please. The findings suggest games create discomfort in a variety of ways; through providing high-pressure environments with uncertain outcomes and difficult decisions to make, to the experience of loss and exposing players to disturbing themes. However, while excessive discomfort can jeopardize player engagement, the findings also indicate that discomfort can provide another facet to gameplay, leading to richer forms of experience and stimulating wider reflections on societal issues and concerns.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.1145/3311350.3347179
CHI PLAY'19: PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTER-HUMAN INTERACTION IN PLAY
Keywords
Field
DocType
Player experience, uncomfortable interactions, emotion, emotional challenge, reflection
Computer science,Shame,Psychoanalysis,Multimedia
Conference
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
0
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Chad Phoenix Rose Gowler100.34
Ioanna Iacovides29211.35