Investigating Perceived and Mechanical Challenge in Games Through Cognitive Activity

Christine Hegedues; João Pedro Dias Constantino; Laurits Dixen; Paolo Burelli

doi:10.1109/CoG57401.2023.10333149

Investigating Perceived and Mechanical Challenge in Games Through Cognitive Activity

Christine Hegedues, João Pedro Dias Constantino, Laurits Dixen, Paolo Burelli

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Game difficulty is a crucial aspect of game design, that can be directly influenced by tweaking game mechanics. Perceived difficulty can however also be influenced by simply altering the graphics to something more threatening. Here, we present a study with 12 participants playing 4 different minigames with either altered graphics or mechanics to make the game more difficult. Using EEG bandpower analysis, we find that frontal lobe activity was heightened in all 4 of the mechanically challenging versions and in 2/4 of the visually altered versions, all differences that did not emerge from the self-reported player experience. This suggests that EEG could researchers with a more sensitive tool for investigating challenge in games.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Game
Publisher	IEEE
Publication date	2023
ISBN (Print)	979-8-3503-2278-1
ISBN (Electronic)	979-8-3503-2277-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/CoG57401.2023.10333149
Publication status	Published - 2023

Series	Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE conference on Games

Keywords

Game Difficulty
Game Mechanics
Perceived Difficulty
Visual Alterations
EEG Bandpower Analysis
Frontal Lobe Activity
Player Experience
Game Design
Challenge Measurement
Neurogaming Research

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10.1109/CoG57401.2023.10333149

IEEE_COG_2023___Hades (1)Submitted manuscript, 564 KB

Cite this

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title = "Investigating Perceived and Mechanical Challenge in Games Through Cognitive Activity",

abstract = "Game difficulty is a crucial aspect of game design, that can be directly influenced by tweaking game mechanics. Perceived difficulty can however also be influenced by simply altering the graphics to something more threatening. Here, we present a study with 12 participants playing 4 different minigames with either altered graphics or mechanics to make the game more difficult. Using EEG bandpower analysis, we find that frontal lobe activity was heightened in all 4 of the mechanically challenging versions and in 2/4 of the visually altered versions, all differences that did not emerge from the self-reported player experience. This suggests that EEG could researchers with a more sensitive tool for investigating challenge in games.",

keywords = "Game Difficulty, Game Mechanics, Perceived Difficulty, Visual Alterations, EEG Bandpower Analysis, Frontal Lobe Activity, Player Experience, Game Design, Challenge Measurement, Neurogaming Research",

author = "Christine Hegedues and {Dias Constantino}, {Jo{\~a}o Pedro} and Laurits Dixen and Paolo Burelli",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1109/CoG57401.2023.10333149",

language = "English",

isbn = "979-8-3503-2278-1",

series = "Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE conference on Games",

publisher = "IEEE",

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}

Investigating Perceived and Mechanical Challenge in Games Through Cognitive Activity. / Hegedues, Christine; Dias Constantino, João Pedro; Dixen, Laurits et al.
Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Game. IEEE, 2023. (Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE conference on Games).

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

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N2 - Game difficulty is a crucial aspect of game design, that can be directly influenced by tweaking game mechanics. Perceived difficulty can however also be influenced by simply altering the graphics to something more threatening. Here, we present a study with 12 participants playing 4 different minigames with either altered graphics or mechanics to make the game more difficult. Using EEG bandpower analysis, we find that frontal lobe activity was heightened in all 4 of the mechanically challenging versions and in 2/4 of the visually altered versions, all differences that did not emerge from the self-reported player experience. This suggests that EEG could researchers with a more sensitive tool for investigating challenge in games.

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KW - Game Difficulty

KW - Game Mechanics

KW - Perceived Difficulty

KW - Visual Alterations

KW - EEG Bandpower Analysis

KW - Frontal Lobe Activity

KW - Player Experience

KW - Game Design

KW - Challenge Measurement

KW - Neurogaming Research

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DO - 10.1109/CoG57401.2023.10333149

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Investigating Perceived and Mechanical Challenge in Games Through Cognitive Activity

Abstract

Keywords

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