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

Creative AI Lab

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
Event	Conference on Games - Boston, United States Duration: 21 Aug 2023 → 24 Aug 2023 https://2023.ieee-cog.org/

Conference

Conference	Conference on Games
Country/Territory	United States
City	Boston
Period	21/08/2023 → 24/08/2023
Internet address	https://2023.ieee-cog.org/

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

Access to Document

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, 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",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Game",

address = "United States",

note = "Conference on Games, IEEE CoG ; Conference date: 21-08-2023 Through 24-08-2023",

url = "https://2023.ieee-cog.org/",

}

Hegedues, C, Dias Constantino, JP, Dixen, L & Burelli, P 2023, Investigating Perceived and Mechanical Challenge in Games Through Cognitive Activity. in Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Game. IEEE, Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE conference on Games, Conference on Games, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 21/08/2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/CoG57401.2023.10333149

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.

AB - 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 - Visual Alterations

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Investigating Perceived and Mechanical Challenge in Games Through Cognitive Activity

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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Cite this