Understanding Player Experience using Sequential Analysis

This paper presents a methodology which allows for an objective analysis of video game quality based on player behaviour. A mutually exclusive and exhaustive code of 5 behavioural states is presented based on an analysis of 10 users each playing 3 video games. The coding scheme is verified for inter-coder agreement with resulting Kappa values in the range of 0.74 to 0.91 (good agreement to very good agreement). Results of the game studies presented show that good games allow the player to enter the Engagement state more frequently, and keep them in that state for a longer duration than bad games. In particular, the results show that good games exhibit an overall net positive behaviour from the very early stages of gameplay. The paper concludes with suggestions for future work.

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