Player-centric adaptation of a car driving video game

Dynamic player-centric adaptation continues being a challenge for software applications and, in particular, in video games. The paper presents a dynamic adjustment of difficulty and visual effects in a car driving 3D video game based on changes of both the player performance (outcomes) shown within the game session and, on the other hand, the player arousal (excitement) recognized by a special, free game component. The component is applied for estimation of arousal inferred by the electrodermal activity of an individual player measured by a cheap custom device. The paper proposes a simple model for keeping the player in flow while adjusting dynamically both task difficulty and game visual effects, providing a better immersion, challenge, and tension. The presented initial results are statistically significant and answer positively to the main research question of the study: does the adaptive version of the game provide a better gaming experience than the non-adaptive one?