1. J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U
S C I E N C E * PA S S I O N * T E C H N O L O G Y
K N O W Y O U R P L AY E R – O P T I M I Z I N G
T H E P L AY E R E X P E R I E N C E
J O H A N N A P I R K E R

2. J O H A N N A P I R K E R
• Computer Scientist & Software Engineering @Graz University of Technology
• Virtual Worlds @Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Researcher at Institute for Information Systems & Computer Media, TU Graz
• Games Research, Design, & Development, Gamification
• Virtual, Immersive Worlds & Realities
• HCI, E-Learning, UX
• Website: www.jpirker.com
@ J O E Y P R I N K

3. G A M E D E V E L O P M E N T P R O C E S S

4. – A F R I E N D .
“Oh wow - I love your game! The art is so nice!
The controls are a bit complicated, but it’s ok! It’s
awesome! I love the story!”
“WOW! You did this all by yourself? This is so
amazing! ”
– M O M .

5. IT’S A LOCAL MULTIPLAYER GAME WITH
PLACEHOLDER GRAPHICS!?!?

6. T H E M A I N C H A L L E N G E …

7. P H I L T O L E D A N O - H T T P : / / W W W. M R T O L E D A N O . C O M / G A M E R S
R E A L & H O N E S T
E M O T I O N S

8. Immersion
Audio
Animation
Graphics /
Objects
Character (1st / 3rd)
Interactivity
Interface
Challenges Quests, Puzzles,…
D I F F E R E N T U S E R E X P E R I E N C E S

9. U X I N G A M E S
( V S I N W E B S I T E S / S O F T WA R E )
• Playing games is voluntary
• Games are all about fun & experiences
• Games industry is extremely competitive

10. U X I N G A M E S :
M A I N C H A L L E N G E S
• Modern games are large & complex (e.g. GTA, AC,..)
• Fluent gaming experience
• Fun first: everything should be intuitive and easy to learn
• Onboarding strategies and tutorial research
• Challenge: Onboarding for newcomers and not boring
for “experts”

11. G A M E S U S E R E X P E R I E N C E
• Quality Assurance
• “Can this tree fly?”
• Game Usability
• How usable is my game? (Interface, controls,..)
• Games User Research (GUR) and Games UX Research
• Who is my player? What are the created emotions?

12. G A M E S U S E R E X P E R I E N C E

14. M D A F R A M E W O R K
( H U N I C K E , L E B L A N C , Z U B E K )
• Mechanics - the rules or ‘verbs’ of the game
• spawn points / ammo / weapons
• Dynamics - how players use those rules
• camping, sniping
• Aesthetics - how the game makes the player feel
• challenge / tension / zen
http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf

15. I T E R AT I V E D E V E L O P M E N T + M D A

16. M E T H O D S + D ATA
• Expert Evaluations / Heuristic Evaluation (HE)
• Playtesting
• Surveys, Interviews, Game Logs
• Think Aloud Protocol (TA) & Retrospective Testing
• Notes, Audio, Video, ..
• Biometrics
• Biodata, Eye tracking, physical states, emotions
• Focus Groups / Interviews with target groups
• Game Analytics / Data logging
• Quantitative data e.g. engagement, maps, progress
details: gamesuserresearchsig.org

17. E X P E RT E VA L U AT I O N
… H O N E S T & B R U TA L
F E E D B A C K

18. U S A B I L I T Y H E U R I S T I C S F O R V I D E O
G A M E D E S I G N ( E . G . )
• 1. Provide consistent responses to the user’s actions.
• 2. Allow users to customize video and audio settings, difficulty and game speed.
• 3. Provide predictable and reasonable behavior for computer controlled units.
• 4. Provide unobstructed views that are appropriate for the user’s current actions
• 5. Allow users to skip non-playable and frequently repeated content.
6. Provide intuitive and customizable input mappings.
• 7. Provide controls that are easy to manage, and that have an appropriate level of sensitivity and
responsiveness.
• 8. Provide users with information on game status.
• 9. Provide instructions, training, and help.
• 10. Provide visual representations that are easy to interpret and that minimize the need for
micromanagement.
Pinelle, D., Wong, N., & Stach, T. (2008, April). Heuristic evaluation for games: usability principles for video game design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1453-1462). ACM.
KNOW
YOUR
QUESTIONS!

19. • Who is my target player?
• Does the player understand my story?
• Does the player know how to play?
• Does the player know the way?
• Is the learning process balanced?
• Does the player have freedom to play?
• How does the player feel?
• What emotions does the game create?
• Who is the real player (playing the
shipped game)?
K N O W Y O U R Q U E S T I O N S !

20. … W H O I S T H E P L AY E R ?
T H E P L AY E R

21. – J A S O N A L L A I R E
( H T T P : / / T H E E S A . C O M / FA C T S / P D F S / E S A _ E F _ 2 0 1 4 . P D F )
“People of all ages play video games. There is no
longer a ‘stereotype game player,’ but instead a
game player could be your grandparent,
your boss, or even your professor.”

22. http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf

23. B A R T L E ’ S G A M E R T Y P E S
http://www.gamerdna.com/quizzes/bartle-test-of-gamer-psychology

24. … H O W W O U L D A P L AY E R
R E T E L L T H I S S T O RY ?
T H E S T O RY

25. G A M E C O N C E P T S
A yellow creature eats dots while being chased by ghost
monsters…
A plumber jumps on the heads of mushrooms to find his
girlfriend…
Birds use physics to take vengeance on pigs…
Own everything (Monopoly)
AT
THE
HEART
OF
EACH
GAME
THERE
IS
A
SOLID
CONCEPT.

26. G A M E C O N C E P T S
Formalize the concept of your game - your story - in one
sentence
…
Ask your players/testers after playtesting to formalize the
main story in one sentence
… compare …

27. … I S T H E U S E R A B L E T O
P L AY Y O U R G A M E ?
F R E E D O M , I N T E R FA C E ,
& F E E D B A C K

28. P L AY E R F E E D B A C K
http://bethsoft.com/en-gb/games/fallout_shelter
Give appropriate feedback

29. F U L L C O N T R O L
Add controls requested by players/testers

30. C O N S I S T E N T I N T E R FA C E D E S I G N
Nice game from Zambia: http://www.scndgen.com/
Button
Text

31. L E A R N I N G T H E G A M E
… H O W W O U L D A P L AY E R
L E A R N Y O U R M E C H A N I C S ?

32. Onboarding & Tutorials
http://imperiumgalactica.com/

33. Onboarding & Tutorials
https://playfeist.net

35. G A M E O N
H O W T O C R E AT E A F L U E N T
G A M I N G E X P E R I E N C E ?

36. F L O W ( M I H A LY C S I K S Z E N T M I H A LY I )
("The Art of Game Design" book by Jesse Schell)

37. G A M E S A R E M A D E F O R
T H E P L AY E R S
Nice article: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/168114/understanding_user_research_its_.php
G A M E S U S E R R E S E A R C H = F E E D B A C K
F O R G A M E D E S I G N E R S H O W P L AY E R S
W O U L D E X P E R I E N C E T H E I R G A M E S

38. P L AY T E S T I N G
… WAT C H O T H E R S P L AY
Y O U R G A M E

39. T H I N K I N G A L O U D

40. T H I N K I N G A L O U D P R O T O C O L S . .

41. E Y E - T R A C K I N G
• User’s gaze while playing
the game is recorded
• What does the user see?
• What does the user miss?

42. Thanks to Sony London

43. Thanks to Sony London

44. P L AY E R A N A LY S I S

45. H O W T O M E A S U R E F U N ?

46. Jeanne H. Brockmyer, Christine M. Fox, Kathleen A. Curtiss, Evan McBroom, Kimberly M. Burkhart, Jacquelyn N. Pidruzny. (2009). The development of the Game Engagement Questionaire: A
measure of engagement in video game playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 45, pp. 624-634.

47. Jeanne H. Brockmyer, Christine M. Fox, Kathleen A. Curtiss, Evan McBroom, Kimberly M. Burkhart, Jacquelyn N. Pidruzny. (2009). The development of the Game Engagement Questionaire: A
measure of engagement in video game playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 45, pp. 624-634.

48. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Level 8
Avg Player Experience
Fun
Difficulty
Frustra<on

49. B I G P L AY E R D ATA

50. P L AY E R H A B I T ( P L AY E R F I N G E R P R I N T )
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Player Type 1
Player Type 2
Player Type 3
Player Type 4
Player Type 5
Time spent
Game Mode A
Game Mode B
Game Mode C
Game Mode D
Game Mode E
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Story Enjoyer
Party Player
Killer
Online Hero
Allrounder
Time spent
Story
Campaign
Arena
Online MulAplayer
Local MulAplayer

51. 4 P L AY E R T Y P E S N P L AY E R T Y P E S
Story
Story Enjoyer
Party Player
Killer
Online Hero
Allrounder
Story
Story Enjoyer
Party Player
Killer
Online Hero
Allrounder
Explorer

52. C O L L E C T D ATA F O R
Y O U R E N V I R O N M E N T

53. C O N T E X T U A L F E E D B A C K
awesome!
confused
/lost frustrated

54. D E S I G N Y O U R T E S T L I K E
Y O U ’ V E D E S I G N E D Y O U R G A M E
. . H O N E S T & A S S O O N A S P O S S I B L E

55. C R E AT E Y O U R O W N
N E T W O R K O F E X P E R T S
. . B E H O N E S T

56. P L AY G A M E S . .
. . L E A R N F R O M G O O D &
F R O M B A D T H I N G S

57. T H A N K Y O U F O R Y O U R
AT T E N T I O N .
J O H A N N A P I R K E R , J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U , W W W. J P I R K E R . C O M , @ J O E Y P R I N K
This is how others play your game!