The document focuses on optimizing player experience in video games, outlining various challenges and strategies in game design, including user experience, onboarding, and player feedback. It discusses methods such as heuristic evaluation, playtesting, and the importance of understanding the target audience to enhance gameplay and engagement. Key considerations include game mechanics, usability, and creating a fun, immersive experience for players of all types.

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!