Is there already an accepted way to measure the “enjoyment/entertainment value” of a certain game?

Question

I don't know if the question is legit, but I've tried my best. I've found this post here about measuring the creative/entertainment value of video game requirement. I've done some reading but I can't see if there already exists a specific way to measure such.

This one is research study about a model for evaluating player enjoyment. I don't know but, is it outdated? The study was conducted way back 2005.

Is there any any studies or researches you know that is somewhat related to this or some other way?

Answer 1

I think the latest researches to obtain such data, is to measure biometrics values on players during tests.

Using metrics such as

• EMG
• Skin Conductance
• Heart rate
• ...

can capture some inconscious feelings of the player. Biometric can't completely substitute verbal reports of player after/during tests, but can integrate them and offer some new useful informations on game experience.

Here's some nice simple slides I read sometime ago:

• http://www.slideshare.net/acagamic/game-metrics-and-biometrics-the-future-of-player-experience-research

You can search for academic articles using google scholar, you'll find several articles related to this subject.

Answer 2

I actually wrote a paper this spring for a Empirical Studies course that referenced the paper you listed above as it's main reference. The paper I wrote was based on evaluating human-computer interaction and user experience/enjoyment in games. My main conclusion was that models like the one in the paper above are most useful if geared toward a certain game and not any game in general. I added HCI to the evaluation because it can directly effect the user experience/enjoyment.

The developers need to figure out what they think is fun about their game, create questions with ratings centered around these fun parts, and get testers to test the game and fill out a questionnaire with these questions.

I personally think, you don't see more academic research in user experience/user enjoyment in games because the paper above goes about as deep I feel you can go without biometric data. I personally think biometric testing in academia won't add any value to actual industry because it WON'T be replicated. Developers, IMO, are not going to wire people up to see if their games are fun.

Answer 3

I don't believe this is a possible goal. The "entertainment value" of something is very subjective.

If you know exactly what reaction you want to invoke, sure you might use biometrics to measure this. If you want to excite the player, you might measure their pulse, adrenaline levels, etc, but measuring a physical reaction isn't the same as how enjoyable it is.

Besides, what makes one game enjoyable may be completely different than what makes another game enjoyable. Some games are meant to be contemplative and somewhat depressing, rather than pulse-pounding action.

One of the video series I watch, Errant Signal did an excellent video on this topic of what makes games enjoyable called An Aimless Diatribe On Fun. It does a great job answering this question and I believe addresses some of the academic research into the area.

A good quote from that video:

"Think of what it does to a potentially vibrant and expressive artform when out of the gate the expectations for its emtional range is just this one little thing. It's tantamount to saying "Pictures need to be pretty" or that "Music needs to be catchy", but some of the most powerful pictures of all time are anything but pretty, and some of the most powerful music ever composed defies toe-tapping catchiness".