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

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

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

– 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 .

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

T H E M A I N C H A L L E N G E …

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

Immersion

AudioAnimation

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

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 W A R E )

• Playing games is voluntary

• Games are all about fun & experiences

• Games industry is extremely competitive

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”

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.

K N O W Y O U R

Q U E S T I O N S !

• 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 !

… W H O I S T H E P L AY E R ?

T H E P L AY E R

– 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.”

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

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

… 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 R Y ?

T H E S T O RY

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 T H E H E A RT O F E A C H G A M E

T H E R E I S A S O L I D C O N C E P T.

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 …

… 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

P L AY E R F E E D B A C K

http://bethsoft.com/en-gb/games/fallout_shelter

Give appropriate feedback

F U L L C O N T R O L

Add controls requested by players/testers

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

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 ?

Onboarding & Tutorials

http://imperiumgalactica.com/

Onboarding & Tutorials

https://playfeist.net

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 ?

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)

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

P L AY T E S T I N G

… W AT C H O T H E R S P L AY Y O U R G A M E

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

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

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?

Thanks to Sony London

Thanks to Sony London

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

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

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.

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.

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Level1 Level2 Level3 Level4 Level5 Level6 Level7 Level8

AvgPlayerExperience

Fun

Difficulty

Frustra<on

B I G P L AY E R D ATA

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 )

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PlayerType1

PlayerType2

PlayerType3

PlayerType4

PlayerType5

Timespent

GameModeA

GameModeB

GameModeC

GameModeD

GameModeE

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StoryEnjoyer

PartyPlayer

Killer

OnlineHero

Allrounder

Timespent

Story

Campaign

Arena

OnlineMulAplayer

LocalMulAplayer

4 P L AY E R T Y P E S N P L AY E R T Y P E S

Story

StoryEnjoyer

PartyPlayer

Killer

OnlineHero

Allrounder

Story

StoryEnjoyer

PartyPlayer

Killer

OnlineHero

Allrounder

Explorer

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

C O N T E X T U A L F E E D B A C K

awesome!

confused/lost frustrated

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

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

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

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!