A little bit of frustration can go a long way

Adam Boulton, Rachid Hourizi, David Jefferies, Alice Guy

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceedingChapter in a published conference proceeding

3 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Player engagement with video games is widely discussed. The apparently contrasting phenomenon of frustration is less widely researched. Frustration is reported to impede player engagement but it is unlikely that a game which never frustrated at all would be enjoyable. In that context, further work is needed to identify, understand and model the character, timing and context of frustrations which help rather than hinder a positive gaming experience. This paper investigates the relationship between frustration and engagement over time in a carefully selected video game. We find that engagement often falls as frustration rises (and vice versa) but also report upon situations in which a rise in frustration can give rise to an increase in engagement. We consider the implications of these results for both game developers and the wider community of HCI researchers interested in gamification and user engagement.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Computer Games - 15th International Conferences, ACG 2017, Revised Selected Papers
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages188-200
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)9783319716480
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Event15th International Conference on Advances in Computer Games, ACG 2017 - Leiden, Netherlands
Duration: 3 Jul 20175 Jul 2017

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10664

Conference

Conference15th International Conference on Advances in Computer Games, ACG 2017
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityLeiden
Period3/07/175/07/17

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A little bit of frustration can go a long way'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this