The Effect of Closely-Coupled Interaction on Player Experience in Casual Games

This paper presents a study investigating cooperation between players in casual games. Although widely used in co-located or asynchronous settings, cooperative gameplay elements are not popular in networked synchronous casual games. In our study, we have analyzed different types of cooperation between players in casual games. Each of these is based on a certain cooperative game design pattern, and can be classified as either closelyor loosely-coupled. Six game patterns have been selected and an equal number of games developed, each targeting one pattern. By means of a user experiment we have investigated which cooperation types fit most of the criteria that define casual games. More specifically, we have focused on the applicability of close coupling between players. Based on the games used in the experiment, most patterns with closely-coupled interaction have shown an overall higher user evaluation than loosely-coupled, satisfying criteria of casual games. These results indicate that introducing close coupling in the casual games under consideration is a potential way to increase the player experience.