Understanding Engagement: A Mixed-Method Approach to Observing Game Play

We want to believe HCI has much to offer the game industry, but it goes beyond simply acknowledging differences between the HCI notion of a user and the game design notion of a player. People engage in play in very different ways––and so our evaluation methods should reflect this diversity. Game designers and researchers must be careful in establishing common frameworks for evaluation that stymie creativity and perpetuate standard game conventions. Due to the situated nature of games, we argue for mixed method data gathering and ethnographic-style analyses to explain players’ interpretations and behaviors. From this evaluative stance, games also prevail as excellent tools for the study of human experience. To support our position, we share our reflections on our empirical evaluation of the critically acclaimed interactive drama Façade [11] and our augmented reality (AR) adaptation of Façade [4]. The Façade “game” actually serves as a research tool for our investigation of immersive interfaces and the deeper human issue of embodiment.