Evaluation and classification of Digital Games using QOL measurements

Abstract

Digital Games have become part of everyday life all over the world. In this article, we suggest to use Quality of Life (QOL) to investigate the characteristics of game play and to evaluate games. We measured emotional changes caused by game play using a QOL questionnaire specialized in the detection of the mental change (POMS-Brief Form) in Interrupted Time-Series Design. As a result, the analysis of variance showed that in certain cases some negative feelings such as uneasiness and anger are reduced significantly by game play, and such effect is strengthened by repeatedly playing a personal favorite. Furthermore, it was indicated that an appreciative evaluation of the game correlates with a positive effect. Therefore it became clear that there is a need to consider the test participant's subjective evaluation of the game during the experiment. Additionally, the feelings affected were clearly different in each of the 16 titles analyzed. Therefore, a new classification of games from the viewpoint of the POMS change in QOL is possible.