DEEP: A model of gaming preferences informed by the hierarchical nature of goal-oriented cognition

IF 2.8 3区计算机科学 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, CYBERNETICS

Entertainment Computing Pub Date : 2025-02-15 DOI:10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100930

Edgar Dubourg, Valérian Chambon

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Video game design and player engagement revolve around the concept of agency, which refers to the ability to shape one’s environment through personal choices and actions. However, different types of agentive experiences can be distinguished according to the nature of the agent’s goal. Recent models of voluntary action suggest that goals are organized hierarchically. In this paper, we test the ability of these models to explain variability in gaming preferences. First, we performed a factor analysis on game-related actions that participants ( N = 750) were asked to rate on an interest scale. We found that game preferences varied along 4 dimensions organized along gradients of goal abstraction and exploration (Discovering, Experimenting, Expanding, Performing, or DEEP dimensions). We then automatically annotated video games ( N = 16,000) on each of these dimensions and tested the hierarchical structure of goal-directed actions in video games. Finally, in a pre-registered study ( N = 1000), we show that the DEEP dimensions predict participants’ preferred video games and correlate with expected psychological factors. We suggest that this research can help improve existing taxonomies of videogame types, better understand player preferences, and refine the relationship between game design and human psychology.

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DEEP：基于目标导向认知的层次属性的游戏偏好模型

电子游戏设计和玩家粘性围绕着代理的概念，这是指通过个人选择和行动塑造环境的能力。然而，根据主体目标的性质，可以区分不同类型的代理经验。最近的自愿行动模型表明，目标是按等级组织的。在本文中，我们测试了这些模型解释游戏偏好可变性的能力。首先，我们对参与者（N = 750）进行了游戏相关行为的因素分析，并要求他们根据兴趣量表对这些行为进行评分。我们发现，游戏偏好在目标抽象和探索梯度（发现、实验、扩展、执行或深度维度）的4个维度上有所不同。然后我们在这些维度上自动标注电子游戏（N = 16,000），并测试电子游戏中目标导向行动的层次结构。最后，在一项预注册研究中（N = 1000），我们发现DEEP维度预测了参与者的偏好电子游戏，并与预期的心理因素相关联。我们认为这项研究有助于完善现有的电子游戏类型分类，更好地理解玩家偏好，完善游戏设计与人类心理之间的关系。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Entertainment Computing Computer Science-Human-Computer Interaction

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

7.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Entertainment Computing publishes original, peer-reviewed research articles and serves as a forum for stimulating and disseminating innovative research ideas, emerging technologies, empirical investigations, state-of-the-art methods and tools in all aspects of digital entertainment, new media, entertainment computing, gaming, robotics, toys and applications among researchers, engineers, social scientists, artists and practitioners. Theoretical, technical, empirical, survey articles and case studies are all appropriate to the journal.