Ticket to the Mind: A Mobile Eye-Tracking Exploration of Game Media and Cognitive Functions

Physical and digital games are increasingly used and acknowledged for their cognitive effects, but there is a lack of understanding of how a game’s medium directly impacts cognitive functions. This exploratory case study presents a novel method of using mobile eye-tracking to compare working memory and visual attention between physical and digital versions of the board game Ticket to Ride in natural settings. For visual attention, no significant differences between the versions were measured. However, results indicate that fixation duration is significantly greater while playing the digital version versus the physical version, suggesting the counter-intuitive finding that the digital version increases working memory load. The study design, with evidence for high ecological validity, and its findings provide a foundation for future studies for assessing cognitive processing of game media. This work also provides inspiration for making game media considerations for obtaining specific cognitive experiences and increasing accessibility.