The results of the interviews - early reflections

During the last two weeks we have conducted five interviews, trying to prove our hypothesis going something like this: a player engrossment/immersion model can be created using a taxonomy of games (competition, mimicry, vertigo) and frames (person/player/character), and this is reflected in the game UI and the diegesis-spatiality of conveyed information.


When talking to our interviewees, we tried to elicit what they consider to be an engrossed/immersed game experience, and what elements that breaks this experience. According to the model above, the results of an early analysis of the comments and states made by each person interviewed can be visualized in the following way:

Dimitry prefers authentic and realistic war themed FPS games, and although he plays competitive multiplayer games to a high extent (stating Red Orchestra as one example) he seems to be playing for a mimicry experience rather than the competitive aspect. He does not want to be reminded that it is "just a game", hence he moves between the person and the character mimicry frames (taking his real-world knowledge into the game-world). Dimitry prefers diegetic UI solutions and no HUD at all, although he do think that the HUD-heaviness of games such as Team Fortress 2 is ok as the game does not aim for a realistic experience.

Guy enjoys both pure gameplay and more immersed experiences; according to him, he plays story-heavy games like Bioshock for more of an experience, while (quote) ”TF2 [and other multiplayer games] are so absurd.. you’re playing them as a game rather than an experience”. Hence, we would say that in a mimicry situation Guy engrosses himself on a character frame level, while playing more competitive games in the player frame. Guy is one of the two interviewees that have played Mirror's Edge, in which he seeks an experience of being embodied as Faith in the game-world rather than enjoying the story told. HUD-wise, Guy feels that it is good to have more information in a competitive multiplayer situation, but finds it desirable to find alternative solutions to a traditional non-diegetic overlay HUD in single-player experiences.

Robert is as diverse as Guy, describing himself as a player both enjoying competitive multiplayer and story-based single player games. In single-player games, he is in it for the story and the game universe, while he plays competitive multi-player games for competing and feeling better than others. Robert has played Mirror's Edge as well, naming one of the reasons he enjoyed the game so much was because (quote) "it was just you and the game [no hud] and not a lot of other stuff you had to look at”. As with Guy, Robert playes competitive games by moving between the person and the player frame, while single player mimicry experiences is played largely in the character frame. Robert prefers games that strive for a fully transparent HUD because (quote) “the HUD does not help immerse you into the game and sometimes it even disturbs the experience”, however he also says that (quote) "in some games you really need to know stuff like how much ammo you got".

Mattias describes himself as a "classic gamer", having played a lot of Counterstrike in his past but have now moved on to more single player games. To him, an engrossing multiplayer experience is when he is really focused on what happens at the moment and what his teammates and rivals is doing, while he enjoys single-player games for the unexpected turns of the narrative and puzzle solving. This could be interpreted as that Mattias plays competitive games in the player frame, while in story-heavy games he moves between the character frame and the player frame. Mattias don't believe that the game experience is very dependent on the HUD strategy chosen by the developers - as he is a "classic gamer", he prefers explicit solutions such as overlay health bars as it helps him make in-game decisions, however he admits (when asked about it) that fully transparent HUDs is more realistic and is probably suited for games aiming for a high level of realism.

Henke mostly play single-player games, though not for experiencing the story but more as playgrounds. He really enjoyed Halflife (1), and mentions the ability to play around with the physics as one reason. He does mention Bioshock as a game he enjoyed because of the thrilling game-world, however he found the non-varied nature of the gameplay to be irritating. This points at Henke playing mimicry games in the player frame. As Mattias, Henke does not believe that the HUD play a large role in the engrossment/immersion of a game, stating that (quote) "I can be sucked into a game no matter if it has a good HUD or not". When asked, he believes that more information makes sense in multiplayer games, hence a more HUD-heavy UI strategy might be of importance in those compared to single-player experiences.

Altogether we're quite content with this non-quantative interview user study, as we've gained some knowledge. Our immersion/engrossment model seems appropriate, however it seems that it can be modified into the following:


In competitive game situations, players move between their person frame (personal goals, striving towards a sense of achievement) and the player frame (exploiting the game rules). In a mimicry game situation players seem to move primarily between the person frame and the character frame - carrying over real-world knowledge into the game-world. The same goes for vertigo-focused games. A traditional HUD seems to be most important when acting in the player frame, hence a 2D overlay UI strategy might be suitable for competitive games, while alternative strategies might be desirable in mimicry and vertigo situations.