Gaming and Emotions, continued...

In the same study described in the previous post Nicole Lazzaro goes on to compile a list of all the major emotions that player experience when playing video games.

Fear: Threat of harm, object moving quickly to hit player, sudden
fall or loss of support, possibility of pain. Present in most games (Mirror's Edge)

Surprise: Sudden change, briefest of all emotions, does not feel good or bad, after interpreting event this emotion merges into fear, relief, etc. Present in most games - very common in FPS games (Like FEAR or Doom).

Disgust: The strongest triggers are body products such as feces, vomit, urine, mucus, saliva, and blood. Very prominent in games like Dead Space.

Kvell (from Yiddish): Pleasure or pride at the accomplishment of a child or mentee. (Kvell is how it feels to express this pride in one’s child or mentee to others.) - Common in strategy games involving unit management, basebuilding etc or MMO games with elaborate character building.

Fiero (Italian): Personal triumph over adversity. The ultimate Game Emotion. Overcoming difficult obstacles. Players do not need to experience anger prior to success, but it does require effort. Present in all games.

Schadenfreude (German - Sv. Skadeglädje): Gloat over misfortune of a rival. Competitive players enjoy beating each other, especially a long-term rival. Boasts are made about player prowess and ranking. Present in ALL online FPS and MMO games.Tea baging in Halo.

Wonder: Over whelming improbability. Curious items amaze players at their unusualness, unlikelyhood, and improbability without breaking out of the realm of possibilities. Present in open-world games like GTA, Oblivion or World of Warcraft. When first seeing the Chimera fleet over San Fransisco in Resistance 2.

These feeling are, I supose, more relevant to game design in general, but might be somewhat significant to how the UI/menus of a game is designed as well. A Game like Mirror's Edge has heavy elements of Wonder, Fiero, Surprise and Fear an this is to some extent mirrored in the UI design of the game.