Mapping real-time game experience using behavioral indicators

Games are not fixed experiences, instead they change during playing and the experience is dependent on people's expectations as well as their achievements. In order to reach their goals people act and react, both providing a basis for measuring people's real-time experience during game play. Taking a wide perspective on the game experience in our studies we aim to link behavioural indicators (including postural data, and force measurements) to several game experience dimensions, most notably frustration, flow, and boredom. In our studies we place these measures side by side to self report measures of the game experience after the game has been played, and physiological measures, tapping how in-game and after-game experiences are linked. In a recent experiment we had participants play several levels of a FPS of which the level of difficulty was manipulated. The relationship between level of difficulty, posture and force exerted on interface devices will be presented.