Exploring user experience in game interface: a case study of The Sims 3

The Computer Games Journal 2(1) Candlemas 2013

Exploring user experience in game interface: a case study of The Sims 3 Nazlena Mohamad Ali* 1, Siti Zahidah Abdullah1, Juhana Salim 2, Hyowon Lee 3 1

Institute of Visual Informatics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43000, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia * e-mail: [email protected] Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43000, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Singapore University of Technology and Design, 20 Dover Drive, Singapore 2

Abstract User interfaces are a crucial factor in successful computer games design. Well-designed user interactions in a computer game can enhance user experience in terms of playfulness, immersion and flow, resulting in better user engagement during game playing. The aim of this paper is to better understand the elements of user interface designs in games by measuring the user experience while engaged in playing the game. An experiment was conducted using The Sims 3, an extremely popular social and life simulation game featuring real 3D graphics, to measure various facets of user experiences while interacting with the game. A Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) was customised and administered to 35 participants aged between 20 and 28, and their responses were analysed. The findings show that most participants enjoyed the game. Overall, participants provided positive feedback on the user interface. Keywords: game interface, interaction design, user experience, engagement Article Information Received: November 2012 Accepted: March 2013 Available: online April 2013

Copyright of the author ©2013 • Reproduction rights owned by The Computer Games Journal Ltd ©2013

1: Introduction Designing engaging user interfaces is probably one of the most promising current research areas in the computer gaming industry. Interactions between the player and the game usually occur through the user interface. Pinelle et al. (2008) claimed that failure to design a usable game interface could interfere with the user experience and have a negative effect on the overall quality and success rate of a game. There are a variety of computer game genres (first-person shooter, role-playing, adventure, strategy, etc.) and types (arcade, handheld, console, online collaborative, etc.) and thus user experiences in playing games also differ. A player interacts with and adapts to the user interface and is then immersed to a certain level into the game world environment. The interface includes controller buttons, mouse clicks, menus, status bars, and field of view. Kuts (2009) provided an overview of user interface characteristics that affect playfulness. From the study, she found that a playful user interface can create a positive user experience. This aspect is particularly important especially in game interface design as a playful user experience is often the purpose for playing the game in the first place. 1-3 The contribution of this paper is to explore the facets of game user interface that influence the user experience. In an in-depth case study of game players, we investigated whether and how the different

Copyright of the authors ©2013 Reproduction rights owned by The Computer Games Journal Ltd ©2013 www.computergamesjournal.com

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design elements of a game interface positively or negatively influence user engagement. We examined one of the most popular computer games called The Sims 3. The Sims 3 is a 2009 strategic life simulation computer game developed by The Sims Studio, published by Electronic Arts using Nintendo 3DS. 4 The paper is organised as follows: Section 2 describes the background work in game user experience and Section 3 explains the features of the game in our case study. This is followed by a description of the methods and procedures employed in Section 4 and finally Section 5 discusses the results and findings of the study.

2: Game User Experience Evaluations of user experience have been discussed recently in several publications. However, the measuring of gaming experiences is not like evaluating applications in business and the software industry. Productivity and gaming applications clearly have very different goals and it is not sufficient to focus exclusively on conventional usability-related metrics. Since games are played for the experience, they are more subjective and more ill-defined, and thus trickier to study and understand with traditional usability methods that are typically applied in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). In order to describe, define and measure user experiences in game designs, the concepts such as Flow, Immersion, Fun and Playability have been adopted and studied. 5-13 Flow in game has been widely used in game evaluation study. Flow is the term defined by M. Csikszentmihalyi used to describe the feelings of enjoyment that occur when a balance between skill and challenge is achieved in the process of performing an intrinsically rewarding activity. Flow experience is a concept to describe the moments or states when someone is completely absorbed in an activity or task being carried out. This activity can be a work task or a leisure pursuit and indeed the user can become so absorbed that s/he is not aware whether it is work or play. The involvement in the activity makes it seem that nothing else matters and the user does not notice that the time passes quickly because s/he is so immersed in the activity that is being engaged in. The activities that can produce the sense of flow are varied, and can include creative art, athletic competition, engaging in hobbies and engaging in work for example reading a novel, gardening or even cooking. Csikszentmihalyi identified eight components of enjoyment that lead to flow: (1) a challenging activity that requires skills; (2) the merging of action and awareness; (3) clear goals and feedback; (4) concentration on the task at hand; (5) the paradox of control; (6) the loss of self-consciousness; (7) the transformation of time; and (8) autotelic experience. 14 The flow concept is also becoming popular in interaction design for user experiences of websites, interactive products, and computer games. B.P. Smith argued that flow, a psychological state, contributes to the enjoyment of playing video games. Sweetser and Wyeth (2005), and Cowley et al. (2008) adopted Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow in their model of player enjoyment. Sweetser and Wyeth (2005) presented a GameFlow as a possible concept of evaluating user experience in games while Cowley et al. expanded this theory into an information systems framework called Cowley’s usersystem-experience (USE) model. Zagal et al. (2010) developed a survey instrument to measure Csikszentmihalyi’s all eight components of enjoyment/flow consisting of three stages (i.e. creation, scale development, and testing). Indeed, flow is a well-established construct for examining experience in gameplay study. 9,10-11,15 Another term in measuring game experience is immersion. Immersion is described as an experience where people feel cut off and detached from reality such that the game is all that matters. Brown and Cairns (2004) used immersion to refer to the degree of involvement or engagement one experiences


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in a game. They proposed a Grounded Theory to construct a robust division of immersion into three levels: engagement, engrossment and total immersion. Questions were designed to prompt the interviewee about issues of immersion, for example, asking the gamers about a sense of presence and their experience of time while playing. From the interview sessions with the gamers about their experiences of gaming and immersion, the study suggests that gamers experienced different levels of engagement with a game, with the most engaged level being equated with immersion. They added that the empathy with the in-game characters as well as atmosphere created by the graphics, plot, and sounds were important factors to get totally immersed. 12 The element of Presence has been studied in several of different media and addressed reliable element in measuring games experience. The most of common definition used for presence is the "sense of being there" in one place or environment even when one is physically situated in another. Weibel et al. (2007) described presence as a state of consciousness that gives experience of being physically present in a virtual world. Briefly it means that the participant experiences presence, when he feels or acknowledges that the environment is being presented to him through some type of media. These ideas correspond well with the features found in digital games in which player feel a sense of similarity between real-world and game world objects. IJsselsteijn et al. highlighted immersion and presence as potential candidates for evaluating gameplay. They developed the Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) which covers a range of digital game experiences that have been identified through reviewing theoretical accounts of player experiences. 8,16-19 Other than the studies to theoretically frame the nature of gaming experiences, there are more empirical approaches in understanding and measuring game experience. Mandryk et al (2005) used physiological techniques to measure user experience with entertainment technologies. Bernhaupt et al (2008) introduced new forms of interaction techniques such as gestures, eye-tracking and biophysiological input and feedback as evaluation methods for an enhanced user experience. Brockmyer et al. (2009) developed a Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) using both classical and Rasch analysis in determining deep engagement in video game-playing, focusing on the impact of playing violent video games. Evaluation of user experience with questionnaires is of interest to both those doing academic research and those in the software industry. Questionnaires are widely used for collecting data from respondents, and various kinds of questionnaires have been used in user experience evaluation. Gaming experience is one of the areas where questionnaires have been used extensively to evaluate user experience. 5,8,11,13,20-22

3: Case Study: The Sims 3 The Sims is one of the most successful computer games ever, consistently selling well over time and is the most popular game featuring domestic space. Since its release in the year 2000, The Sims has been a topic in a large number of discussions in the field of game research. Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims Studio said, “The Sims series continues to be one of the most successful video games of all time by providing universally appealing content and focusing on the player's imagination, emergent gameplay mechanics, and the innate humour evident in the virtual world of The Sims. 23-26 In the genre of a ‘simulation’ or ‘real life’ game, the main purpose and activities in The Sims consist of creating and controlling virtual characters in a virtual world. This game has no win or loses conditions, unlike other games where the main goal is to win. The player normally wants to achieve and maintain a level of success for their Sims character over time. Within the game, players control some key variables in the game, including physical features and personality properties of characters, careers of characters, behavioural interactions between characters, interactions between characters and objects


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in the environment and physical characteristics of character’s homes. Figure 1 shows a screen shot of the user-interface and game controls in The Sims 3 (The Sims Studio, 2009). 27,28

Figure 1: User-interface and game controls in The Sims 3 (The Sims Studio, 2009).

There are several stages of play in The Sims. In the first stage, the player needs to create an avatar (The Sims character); in the second, the player needs to insert the avatar into the house or neighbourhood which is the place where the player will make the traditional game decisions (e.g. where to go, what to do, with whom to interact, etc.). The third stage of play is defined by the possibility of buying furniture and constructing items for the house in order to fulfil the avatar’s needs. The player controls the actions and behaviour of avatar characters (Sims) within its community. Sims can live alone or with a family, homes must be furnished and comfortable, and the characters can go out to work, or stay at home. They need to interact with others, such as have friends or form close relationships, get married, have babies, or care for children. If their basic needs are not fulfilled, they will die, or at least fail to thrive. The game allows the player to customize the avatar’s body shape, and make-up is available for both genders. These are features that can be customised by the player in order to have a more fun game experience. 23 The quality of engagement in The Sims was acknowledged earlier by a number of researchers. In the findings of these studies, younger people were physically engaged with the game. When children played The Sims, they did not switch windows. They focused only on the game, as they controlled and watched their people interact in the environments which they, themselves, had constructed. They were absorbed in imaginative play. In his study, Flanagan (2003) said, “after purchasing the game, most new Sims players spent hours (and usually days) in non-stop manipulation of the simulated house”. These are the reasons for using The Sims in this study. We wanted to explore how some of the main features embedded in the game interface positively or negatively influence user engagement. An experiment using The Sims 3 (The Sims Studio, 2009) as a case study was carried out to explore the interaction between the player and the game interface. 23-24,28


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4: User Experiment The objective of this experiment was to explore user experience in the game interface by examining user interaction with the game interface. 4.1: Materials and procedure 35 students from the Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia voluntarily participated in this study. In this experiment, the game options were saved as ‘free will’ so that players could act on their own. The participants were introduced to The Sims 3 (The Sims Studio, 2009) game and had some tutorials before the experiment began. Participants were shown how to interact with the game by using the menu options (i.e. game interface). The experiment took place in a silent room where only one participant and researcher were present. During the experiment, participants were given an information sheet about the game and a list of controls. Participants were told they would have forty five minutes to play the game. They were given three specific tasks: 1) create a Sims character (e.g. set personalities, gender etc.), 2) decorate the house (e.g. design and buy furniture), and 3) fulfil the Sims’ basic needs (e.g. hunger, bladder, energy etc.). The goal of the game in this experiment was to keep the Sims characters happy, fed, clean, and nurtured. After forty five minutes of play, participants were asked to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of several sections such as demographic information, game engagement and the user-interface. 4.2: Measurements The questionnaire consisted of three sections. The first section included a few questions to elicit the player’s demographic information (i.e. age, race, frequency of playing PC games). Players also listed their previous experience in playing computer games such as the time they spent playing computer games, including their current level of knowledge and experience with The Sims 3 (The Sims Studio, 2009). The second section consisted of 15 questions of game engagement after the session. A questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale with 1 (Strongly Disagree) and 5 (Strongly Agree) was employed. The measurement of game engagement was based on the Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) used by Brockmyer et al. (2009). This GEQ is associated with four elements (Absorption, Presence, Flow and Immersion) is used to measure a user’s potential for becoming engaged in video games. In this experiment, the GEQ was customised for the purpose of the study and to suit the game environment (see Table 1). The Sims is a type of ‘simulation’ or ‘real life’ game consists of creating and controlling virtual characters in a virtual world. This game has no win or loses conditions, unlike other games where the main goal is to win. Therefore, the Absorption element was been remove because some questions in the Absorption’s element were not related to the game genre used in the experiment (i.e. “I feel scared”). 21,27 The third section consisted of questions on the game’s user interface elements including graphics, sound and music, buttons and icons, position of message box, and information message appeared in the game. Finally, for the exit questionnaires we asked about user satisfaction and their overall comments on the game and experiment. All data collected from the questionnaire were analysed using SPSS (20.0).


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Table 1: 15 items in GEQ used in the experiment (source: Brockmyer et al, 2009)

5: Results and Discussion Participants in this study were 35 students (22 female, 13 male) with ages ranging from 20 to 28 years, with an average age of 22 years. All of them were computer literate and used computers every day. The ethnic representation of the sample is as follows: Malay (63%), Chinese (30%), Indian (3%) and others - Indonesian and Middle Eastern (14%). All were experienced in playing general computer games. The average time participants had spent playing computer games varied from one to two times a year (29%), once a month (34%), once a week (20%) and everyday (17%). Only eight participants reported that they had experience in playing The Sims game. The rest of the participants had no prior experience with The Sims (77% novice, 23% non-novice). The detailed demographic information is summarised in Table 2. Reliability analyses were performed on each set of items concerning GEQ (Flow, Immersion and Presence). Cronbach’s alpha value for the 15 items of the GEQ was .875, showing no increase in the alpha level when an item was deleted. Table 3 is a frequency table of participants’ responses on their experience during the experiment task. On average, participants reported the game was attractive and fun (mean=4.20 and 4.23 respectively). This resulted in total immersion or presence in the game. For immersion (e.g. “I really get into the game”) the mean score was 4.14 (n=25). This was consistent with the aspect of presence as a majority of the participants agreed with the question “The game feels real” with a mean of 4.14 (n=30). For example in Table 3, 74.3% of participants acknowledged that they were deeply involved with the game (n=26), and 42.9% of the participants lost track of time (n= 15).


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Table 2: demographic profile of participants

Demographic profile

Men (n = 13)

Women (n = 22)

Total (N = 35)

Age 20-24 25 and above

9 (69.23%) 4 (30.77%)

19 (86.36%) 3 (13.64%)

28 (80.0%) 7 (20.0%)

Race Malay Chinese Indian Others

4 (30.77%) 4 (30.77%) 1 (7.69%) 4 (30.77%)

18 (81.82%) 2 (9.09%) 1 (4.55%) 1 (4.55%)

22 (62.86%) 6 (17.14%) 2 (5.71%) 5 (14.29%)

Frequency of Playing PC Games Everyday Once a week Once a month 1-2 a year

4 (30.77%) 7 (53.85%) 2 (15.38%) 1 (7.69%)

2 (9.09%) 2 (9.09%) 8 (36.36%) 9 (40.91%)

6 (17.14%) 9 (25.71%) 10 (28.57%) 10 (28.57%)

The Sims experience Non-Novice Novice

5 (38.46%) 8 (61.54%)

3 (13.64%) 19 (86.36%)

8 (22.86%) 27 (77.14%)

Table 3: frequency analysis for each item in GEQ

1

2

Scores (N=35) 3

The game is attractive The game is fun I play without thinking how to play I feel like I can’t stop playing I feel excited with the game I am focused on the game If someone talks to me I don’t hear them I do not need to use a manual to play I need to have skills to play this game I played longer than I meant to

0(0.00) 0(0.00) 2(5.7) 1(2.9) 1(2.9) 1(2.9) 6(17.1)

0(0.00) 0(0.00) 11(31.4) 6(17.1) 0(0.00) 0(0.00) 12(34.3)

1(2.9) 3(8.6) 12(34.3) 3(8.6) 8(22.9) 8(22.9) 11(31.4)

26(74.3) 21(60.0) 5(14.3) 15(42.9) 16(45.7) 19(54.3) 3(8.6)

8(22.9) 11(31.4) 5(14.3) 10(28.6) 10(28.6) 7(20.0) 3(8.6)

4.20 4.23 3.00 3.77 3.97 3.91 2.57

9(25.7) 2(5.7) 0(0.00)

0(0.00) 11(31.4) 4(11.4)

13(37.1) 8(22.9) 14(40.0)

10(28.6) 11(31.4) 7(20.0)

3(8.6) 3(8.6) 10(28.6)

3.20 3.06 3.66

I become deeply involved with the game I cannot sense my surrounding I lose track of time The game feels real I really get into the game

1(2.9)

2(5.7)

6(17.1)

22(62.9)

4(11.4)

3.74

1(2.9) 1(2.9) 0(0.00) 1(2.9)

11(31.4) 2(5.7) 0(0.00) 4(11.4)

13(37.1) 17(48.6) 5(14.3) 5(14.3)

7(20.0) 7(20.0) 20(57.1) 22(62.9)

3(8.6) 8(22.9) 10(28.6) 3(8.6)

3.00 3.54 4.14 4.14

GEQ items

4

5

Mean

Notes: (1= strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = neutral; 4 = agree; 5 = strongly agree)

According to Table 4, overall, participants gave positive feedback on the user-interface. 80% of participants liked the interface of this game (n=28), 51.5% found that the sounds used in the game gave them meaningful feedback (n=18), 77.2% experienced the game story as a part of the game play (n=27), 71.4% were interested in the game story (n=25) and 85.7% were interested in the game


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character (n=30). However, most of the participants were not very familiar with the game and thus had difficulty with the game menu and controls. Only 42.9% of participant understood the menu (n=15), and 34.3% felt the game control was easy (n=12). They also had some difficulties and required tutorials and guidance from the instructor prior to the experiment task. Table 4: items of game interface

Game Interface items I like the interface used in this game I experience using the menu as a part of the game It is easy to understand the menu The game control is easy Sounds from the game gave me meaningful feedback I experience the game story as part of the game play I am interested in the game story I am interested in the Sims character

1

2

Scores (N=35) 3

0(0.00) 0(0.00)

1(2.09) 1(2.09)

6(17.1) 11(31.4)

16(45.7) 17(48.6)

12(34.3) 6(17.1)

4.11 3.80

1(2.09) 2(5.7) 1(2.09)

5(14.3) 6(17.1) 2(5.7)

14(40.0) 15(42.9) 14(40.0)

9(25.7) 8(22.9) 15(42.9)

6(17.1) 4(11.4) 3(8.6)

3.40 3.17 3.49

0(0.00)

0(0.00)

8(22.9)

24(68.6)

3(8.6)

3.86

0(0.00) 0(0.00)

1(2.09) 1(2.09)

9(25.7) 4(11.4)

21(60.0) 21(60.0)

4(11.4) 9(25.7)

3.80 4.06

4

5

Mean

Notes: (1= strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = neutral; 4 = agree; 5 = strongly agree)

We explored the interface satisfaction for this experiment with five items (see Table 5). The majority of the participants (88.5%) felt that the game had interesting graphics, and 82.8% were satisfied with the sound and music from the game. Novice users (7.2%), on the other hand, were confused with the game buttons and icons. However, overall, participants acknowledged that they were satisfied with the game interface (97.1%) and had a wonderful experience with the game experiment (85.7%). Nessbit and Hoskens (2008) stated that the game interface can improve a user’s satisfaction but not performance, and suggested that developing multi-sensory game interfaces could improve a player’s experience. For example, the background music, sound effects and haptic displays can assist players to become more immersed in the game. Kuts (2009), in her study of playful user interface, mentioned that users can playfully navigate in user interface. 3 More than half of the participants in our experiment had no prior Sims experience and must thus be regarded as novices (77%, n= 27).They had difficulties in the game control and in understanding the game menu. Some (7.4%) were confused with the game menu and icons. 74.3% of them commented that the information messages (i.e. tutorial box from the game interface) were helpful. Experienced players might have developed skills in controlling the game, but a lack of skills can influence a user’s interaction with the game interface. Despite these differences in the experience, most of the participants (80%) felt addicted to the game and would like to play the game again in the future. Besides, 51.4% of the participants (n=18) were satisfied with the time given but some of them, 40% (n=14) commented that time given was not enough. Some of the participants did not complete the task by the given time. The majority of novice users wanted to spend more time on Task 1 (create a Sims character) and Task 2 (decorate the house) and did not have enough time for Task 3 (fulfil the Sims’ basic needs). This scenario corresponds to the observation by Flanagan (2003) that most new Sims players spent hours (and usually days) in non-stop manipulation of the simulated house. 24


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Table 5: assessment aspects of user interface

Assessment aspects Graphics Interesting Uninteresting Sound and Music Satisfied Unsatisfied Buttons and Icons Clear Confusing Position of message box Consistent Inconsistent Information message Helpful Unhelpful

(N=35, %)

88.5 0.00 82.8 2.9 68.6 7.2 68.5 11.5 74.3 2.9

Based on Csikszentmihalyi’s positive psychology research, when a person totally focuses into an activity and forgets about time and pressure, he reaches the optimal experience of flow. Chen (2007) stated that, in order to reach flow, the player needs to feel a sense of personal control over the game activity. Observation from the experiments shows some condition of flow which is player comments that: 29 “This game is like a reality and we are controlling the character (Sims) in the game. Nice and relaxing” (Participant 1, female). “I like when I can control the Sims in the house and can create our own character. It became more interesting since I start playing with the game” (Participant 22, female). A basic characteristic of immersion is that players feel they are in the game, that is, they experience the interactive possibilities from the graphics, plot, and sounds to get immersed in the game. From observation, novice players seemed more influenced by the user interface and graphics, while nonnovice players were invariably immersed in the game regardless of these factors. Two non-novice players summarized these kinds of experience well: “Like a real life event. I can learn additional things that related to real world.” (Participant 17, female) “Interesting game; quickly absorbs the player into the game.” (Participant 18, male) Beyond the immersion, the players commented on their experiences of gaming and the elements of presence. The feeling of being there and realistic is related to the concept of presence. In a study by McMahan (2003), it was suggested that virtual reality design in 3D video games (e.g. The Sims 3) might enable us to explore a possibility of an enhanced presence element in the game. According to the questionnaire responses, players felt it was like a real situation or environment: 30 “I like the character; I can choose whatever character I want. It feels real!” (Participant 6, female)


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“Like a real life game. I am satisfied.” (Participant 9, male) “This game is like our daily activity. How we play this game may be in line with our character. Mostly I like this game.” (Participant 21, male) “Like a real life. The graphics are impressive. Very interesting!” (Participant 32, male) Another issue identified was the relationship between gender of the user and the genre of the game, as this has been studied by previous researchers. As a real life genre and simulation game type, The Sims has been known to be preferred more by females than males. Over 50% of new players are women, and approximately 40% of all players are women (according to Flanagan, 2003). Although the user interface and the graphics are important, in this case, the game genre plays an important factor in user preference. Most of the female players in this experiment commented that they were satisfied with the game interface and enjoyed it. According to the questionnaire responses, most of our female players felt it was fun and enjoyable, more noticeably than our male players did: 23-24,31-32 “I like the character in The Sims. Happy to play the game.” (Participant 2, female) “I like to decorate the house and create the Sims. I enjoy playing The Sims and it’s addictive.” (Participant 10, female) “I like the interface of the game. I also like the way we interact with the Sims, because I feel it is quite easy to play with guidance. I enjoyed the game.” (Participant 15, female) “Game interface is interesting and dynamic for players. Feel engaged with the character in the game. Same with the player’s daily life. May continue to play with The Sims in the future.” (Participant 23, female) “The graphics are nice. Potential to be a very addictive game.” (Participant 29, female) Ultimately, of course, the user interface is an interesting and important component of the HCI in games. Overall, the participants acknowledged that they were satisfied with the game interface and had a good experience with the experiment itself. However, there are other factors that can influence the user experience while playing the game, like the game genre. We also asked participants what they liked about the game. Most of the participants responded that they liked the ‘simulation’ and ‘real life’ genre of the game. However, two participants did not like the game genre and gave negative feedback about the game experiment. One of them was a participant who did not like simulation/real life games (like The Sims 3) and commented that “It was fun to be given the chance to customize but it became boring after a while” (Participant 8, novice, male). To them, the game was boring because they preferred more challenging or more dynamic strategy games. 33

6: Conclusion Understanding the relationship between the elements of a gaming user interface and their overall impact on user experience in terms of flow, immersion and presence will be one of the key factors in designing more effective and engaging games in the coming years. In this paper, we explored this issue by capturing gamers’ subjective opinions on user interface elements and their overall experiences when they were engaged in playing The Sims 3 life simulation game.


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This study revealed interesting findings on positive user experiences while interacting with the game interface. This paper is a preliminary exploration of user experience when playing The Sims game. An attractive game interface is able to positively influence players’ satisfaction and enjoyment levels. For future work, we will explore not only one type of genre (‘simulation’ or ‘real life’ genre in The Sims), but other game genres and types and will involve a larger number of participants, which will lead to a better understanding of the interactions between players and games through the interface. Acknowledgement This research was supported by a university research grant (UKM-TT-03-FRGS0135-2010). References 1

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Exploring user experience in game interface: a case study of The Sims 3

Exploring user experience in game interface: a case study of The Sims 3

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