Games User Research

Feeling in control is an important part of a player’s experience of the game. This doesn’t solely mean the Whose done it well? Half Life 2 – Valve’s classic FPS Half Life 2 made sure that the player experience was emphasised when designing their levels, and Valve deserve praise for it (though obviously not from…

Players expect loading times, and recognise that they are a necessary evil. It’s a given that most, if not all games, will have them. Since a loading screen is encountered by the player multiple times, it’s important to think about their experience when they encounter these screens, as it will undoubtedly form part of their…

Koster’s book isn’t written explicitly for user experience professionals, but it covers a subject in which we should be very interested – what is ‘fun’ in games, and what makes a game fun? Since we are involved in crafting a positive player experience, it is a topic that we should care deeply about, and A…

Video game developers around the country are missing a cheap, easy, and useful aspect of running player experience tests by not videoing the players being tested. I believe recording players gives a better understanding of how people experience games, and I’m going to explain why this leads to the development of better games. Recently I’ve…

Recently I visited a global game publishers' usability lab in London to help out for a day, and participated running UX tests on the current revision of an upcoming game. The experience was extremely educational, and enjoyable, and changed my perception of integrating usability within an established company. Unlike the academic settings in which I…