Arrrgghh!!!

Abstract

Frustration, in small, calibrated doses, can be integral to an enjoyable game experience, but it is a very delicate balance: just a slightly excessive amount of frustration could compel players to terminate prematurely the experience. Another factor with high relevance when analyzing player frustration is the difference in personality between players: some are less willing to endure frustration and might give up on the game earlier than others. This article seeks to identify patterns of behavior that could point to potential frustration before players resolve to quit a game. The method should be applicable independently from the personalities of different players. Furthermore, in order for this method to be relevant during game production, it has been decided to avoid relying on large numbers of players, and instead depend on highly granular data and both qualitative approaches (direct observation of players) and quantitative research (data mining gameplay metrics). The result is a computational model of player frustration that, although applied to a single game (Kane & Lynch 2), is able to raise a red flag whenever a sequence of actions in the game could be interpreted as possible player frustration.