Comparing Effects of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Systems on Video Game Experience

Abstract

Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) is used by game designers to adaptively balance game challenge against player skill during play. While many DDA implementations exist, few comparative empirical studies, if any, have been done. This study investigates the effects of DDA systems on player experience through 3 conditions: no DDA, system-oriented ramping DDA (rDDA) and player-oriented DDA (pDDA). The presence of DDA was found to produce better overall game experiences. However, we found that players in the rDDA condition experienced less self-consciousness and more transformation of time but a lower sense of control compared to the players in the pDDA condition. Our findings provide new insight into DDA, demonstrating that while DDA systems can provide superior game experiences, specific drawbacks reduce their effectiveness. These considerations are of interest to interactive system designers, extending beyond games to areas where these types of adaptive systems have beneficial applications (e.g. physiotherapy or learning).