UC Santa Cruz

The tension and drama of player challenges are what drives gameplay. While players often only think about performance when they experience difficulty and failure in games, my work argues that the scope of challenge goes beyond that aspect, including more socioemotional eudaimonic gaming experiences.

I first explored micro and macro views of challenge and failure in games from the performative challenge aspect, as well as how they related to player experience outcomes. I then explored how emotional design patterns related to eudaimonic experiences, such as player reflection. Lastly, I explored how the addition of sociality affects the emotionally challenging player experience.

Through my explorations, this dissertation provides a definition of challenge itself that aims to be more player-centric and inclusive of different types of challenge. Secondly, I contribute some future research directions and recommendations towards how to design for challenging player experiences that are emotionally-impactful and memorable.