The Effect of Previous Gaming Experience on Game Play Performance

Candidate: Mona Erfani Joorabchi
Type: Master of Science (MSc), School of Interactive Arts and Technology
Date: November 26, 2010
Senior Supervisor: Magy Seif el-Nasr
Thesis: Download Thesis Document

Abstract

In this thesis, I looked at how the skills/knowledge gained from playing games in different genres can influence players' gameplay performance when playing a new game. This is critical as different genres provide players with different abilities. Although game researches are growing and understanding players' gameplay behaviors and performance abilities is one of the growing area of research, none of previous research within this area have deeply investigated players' behaviors and the relation of that to knowledge/skills gained by playing specific genres. Knowing the details of the skills gained and their influence on performance of target audience's playing habits plays an important role in making informed deicisions about game design. Since there are many game genres exist, to narrow it down I explored the influence of prior gaming experience, specifically with Role Playing and First Person Shooter games, on their ability to navigate and solve spatial puzzles in 3D games.