Measuring User Experience in Multiplayer Board Games

Abstract

Comparison of user experience between multiplayer digital games and board games is largely unexplored in the literature, with no instrument found to suitably measure user experience across game formats. This study explores the use of the Social Presence module of the Games Experience Questionnaire to measure user experience in a multiplayer board game involving 12 participants across 3 separate sessions. Scale analysis and correlation with semistructured interviews held with the participants suggest that the instrument is reliable and valid and can thus be used for measurement and comparison of user experience across game formats. The Games Experience Questionnaire can therefore be used to scale-up board game research by diminishing reliance on interviews as well as to assist in the choice between digital and nondigital implementation of gameplay forming part of an overarching story, such as in transmedial productions.