Increasing the intention to play rhythm games in novice players by using story plot

Abstract

Rhythm games have unique mechanics of its own. Some novice players may feel uncomfortable to play this kind of game for a long time. In order to encourage the novice players to play rhythm games, this study suggests introducing the players with a short story inside the game. The aim of this study is to compare enjoyment and intention to play in rhythm game of novice players when they play the rhythm game with the story and without the story. A simple rhythm game prototype was created to use in the experiment. 56 participants (26 female, 29 male, age M = 22.93, SD = 2.867, rhythm game familiar M = 3.18/5, SD = 1.377) were divided equally into 2 groups, story group (14 female, 14 male, age M = 24.93, SD = 4.118, rhythm game familiar M = 3.21/5, SD = 1.475) and non-story group (12 female, 15 male, 1 prefer not to say, age M = 22.93, SD = 2.867, rhythm game familiar M = 3.14/5, SD = 1.297). The results have shown that there was not a significant difference in the intention to play for players between both groups. The researchers suggest that this part of experiment need more complex experiment design. Another objective in this study is, within the story group, what is that important factor that leads to increasing the intention to play of the players. The results have shown that there was a correlation between the challenge-skill balance, concentration on task at hand, autotelic experience, which are flow subfactors, with the intention to play. There was also a correlation between challenge, empathy, which are story subfactors, with the intention to play.