A4 Refereed article in a conference publication

Discovering the Motivational Constitution of ‘Playing Games for Fun’




AuthorsTuuri Kai, Vahlo Jukka

EditorsBarbara Göbl, Erik van der Spek, Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge, Rod McCall

Conference nameInternational Conference on Entertainment Computing

PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

Publishing placeCham

Publication year2022

JournalLecture Notes in Computer Science

Book title Entertainment Computing: ICEC 2022: 21st IFIP TC 14 International Conference, ICEC 2022, Bremen, Germany, November 1–3, 2022, Proceedings

Journal name in sourceLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

Series titleLecture Notes in Computer Science

Volume13477

First page 39

Last page46

ISBN978-3-031-20211-7

eISBN978-3-031-20212-4

ISSN0302-9743

eISSN1611-3349

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20212-4_3(external)

Web address https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-20212-4_3(external)


Abstract

Regardless of its all-encompassing and ubiquitous nature, game and play researchers have often steered away from applying fun as a research concept. If a concept seems to be associated with everything, it logically follows that the concept lacks explanatory power. In this paper, we do not merely settle for the blunt conclusion that fun is not an interesting research concept. Rather we start to explore the phenomenon of fun by approaching it through three lenses: motivation to play, gameplay experience, and psychological need satisfaction. By analyzing two large survey samples collected in Finland (N = 879) and South-Korea (N = 1519), we cluster survey participants into player types according to their gameplay motivations. It is revealed that all players are more motivated by fun than by other need-based gaming motives, but also that a significant minority of players are only motivated by fun. By studying player preferences of the player types, it is furthermore highlighted that these Fun-Seekers generally dislike most gameplay activities and differ from other player types also regarding their genre play habits. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 19:32