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Understanding Player Experience in Museum-Based Learning Games: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

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Serious Games (JCSG 2024)

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to report on the impact of a game-based museum school visit on player experience while solving complex problems about food production. We used a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of digital traces with qualitative case studies to assess how players engage with the mixed reality game AL2049. The data includes digital traces from 174 games and video recordings collected via on-board cameras. Our results reveal clusters characterizing attitudes towards complexity, identifying four categories of players: Explorers, Rushers, Strategists, and Inactive. Through case studies of these categories, using a dedicated model, we identified the dimensions that characterize their subjective experiences. This model highlights player experiences across four main dimensions: actions, information processing, knowledge, and emotions. Our results highlight the tension that can arise in game-based learning between the way the game is designed and the way it is played. They also underscore the value of using mixed methods to analyze the player’s experience.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Although designed for museum play, a web version is available for teachers to replay in the classroom (available in English, French and German): https://www.alimentarium.org/sites/default/files/games/AL2049/index.html.

  2. 2.

    The game, created for an Italian historical residence, uses narrative and game mechanics to engage teenagers with its 18th-century history, encouraging exploration and aiding their interpretation of the museum’s content [40].

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Swiss National Sciences Foundation (SNSF 100019_185474), as well as a close partnership with teachers from compulsory schools, the game design studio Digital Kingdom.

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The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

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Morard, S., Paukovics, E., Sanchez, E. (2025). Understanding Player Experience in Museum-Based Learning Games: A Mixed-Methods Analysis. In: Plass, J.L., Ochoa, X. (eds) Serious Games. JCSG 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 15259. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74138-8_14

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