research-article

Defining playability of games: functionality, usability, and gameplay

Author:

Janne PaavilainenAuthors Info & Claims

AcademicMindtrek '20: Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Academic Mindtrek

Pages 55 - 64

https://doi.org/10.1145/3377290.3377309

Published: 06 February 2020 Publication History

Abstract

Playability is an ambiguous term that is often used but seldom defined. Used by researchers, practitioners, journalists, and players alike, the term has remained unclear due to different interpretations and definitions. We aim to provide clarity on this issue and propose a definition for playability that is based on a game's functionality, usability, and gameplay. We argue that playability should not cover aspects such as controllers, social contexts, or player experiences, as these are external factors related to hardware, situation, and players. Our definition is based on games as systems paradigm and it focuses only on components that the designer can design into the game. This approach provides clarity between playability and player experience, and it is applicable to all kinds of games - physical or digital. Good playability does not necessarily result in good player experience, while games with poor playability can be enjoyable in the certain contexts.

References

[1]

Aarseth. E. 2007. I Fought the Law: Transgressive Play and The Implied Player. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2007. http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/07313.03489.pdf

[2]

Aldahir, P. C. F. and McElroy, J. S. 2014. A Review of Sports Turf Research Techniques Related to Playability and Safety Standards. Agronomy Journal 106, 4, 1297--1308.

[3]

Bernhaupt, R. ed. 2015. Game User Experience Evaluation. Springer-Verlag, London, UK.

[4]

Bernhaupt, R. ed. 2010. Evaluating User Experience in Games: Concepts and Methods. Springer-Verlag, London, UK.

[5]

Costikyan, G. 2002. I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward A Critical Vocabulary for Games. In Proceedings of CGDC'02, edited by Frans Mäyrä. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press. http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/05164.51146.pdf

[6]

Cowley, B., Kosunen, I., Lankoski, P., Kivikangas, J.M., Järvelä, S., Ekman, I., Kemppainen, J. and Ravaja, N. 2014. Experience Assessment and Design in the Analysis of Gameplay. Simulation & Gaming, 45, 1, 41--69. SAGE.

Digital Library

[7]

Denisova, A., Nordin, A. I., and Cairns, P. 2016. The Convergence of Player Experience Questionnaires. In Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI Play '16), 33--37. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2968095

[8]

Desurvire, H. and Wixon, D. 2018. Heuristics uncovered for games user researchers and game designers. In Games User Research, edited by Anders Drachen et al. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 217--256.

[9]

Desurvire, H. and Wiberg, C. 2010. User Experience Design for Inexperienced Gamers: GAP - Game Approachability Principles. In Game User Experience Evaluation, edited by Regina Bernhaupt (Ed.). Springer-Verlag, London, UK.

[10]

Desurvire, H. and Wiberg, C. 2009. Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration. In Proceedings of the International on Online Communities and Social Computing, 557--566.

Digital Library

[11]

Dictionary.com. 2017. Definition for `playability'. 30 June. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/playability?s=t

[12]

Die Gute Fabrik. 2013. Johann Sebastian Joust. Party Game. Copenhagen, Denmark.

[13]

Dillon, R. 2011. The 6--11 Framework: a new approach to video game analysis and design. In Proceedings of the GAMEON Asia 2011, 25--29.

[14]

Dillon, R. 2014. Towards the Definition of a Framework and Grammar for Game Analysis and Design. International Journal of Computer and Information Technology, 3, 2.

[15]

Douglas, A. 1954. Some Computations in Theoretical Physics. Doctoral Thesis. University of Cambridge, UK.

[16]

Douglas, A. 1952. Noughts and Crosses. Computer Game. University of Cambridge.

[17]

Drachen, A., Mirza-Babaei, P. and Nacke, L. ed. 2018. Games User Research. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

[18]

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S., Smith, J. H. and Pajares Tosca, S. 2008. Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. Routledge, New York, NY, USA.

[19]

Eidos Interactive. 2000. Deus Ex. Computer Game. USA.

[20]

Ermi, L. and Mäyrä, F. 2005. Fundamental components of the gameplay experience: analysing immersion. In Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play. http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/06276.41516.pdf

[21]

Fabricatore, C., Nussbaum. M. and Rosas, R. 2003. Playability in Action Video Games: A Qualitative Design Model. Human-Computer Interaction 17, 4, 311--368.

Digital Library

[22]

Fullerton, T., Swain, C. and Hoffman, S. 2004. Game Design Workshop: Designing, Prototyping, and Playtesting Games. CMP Books, San Fransisco, CA, USA.

Digital Library

[23]

Gibson, J. J. 1979. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), Boston, MA, USA.

[24]

Hall, D. 2012. Dayz Mod. Computer Game. New Zealand.

[25]

Hassenzahl, M. 2003. The thing and I: understanding the relationship between user and product. In Funology: From Usability to Enjoyment, edited by M. Blythe et al., 31--42. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

[26]

Heljakka, K. 2013. Principles of adult play(fullness) in contemporary toy cultures. Doctoral thesis, Aalto University. https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/11279

[27]

Heljakka, K. 2018. Design Dimensions for Hybrid Toys. In Hybrid Social Play Final Report, edited by Janne Paavilainen et al. University of Tampere.

[28]

Hunicke, R., LeBlanc, M. and Zubek, R. 2004. MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. In Proceedings of the Challenges in Game AI Workshop AAAI'04.

[29]

Högberg, J., Hamari, J., and Wästlund, E. Gameful Experience Questionnaire (GAMEFULQUEST): an instrument for measuring the perceived gamefullness of system use. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction 29, 619--660. DOI; https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1007/s11257-019-09223-w

[30]

id Software. 1999. Quake III. Computer Game. USA.

[31]

Isbister, K. and Schaffer, N. ed. 2008. Game Usability: Advice from the Experts for Advancing the Player Experience. Morgan Kaufmann, Burlington, MA, USA.

[32]

ISO. 1998. Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work with Visual Display Terminals (VDT)s - Part 11: Guidance on Usability. International Organization of Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.

[33]

ISO. 2008. Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems. International Organization of Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.

[34]

Juul, J. 2002. The Open and the Closed: Game of emergence and games of progression. In Proceedings of the CGDC'02, edited by Frans Mäyrä. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press. http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/openandtheclosed.html.

[35]

Juul, J. 2005. Half-real: Video games between real rules and fictional worlds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Digital Library

[36]

Järvinen, A., Heliö, S. and Mäyrä, F. 2002. Communication and Community in Digital Entertainment Services. Prestudy Research Report. University of Tampere. https://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/65663

[37]

Kibbee, J. M. 1961. Management Games and Computers. In Proceedings of the Western Joint Computer Conference, 11--16. Institute of Radio Engineers, New York, NY, USA.

Digital Library

[38]

Konami. 1998. Dance Dance Revolution. Arcade Game. Tokyo, Japan.

[39]

Korhonen, H. 2016. Evaluating Playability of Mobile Games with the Expert Review Method. Doctoral thesis, University of Tampere. https://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/99584

[40]

Korhonen, H. and Koivisto, E. 2006. Playability heuristics for mobile games. In Proceedings of the MobileCHI'06. http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1152215.1152218

[41]

Korhonen, H. and Koivisto, E. 2007. Playability heuristics for mobile multi-player games. In Proceedings of the DIMEA'07. http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1306813.1306828

[42]

Korhonen, H., Montola, M. and Arrasvuori, J. 2009. Understanding playful user experience through digital games. In Proceedings of Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces (DPPI), 274--285.

[43]

Kultima, A. and Sandovar, A. 2016. Game Design Values. In Proceedings of the 20th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, 350--357. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2994362

[44]

Kücklich, J. and Fellow, M. C. 2004. Play and playability as key concepts in new media studies. STeM Centre, Dublin City University.

[45]

Lantz, F. 2015. MDA. Game Design Advance. 13 April. http://gamedesignadvance.com/?p=2995

[46]

Lazzaro, N. 2017. Why We Play: Affect and The Fun of Games. In Human-Computer Interaction: Designing for Diverse Users and Domains, edited by A. Sears and A. Jacko. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.

[47]

LeBlanc, M. 2004. Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics: A Formal Approach to Game Design. Presentation at the Game Developers Conference. http://algorithmancy.8kindsoffun.com/MDAnwu.ppt

[48]

Leitmann, G. 1974. On some consequences of playability in differential games. In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control including the 13th Symposium on Adaptive Processes.

[49]

Malone, T. W. 1982. Heuristics for designing enjoyable user interfaces: Lessons from computer games. In Proceedings of the 1982 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'82), 63--68. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=801756

Digital Library

[50]

Mekler, E., Bopp, J, Tuch, A. N. and Opwis, K. 2014. A systematic review of quantitative studies on the enjoyment of digital entertainment games. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'14), 927--936. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfin?id=2557078

[51]

Mello, V. and Perani, L. 2012. Gameplay x playability: defining concepts, tracing differences. In Proceedings of SBgames 2012. http://sbgames.org/sbgames2012/proceedings/papers/artedesign/AD_Full20.pdf

[52]

Molitor, R. P., Melvin, T., Nealon, J. L. and Dreifus, D. W. 1987. Golf ball having improved playability properties. US patent 4674751A. 30 June 2017. https://www.google.com/patents/US4674751

[53]

Nacke, L. 2009. From Playability to a Hierarchical Game Usability Model. In Proceedings of FuturePlay'09. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1004/1004.0256.pdf

Digital Library

[54]

Niantic. 2016. Pokémon GO. Mobile Game. San Francisco, CA, USA.

[55]

Norman, D. 1988. The Psychology of Everyday Things. Basic Books, New York, NY. USA.

[56]

Nummenmaa, T. 2013. Executable Formal Specifications in Game Development. Doctoral thesis, University of Tampere. http://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/94591

[57]

Paavilainen, J., Korhonen, H., Koskinen, E. and Alha, K. 2018. Heuristic evaluation of playability: examples from social games research and free-to-play heuristics. In Games User Research, edited by Anders Drachen et al. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 257--280.

[58]

Paavilainen, J. 2017. Playability: A Game-Centric Definition. In Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play.

Digital Library

[59]

Paavilainen, J, Korhonen, H., Alha, K., Stenros, J., Koskinen, E. and Mäyrä, F. 2017. The Pokémon GO Experience: A Location-Based Augmented Reality Mobile Game Goes Mainstream. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'17), 2493--2498. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3025871

[60]

Paavilainen, J., Alha, K., and Korhonen, H. 2016a. Review of Social Features in Social Network Games. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2017 from http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/paper_369.pdf

[61]

Paavilainen. J, Alha, K. and Korhonen, H. 2015. Domain-Specific Playability Problems in Social Network Games. International Journal of Arts and Technology 8, 4.

[62]

Paavilainen, J., Koskinen, E., Hamari, J., Kinnunen, J., Alha, K., Keronen, L. and Mäyrä, F. 2016b. Free2Play Research Project Final Report. University of Tampere. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-0067-8

[63]

Paavilainen, J., Hamari, J., Stenros, J. and Kinnunen, J. 2013. Social Network Games: Player's Perspectives. Simulation & Gaming 44, 6: 794--820.

Digital Library

[64]

Paavilainen, J., Korhonen, H. and Alha, K. 2014. Common Playability Problems in Social Network Games. In CHI' 14 Extended Abstracts on Humans Factors in Computing Systems. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=2559206.2581336

[65]

Paavilainen, J. 2010. Critical review on video game evaluation heuristics: social games perspective. 2010. In Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology, 56--65. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1920787

[66]

Palace Software. 1987. Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior. Computer Game. London UK.

[67]

Poels, K., de Kort, Y. and IJsselstejn, W. 2012. Identification and Categorization of Digital Game Experiences: A Qualitative Study Integrating Theoretical Insights and Player Perspectives. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, 9, 1.

[68]

Rossignol, J. 2009. Wot I Think: Arma II. Rock Paper Shotgun. 13 April 2018. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/29/wot-i-think-arma-ii/

[69]

Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. 2003. Rules of Play. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.

[70]

Sánchez, J. L. G., Vela, F. L. G, Simarro, F. M. and Pedilla-Zea, N. 2012. Playability: analysing user experience in video games. Behaviour & Information Technology 31, 10, 1033--1054.

Digital Library

[71]

Seif El-Nasr, M., Drachen, A., Canossa, A. ed. 2013. Game Analytics: Maximizing the Value of Player Data. Springer.

[72]

Stahlke, S. and Mirza-Babaei, P. 2018. Usertesting Without the User: Opportunities and Challenges of an AI-Driven Approach In Games User Research. Computers in Entertainment 16, 2.

Digital Library

[73]

Stenros, J. 2015. Playfulness, Play, and Games: A Constructionist Ludology Approach. Doctoral Thesis. University of Tampere. http://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/96986

[74]

Supercell. 2016. Clash Royale. Mobile Game. Helsinki, Finland.

[75]

Sweetser, P. and Wyeth, P. 2005. GameFlow: a model for evaluating player enjoyment in games. ACM Computers in Entertainment, 3, 3, 1--24.

Digital Library

[76]

Usability First. 2015. Playability (Glossary). Foraker Labs. 11 April 2018. http://www.usabilityfirst.com/glossary/playability/

[77]

Whitaker, R. 2015. 8 Critically Successful Games that Sold Poorly. Escapist Magazine. 13 April 2018 http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/galleryoftheday/14728-8-Critically-Sucessful-Games-that-Flopped-at-Retail

[78]

White, G. 2014. The Playthrough Evaluation Framework: Reliable Usability Evaluation for Video Games. Doctoral Thesis. University of Sussex, UK.

[79]

Wiemeyer, J., Nacke, L., Moser, C. and Mueller, F. 2016. Player Experience. In Serious Games, edited by R. Dörner et al. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.

[80]

Wolfe, J. 1993. A History of Business Teaching Games in English-Speaking and Post-Socialist Countries: The Origination and Diffusion of a Management Education and Development Technology. Simulation & Gaming 24, 4, 446--463.

Digital Library

[81]

Woodhouse, J. 1993. On the Playability of Violins. Part I: Reflection Functions. Acta Acustica united with Acustica 78, 3: 125--136. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/dav/aaua/1993/00000078/00000003/art00003

[82]

Zhu, M., Zhao, F., Fang, X., and Moser, C. 2017. Developing Playability Heuristics Based on Nouns and Adjectives from Online Game Reviews. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 33, 3, 241--253.

Cited By

Divieiev MGrigaliūnaitė V(2024)The Impact of Videogame Elements in MMORPG on Consumer RetentionManagement of Organizations: Systematic Research10.2478/mosr-2024-000291:1(23-36)Online publication date: 8-Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.2478/mosr-2024-0002
Zacharia KGotsis M(2024) Design and evaluation of Enthralled : A higher education conversation game based on Euripides’ Bacchae Arts and Humanities in Higher Education10.1177/1474022224127616524:1(23-59)Online publication date: 7-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/14740222241276165
Adetunji RAde-Ibijola A(2024)Unlocking Learning: Investigating the Replayability of Educational GamesInternational Journal of Computer Games Technology10.1155/2024/58767802024:1Online publication date: 29-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/5876780
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Defining playability of games: functionality, usability, and gameplay
1. Applied computing
  1. Computers in other domains
    1. Personal computers and PC applications
      1. Computer games
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Interaction design
    1. Interaction design theory, concepts and paradigms

Recommendations

Playability: A Game-Centric Definition
CHI PLAY '17 Extended Abstracts: Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play

Playability is a vague and ambiguous term that is often used but seldom defined. Used by games researchers, industry practitioners, journalists, and players alike, the term has remained unclear due to different interpretations and definitions. We propose ...
Common playability problems in social network games
CHI EA '14: CHI '14 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Social network games on Facebook have become a popular genre of video games. Social network integration and the free-to-play revenue model make them easily accessible but also easy to discard. In such an ecosystem, the quality of the game plays an ...
Playability: analysing user experience in video games

Currently, few studies focus on analysing the degree of the Player eXperience PX in video games. Video games have now become interactive entertainment systems with a high economic impact on society; these are interactive systems characterised by their ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences

AcademicMindtrek '20: Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Academic Mindtrek

January 2020

182 pages

ISBN:9781450377744

DOI:10.1145/3377290

Conference Chair:
Markku Turunen
Tampere University

Copyright © 2020 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 06 February 2020

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Research-article

Funding Sources

Academy of Finland

Conference

AcademicMindtrek '20

AcademicMindtrek '20: Academic Mindtrek 2020

January 29 - 30, 2020

Tampere, Finland

Acceptance Rates

AcademicMindtrek '20 Paper Acceptance Rate 24 of 45 submissions, 53%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 110 of 207 submissions, 53%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

10
Total Citations
View Citations
772
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)121
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)18

Reflects downloads up to 05 Mar 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Divieiev MGrigaliūnaitė V(2024)The Impact of Videogame Elements in MMORPG on Consumer RetentionManagement of Organizations: Systematic Research10.2478/mosr-2024-000291:1(23-36)Online publication date: 8-Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.2478/mosr-2024-0002
Zacharia KGotsis M(2024) Design and evaluation of Enthralled : A higher education conversation game based on Euripides’ Bacchae Arts and Humanities in Higher Education10.1177/1474022224127616524:1(23-59)Online publication date: 7-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/14740222241276165
Adetunji RAde-Ibijola A(2024)Unlocking Learning: Investigating the Replayability of Educational GamesInternational Journal of Computer Games Technology10.1155/2024/58767802024:1Online publication date: 29-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/5876780
Guo ZThawonmas RRen X(2024)Rethinking dynamic difficulty adjustment for video game designEntertainment Computing10.1016/j.entcom.2024.10066350(100663)Online publication date: May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2024.100663
Chen ZLam C(2024)Exploring Player Experience in Mobile Learning Through Location-Based GamesHuman-Centered Design, Operation and Evaluation of Mobile Communications10.1007/978-3-031-60458-4_13(183-195)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60458-4_13
Poretski LTang A(2022)Press A to Jump: Design Strategies for Video Game LearnabilityProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3517685(1-26)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3491102.3517685
Miller JCooper S(2022)Barriers to Expertise in Citizen Science GamesProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3517541(1-25)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3491102.3517541
Li XZhang ZStefanidis K(2021)A Data-Driven Approach for Video Game Playability Analysis Based on Players’ ReviewsInformation10.3390/info1203012912:3(129)Online publication date: 17-Mar-2021
https://doi.org/10.3390/info12030129
Atmaja PSugiarto (2021)The Relationships between Aspects of Playability and Learning Content in Educational Games2021 IEEE 7th Information Technology International Seminar (ITIS)10.1109/ITIS53497.2021.9791525(1-6)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/ITIS53497.2021.9791525
Escudero-Mancebo DCorrales-Astorgano MCardenoso-Payo VGonzalez-Ferreras C(2021)Evaluating the Impact of an Autonomous Playing Mode in a Learning Game to Train Oral Skills of Users With Down SyndromeIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2021.30905169(93480-93496)Online publication date: 2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3090516

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Figures

Tables

Media

View Table of Conten