Fun Versus Meaningful Video Game Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis of User Responses

• DOI: 10.1007/s40869-016-0029-9
• Publication Date: 2016-11-24T20:30:25Z
• Authors: Ryan Rogers; Julia Woolley; Brett Sherrick; Nicholas David Bo...; Mary Beth Oliver
• Keywords: needs gratification; 0508 media and communications; Communication; 05 social sciences; Communication Technology and New Media; video games; meaningfulness; enjoyment; eudaimonia

Emerging research on video games has suggested that feelings of both enjoyment and meaningfulness can be elicited from gameplay. Studies have shown enjoyment and meaningfulness evaluations to be associated with discrete elements of video games (ratings of gameplay and narrative, respectively), but have relied on closed-end data analysis. The current study analyzed participants’ open-ended reviews of either their “most fun” or “most meaningful” video game experience (N = 575, randomly assigned to either condition). Results demonstrated that “fun” games were explained in terms of gameplay mechanics, and “meaningful” games were explained in terms of connections with players and in-game characters.