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Engagement in Digital Games

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Why Engagement Matters

Abstract

This chapter draws upon O’Brien’s Process Model of User Engagement to situate the game experience literature on digital games. The temporal aspects of game play are characterised at the different stages of engagement: from point of engagement, through sustained engagement, disengagement and re-engagement This analysis highlights that the Process Model fails to capture two essential aspects of digital game engagement: individual differences, or why specific people play specific games; and the way in which players engage outside of the game, for example, thinking about the game when they are not playing it, which may result in looking for information that will support and progress game play at a future point. This challenges the general approach of conceptualising engagement in games as occurring within a single gaming session.

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    For example, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the many colleagues and students who have worked with me in developing my understanding of immersion in digital games over the last 10 years.

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  1. University of York, York, UK

    Paul Cairns

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  1. Paul Cairns
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  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Heather O'Brien

  2. University of York, York, United Kingdom

    Paul Cairns

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Cairns, P. (2016). Engagement in Digital Games. In: O'Brien, H., Cairns, P. (eds) Why Engagement Matters. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27446-1_4

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