Full paper · 2015

The Placebo Effect in Digital Games: Phantom Perception of Adaptive Artificial Intelligence

Denisova, A., & Cairns, P.

ConferenceProceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY'15), 2015

Study design: players played the same game, told either that it had adaptive AI or that it was a standard game; in two studies, players told about adaptive AI reported higher immersion, although neither version had it. — Open full-size image

In short

Can simply telling players that a game has adaptive AI change their experience? In two studies, players were told the game contained adaptive artificial intelligence, although it did not.

How the studies worked

What players were told

“Unlike in a standard game, the world was generated based on the participant’s performance in the game” and, “depending on how well they performed in the game, it would ‘adapt’ the game world to match the player’s skills.”

Study 1

Game: Don't Starve
Players: 21
Design: Within-subject: each player played two sessions
Play time: A 5-minute tutorial, then two 20-minute sessions
Measures: Immersive Experience Questionnaire (IEQ) and an additional questionnaire

Study 2

Game: Don't Starve
Players: 40 (20 in the experimental group)
Design: Between-subject: the experimental group received the explanation of adaptive AI; the control group was told nothing about the feature
Play time: About 5 minutes, then 20 more minutes from the beginning
Measures: IEQ and an additional questionnaire

The game never contained adaptive AI. The explanation was deliberately vague.

Key findings

Players who were told about the adaptive AI reported higher immersion.
Even basic instructions can change how players perceive a game.

What this means

The mere expectation of a difference can be sufficient to change the experience.
Discussion
Players may have an improved experience over earlier versions of the game simply because they expect it.
Discussion
Players are using their own beliefs and knowledge to generate the experience.
Discussion

In the media

New Scientist Placebo effect works in video games too

Read and cite

PDF (accepted version) Publisher's version (DOI)

APA citation

Denisova, A., & Cairns, P. (2015). The Placebo Effect in Digital Games: Phantom Perception of Adaptive Artificial Intelligence. In Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY'15) (pp. 23-33).

Line of work

This paper · 2015The Placebo Effect in Digital Games: Phantom Perception of Adaptive Artificial Intelligence
Followed by · 2019Player Experience and Deceptive Expectations of Difficulty Adaptation in Digital Games
Followed by · 2019Power-Ups in Digital Games: The Rewarding Effect of Phantom Game Elements on Player Experience
Followed by · 2025Exploring the (Placebo) Effect of an AI-Powered Dialogue System on Player Experience