Measuring player experience

Questionnaires and mixed methods for measuring challenge, uncertainty, agency and players' needs.

Much of my work develops and validates questionnaires for video games, board games and tabletop role-playing games. These cover perceived challenge (CORGIS), perceived uncertainty (PUGS), and the satisfaction and frustration of players' basic needs (BANGS), as well as how different questionnaires overlap.

More recent work examines what agency means in games and how it differs from autonomy, and combines questionnaires with physiological measures to detect experiences such as challenge as they happen.

Papers

Teaser figure: What we talk about when we talk about agency. A Venn diagram of 77 studies shows 50 frame agency as a system affordance, 45 as a subjective experience, and 18 as both. Bar chart of game elements studied: interaction 26, narrative 21, characters 20, environment 15. Only 33 studies addressed player experience, and few used validated measures.

JournalSCImago Journal Rank: PACM HCI, first quartile: SJR Q12026 · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI PLAY 2026)

What We Talk About When We Talk About Agency: A Systematic Review of Agency in Video Games

Xu, X., Beeston, J., & Denisova, A.

Agency, players' capacity to make meaningful choices and see their consequences, is widely discussed in games research but has no agreed definition. We systematically reviewed 79 peer-reviewed articles to map how agency in video games is defined and measured.

Summary and key findings: What We Talk About When We Talk About Agency: A Systematic Review of Agency in Video Games PDF of What We Talk About When We Talk About Agency: A Systematic Review of Agency in Video Games (accepted version) Publisher's version of What We Talk About When We Talk About Agency: A Systematic Review of Agency in Video Games

BANGS, the Basic Needs in Games Scale: six subscales measuring satisfaction and frustration of autonomy, competence and relatedness, validated across 5 studies with 1,246 participants.

JournalCORE journal ranking: CORE A2024 · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

The Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS): A new tool for investigating positive and negative video game experiences

Ballou, N., Denisova, A., Ryan, R., Rigby, C. S., & Deterding, S.

Existing measures of players' basic psychological needs often ignore need frustration and struggle to capture relatedness in single-player games. The Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS) measures both satisfaction and frustration of autonomy, competence and relatedness in games.

Summary and key findings: The Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS): A new tool for investigating positive and negative video game experiences PDF of The Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS): A new tool for investigating positive and negative video game experiences (accepted version) Publisher's version of The Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS): A new tool for investigating positive and negative video game experiences

CORGIS, the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale: 30 items measuring four kinds of perceived challenge (cognitive, performative, emotional and decision-making), developed from a literature review and interviews, a 60-item pool, factor analysis with 394 players and validation with nearly 1,000 players.

JournalCORE journal ranking: CORE A2020 · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

Measuring Perceived Challenge in Digital Games: Development & Validation of the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS)

Denisova, A., Cairns, P., Guckelsberger, C., & Zendle, D.

Players can find a game challenging in more ways than needing quick reflexes. This paper presents CORGIS, the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale: a questionnaire that measures how challenging players found the game they just played. Its items came from a review of games user research, game design and game AI literature, and from interviews with researchers and players.

Challenge and adaptation Emotional challenge and meaningful play

Summary and key findings: Measuring Perceived Challenge in Digital Games: Development & Validation of the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS) PDF of Measuring Perceived Challenge in Digital Games: Development & Validation of the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS) (accepted version) Publisher's version of Measuring Perceived Challenge in Digital Games: Development & Validation of the Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale (CORGIS)

Teaser figure: ChallengeDetect. 32 players played Fallout 4 while five physiological signals were recorded (ECG, skin temperature, respiration, EMG and electrodermal activity). After pre-processing, feature extraction (80 features, 24 most informative) and machine learning (13 models), the best model detected cognitive challenge with 86.8% accuracy, emotional and physical challenge with 85.1%, and decision-making challenge with 87.3%.

ConferenceCORE conference ranking: CORE A*2023 · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'23)

ChallengeDetect: Investigating the Potential of Detecting In-Game Challenge Experience from Physiological Measures

Peng, X., Xie, X., Huang, J., Jiang, C., Wang, H., Denisova, A., Chen, H., Tian, F., & Wang, H.

Questionnaires only capture challenge after play has ended. ChallengeDetect explores whether perceived challenge can instead be detected from players' physiological signals, moment to moment.

Challenge and adaptation Emotional challenge and meaningful play

Summary and key findings: ChallengeDetect: Investigating the Potential of Detecting In-Game Challenge Experience from Physiological Measures PDF of ChallengeDetect: Investigating the Potential of Detecting In-Game Challenge Experience from Physiological Measures (accepted version) Publisher's version of ChallengeDetect: Investigating the Potential of Detecting In-Game Challenge Experience from Physiological Measures

How the four CORGIS dimensions and five VGDS dimensions combine into seven: the five VGDS dimensions plus performative and decision-making challenge from CORGIS.

ConferenceCORE conference ranking: CORE A*2023 · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'23)

Comparing Measures of Perceived Challenge and Demand in Video Games: Exploring the Conceptual Dimensions of CORGIS and VGDS

Flint, A., Denisova, A., & Bowman, N.

CORGIS measures perceived challenge and the Video Game Demand Scale (VGDS) measures demand, and the two appear to overlap. We tested how the two questionnaires relate to each other.

Challenge and adaptation Emotional challenge and meaningful play

Summary and key findings: Comparing Measures of Perceived Challenge and Demand in Video Games: Exploring the Conceptual Dimensions of CORGIS and VGDS PDF of Comparing Measures of Perceived Challenge and Demand in Video Games: Exploring the Conceptual Dimensions of CORGIS and VGDS (accepted version) Publisher's version of Comparing Measures of Perceived Challenge and Demand in Video Games: Exploring the Conceptual Dimensions of CORGIS and VGDS

PUGS, the Player Uncertainty in Games Scale: a general player uncertainty factor with internal uncertainty about decision-making, taking action and problem-solving, plus external uncertainty and exploration, which reduces uncertainty.

Journal2019 · International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction

Lost at the Edge of Uncertainty: Measuring Player Uncertainty in Digital Games

Power, C., Cairns, P., Denisova, A., Papaioannou, T., & Gultom, R.

Uncertainty makes games engaging, but it can feel good or bad, and there was no way to measure it. Using survey data from over 700 players, we developed a questionnaire of how players experience uncertainty and validated it with a commercial puzzle game.

Summary and key findings: Lost at the Edge of Uncertainty: Measuring Player Uncertainty in Digital Games PDF of Lost at the Edge of Uncertainty: Measuring Player Uncertainty in Digital Games (accepted version) Publisher's version of Lost at the Edge of Uncertainty: Measuring Player Uncertainty in Digital Games

Short papers

Teaser figure: the four factors of the PUG questionnaire (disorientation, exploration, prospect and randomness) with item counts and reliability, and the development steps from a 146-item pool to a survey of 674 players.

ConferenceShort paper 2017 · Extended Abstracts of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA'17)

Measuring Uncertainty in Games: Design and Preliminary Validation

Power, C., Denisova, A., Papaioannou, T., & Cairns, P.

An early version of the uncertainty questionnaire that became PUGS. The 66-item scale, refined through player interviews and expert review and tested in an online survey, showed four factors: disorientation, exploration, prospect and randomness.

Summary and key findings: Measuring Uncertainty in Games: Design and Preliminary Validation PDF of Measuring Uncertainty in Games: Design and Preliminary Validation (accepted version) Publisher's version of Measuring Uncertainty in Games: Design and Preliminary Validation

Teaser figure: correlations between total scores on the IEQ, GEQ and PENS (r = .80, .81 and .69) from 270 players, with further findings on overlapping immersion items and PENS loading on two factors.

ConferenceShort paper 2016 · Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY'16)

The Convergence of Player Experience Questionnaires

Denisova, A., Nordin, A. I., & Cairns, P.

Compares three widely used player experience questionnaires (IEQ, GEQ and PENS) using 270 players' reports of their most recent game. The three overlap considerably, leaving room to refine them into one broader measure of game engagement.

Summary and key findings: The Convergence of Player Experience Questionnaires PDF of The Convergence of Player Experience Questionnaires (accepted version) Publisher's version of The Convergence of Player Experience Questionnaires

Teaser figure: seven questionnaires used to measure engagement in games (IEQ, GEQ, PENS, SPGQ, GameFlow, Flow, Presence), the problems this causes, and a proposed study comparing the IEQ and GEQ.

ConferenceShort paper 2014 · The 7th York Doctoral Symposium on Computer Science and Electronics

Too Many Questionnaires: Measuring Player Experience Whilst Playing Digital Games

Nordin, A. I., Denisova, A., & Cairns, P.

Lists the questionnaires available for measuring engagement in digital games and argues that they need to be positioned against each other, so researchers know which aspect of experience each one measures.

Summary and key findings: Too Many Questionnaires: Measuring Player Experience Whilst Playing Digital Games PDF of Too Many Questionnaires: Measuring Player Experience Whilst Playing Digital Games (accepted version)

Also relevant

Papers whose main theme is elsewhere but which also contribute here.

Redefining Play: A Novel Framework for Differentiating Agency and Autonomy in Video Games ConferenceFull paper Xu, X., Beeston, J., & Denisova, A. · 2025 · Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA'25) PDF of Redefining Play: A Novel Framework for Differentiating Agency and Autonomy in Video Games Publisher's version of Redefining Play: A Novel Framework for Differentiating Agency and Autonomy in Video Games
The Challenge of Evaluating Player Experience in Tabletop Role-Playing Games ConferenceFull paper Liapis, A., & Denisova, A. · 2023 · Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG'23) PDF of The Challenge of Evaluating Player Experience in Tabletop Role-Playing Games Publisher's version of The Challenge of Evaluating Player Experience in Tabletop Role-Playing Games
Evaluating the Use of Persuasive Design Cards for Novice Designers JournalFull paper Alkhuzai, K., & Denisova, A. · 2021 · Journal of Usability Studies PDF of Evaluating the Use of Persuasive Design Cards for Novice Designers
Challenge in Digital Games: Towards Developing a Measurement Tool ConferenceShort paper Denisova, A., Guckelsberger, C., & Zendle, D. · 2017 · Extended Abstracts of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA'17) PDF of Challenge in Digital Games: Towards Developing a Measurement Tool Publisher's version of Challenge in Digital Games: Towards Developing a Measurement Tool
The Future of Games in Society (Manifesto from Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 25102) Dagstuhl manifesto Drachen, A., Pirker, J., Nacke, L. E., Canossa, A., Denisova, A., Deterding, S., Flick, C., Freeman, G., Frommel, J., Gerling, K., Harteveld, C., Hayes, A., Hirsch, L., Kowert, R., Kriglstein, S., Loria, E., Mandryk, R. L., Melhart, D., Mirza-Babaei, P., Rogers, K., Seif El-Nasr, M., Vanden Abeele, V., Wallner, G., Wohn, D., Young, R. M., & Zünd, F. · 2026 · Dagstuhl Manifestos, 1(1) Dagstuhl 25102 page PDF of The Future of Games in Society (Manifesto from Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 25102)Publisher's version of The Future of Games in Society (Manifesto from Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 25102)