'Sure, I Would Like to Continue': A Method for Mapping the Experience of Engagement in Video Games

In order to explore one aspect of the engaging nature of computer games, this study will propose a method which aims at classifying the experience of engagement in video games. Inspired by a literature review, we will focus on the fundamental causes of engagement which motivate a player so much that he or she wants to continue playing. By organizing this willingness to continue playing into six broad types of causes of engagement – intellectual, physical, sensory, social, narrative and emotional – we describe a typology of player engagement and a method which is intended to map players’ experience of engagement while playing video games. The engagement mapping method is inspired by card sorting found from a perspective of usability testing, and in order to exemplify the use of the method, occurrences of the six types of engagement were investigated during gameplay in Angry Birds and Wii Sports.