In the Mood for Horror: A Game Design Approach on Investigating Absorbing Player Experience in Horror Games

This study refines the concept of continuation desire within horror games through the use of grounded theory. Genre specific research in continuation desire has not been done before, and may prove to be useful when applying the findings in game design. The findings are primarily based on focus group interviews and questionnaires, which are supported by a review of existing literature. The outcome of the study is a game design framework focusing on the three most important causes of continuation desire in horror games: Narrative, Freedom, and Victimizing. Applying this design framework makes it possible to utilize scientific findings in horror game design, supporting rich, engaging, involving, and immersive experiences. Furthermore, this study shows that there indeed is a difference in the experiences of continuation desire in horror games, when comparing with general conventional player experience theories concerned with absorption.