Understanding Player Experience: The Role of Psychological Profile in Gaming

Video games offer a significant expansion of the scope for investigating different affective and psychophysiological states in players, enabling the assessment of immersion factors, and potentially laying the groundwork for the development of a unique gaming experience. This study examined the dynamics of a player’s heart rate variability in response to changes in the health score of their game avatar, depending on the player’s psychological profile. The aim of the study was to establish a connection between the psychological profile of the player, their health, and fluctuations in the health points of their avatar within the game. Twenty participants, comprising 10 males and 10 females aged between 18 and 37 years, took part in the study. The psychological profiles were assessed using the five-factor model of personality questionnaire. During the experimental task, participants were engaged in a one-hour session playing the game Doom, during which their heart rate was recorded using a Polar cardiac sensor. Simultaneously, the game screen was captured and analyzed using a specially prepared Python script with the OpenCV library, resulting in a dataset of avatar health points for each player throughout the game. The study’s findings revealed that changes in the player’s heart rate variability, in response to alterations in avatar health points, were correlated with the player’s psychological profile. The highest level of consistency was observed among individuals characterized as flexible and self-sufficient. These findings provide valuable insights that can serve as a foundation for crafting a personalized gaming experience based on the player’s psychological profile.