Details

What motivates a player to press buttons

Year: 2025

Term: Winter

Student Name: Alex de Carle

Supervisor: Oliver Van Kaick

Abstract: Over the course of this semester I asked players the question, do you want to press a button to cast an ability, or do you want it to be automatic? I first built a game that's main purpose is to facilitate an environment where a player is given the choice to have abilities be automatically cast or cast with a button. In the game, the player can choose the abilities they learn and which upgrades they take. Some of these encourage the player to use buttons and some do not. During the second half of the semester, I first had two close friends balance and bug test the game. During this I noticed that one of them enjoyed exploring and trying out new ability builds and combinations. While the other player stuck to one build and forced it every time. The more adventurous player was more willing to press buttons to cast spells, and the self-claimed “lazy” player avoided the abilities that required buttons the most. After two weeks of beta testing the game, I conducted two rounds of user testing. During both rounds of tests, I noticed comparable results, the more explorative testers were more open to pressing buttons while the opposite testers disliked pressing buttons. This does make logical sense, if a player is willing to put thought into their ability casting decisions, then they are more likely to put more thought into other gameplay decisions.