Interaction Manifestations at the Roots of Experiencing Multiplayer Computer Games

This paper proposes the Rich Interaction Model (RIM), a theoretical framework that treats interaction manifestations such as environmental details, spatial behaviour, chronemics, kinesics, audio, and avatar appearance as the perceivable cues through which players interpret multiplayer game worlds. Its central thesis is that successful interaction with both the environment and other players drives positive experiences such as flow and shared enjoyment. The authors aim to build preliminary design guidelines rather than to establish definitive results, and they ground their argument in an illustrative example of three players coordinating an airship crew to win.

The empirical base consists of two experimental multiplayer games, AirBuccaneers and Castle of Oulu, analysed through player testimonials. Environmental design, spatial positioning, slow chronemics, and sound effects were found to strongly shape player emotion and team coordination. Facial expressions and occulesics were largely absent or unimplemented, forcing players to infer others' emotional states, while language-based communication, whether text chat or spoken headset conversation, served as the primary channel for sharing information and feeling. Avatar appearance and physical contact were frequently reported as negative or unengaging.

The Castle of Oulu case study deepens this picture by showing how heavily players depended on speech when other nonverbal channels were missing. Voice communication was generally perceived as intuitive and among the most enjoyable features, although a minority preferred written exchange. The authors conclude that RIM offers a useful lens for analysing how interaction shapes player experience, while cautioning that their findings are preliminary. They identify unimplemented elements, including facial expressions, olfactory cues, and autonomous AI, as priorities for future research, and situate the work within a substantial literature on virtual environments and shared experience.