The Digital Game Analysis Protocol (DiGAP): Facilitating Transparency in Games Research

The Digital Game Analysis Protocol (DiGAP) is presented as a response to the lack of consensus in game studies about how methodological choices and play sessions should be reported. The authors observe that many published game analyses omit key details such as how games were selected, how much of the content was played, the playstyle adopted, and the researchers' own characteristics, all of which can shape the outcome of an analysis. The paper pursues two aims: first, to survey existing methodological literature on game content analysis, and second, to propose a flexible reporting protocol that improves transparency without imposing a rigid analytical framework.

The review draws on several foundational approaches, including Consalvo and Dutton's (2006) toolkit of object inventory, interface study, interaction mapping, and logging gameplay; Malliet's (2007) phases of qualitative preparation covering analytical frameworks, sampling, content boundaries, and researcher bias; Lankoski and Björk's (2015) formal analysis; and Schmierbach's (2009) quantitative guidance on unitizing and sampling. The authors argue that these works, many dating from the early years of game studies, have not been updated into a cross-historical overview, and that they tend to favor either qualitative or quantitative methods rather than offering a unified guide.

In response, the authors propose DiGAP, modeled on the PRISMA reporting standard for systematic reviews. The protocol is organized into seven sections comprising 31 items: rationale and objectives, researcher background, game selection, boundaries of analyzed content, analysis approach, coding and data extraction, and reporting and transparency. A fuller version has been published in Game Studies, and the authors intend to refine the protocol further based on feedback from the game research community.