Peggle

Engaging Elements in a Commercial Game

This study examines which features of commercial video games sustain player engagement, a question the author argues has lacked concrete empirical support despite the strong engagement commercial games typically generate.

• A study of 52 undergraduates compared the commercial game Peggle with Mockle, a stripped-down version built in GameMaker Lite that removed engaging features while keeping the core target-hitting skill, with participants randomly assigned to one condition.
• Peggle players showed significantly higher enjoyment on several measures, including total time played, average time per session, self-reported enjoyment, and desire to continue playing.
• Peggle players hit more targets on average from the earliest turns of play, suggesting the Peggle environment was simply easier to score in, and neither group meaningfully improved over time in targets hit.