University of Helsinki

A Practical Guide to Using Digital Games as an Experiment Stimulus

Digital games serve as highly effective experimental stimuli due to their capacity for high ecological validity, deep participant engagement, and the ability to simulate complex, real-world environments.

• Digital games serve as effective experimental stimuli because their engaging nature encourages participants to act naturally, though researchers must balance this ecological validity with the need for strict experimental control.
• Using commercial games offers high engagement and professional polish, but custom-developed games provide superior control over variables, albeit at the risk of experimenter bias and lower production quality.
• Participant skill level significantly impacts game content and experience; researchers should recruit experienced players or use games with built-in difficulty adjustments to ensure consistent conditions across the study group.