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Digital games are still often perceived as a trivial and useless pastime that makes players dumber, more aggressive and addicted. This doctoral research departs from the philosophical idea of 'eudaimonia', in which forms of entertainment such as games can generate more than just pleasure. For instance, playing games can lead to intense emotions, self-reflection or reflection on broader social themes (e.g. war, immigration), social connection with other players or game characters, etc. The thesis consists of two main parts: the first part deals with these deeper, eudaimonic experiences during gameplay, while the second part contains research on these experiences as possible eudaimonic reasons for selecting specific games in the first place. For example, interviews with 53 Flemish youths between the ages of 12 and 18 showed that they did indeed have eudaimonic gaming experiences, which they described as socially connecting, intensely emotional and reflective moments while playing games. To be able to experience these moments as meaningful, games had to make a connection with their personal "real" life. Furthermore, an analysis of three popular games (e.g. Assassin's Creed Odyssey and God of War) revealed that a strong involvement in game stories with themes such as death or strong family relationships, game choices that have an impact on the story, as well as qualitative graphics and appropriate background music are all elements that lead to eudaimonic gaming experiences. In addition, an online questionnaire questioning an international gaming audience (nearly 900 players) on several unreleased games demonstrated some interesting results about eudaimonic motives for selecting games: (1) players have little or no concrete expectations to have deeper eudaimonic experiences, except a few who talked about wanting to experience complex emotions (although many players talked about story expectations, impactful game choices, and aesthetic qualities that can indirectly lead to eudaimonia), and (2) players seem to have eudaimonic reasons for playing games, including wanting to reflect on oneself or experiencing personal growth through playing games. In addition to these surveys, the dissertation also contains some literature reviews, mainly to determine exactly how eudaimonic experiences and motives have be defined, and to provide an overview of the research field to inform future research in this innovative field. Ultimately, this thesis shows that not all games are mindless forms of entertainment, and that some games have the potential to elicit meaningful eudaimonic experiences in players.

Eudaimonia (i.e., orienting towards or experiencing meaning, virtue, personal growth, and other worthwhile aspects of life) has recently received a great deal of academic interest in the field of media entertainment, especially for the medium of digital games. While a recent scoping review has improved the conceptual clarity on what constitutes eudaimonia in a gaming context, a broader overview of the literature on eudaimonia in digital games research is still lacking. Therefore, we conducted a literature review of 165 records, synthesizing game, theoretical, and methodological information of the included studies as well as examining which predictors and outcomes of eudaimonic game experiences the studies identified. We found a broad range of established and less studied eudaimonic concepts in the reviewed studies, a main focus on eudaimonic experiences overshadowing the interest in eudaimonic motivations, and a variety of game types that can elicit eudaimonia. The review also reveals a lack of theoretical foundation related to both eudaimonia in general and eudaimonia in a gaming context. Finally, the predictors and outcomes related to eudaimonia were mostly connected to in-game or entertainment situations, neglecting the real-world impact these experiences might have. Contributions and future research suggestions are further discussed.

Research shows that eudaimonic experiences such as elevation, an emotion where people feel touched and uplifted in response to witnessing good deeds and human connectedness, can be elicited by media entertainment. This study focuses on superhero entertainment specifically, a type of narrative that is immensely popular and which often includes prosocial topics where hero protagonists help or save others and overall perform good deeds. While previous studies have already shown that media entertainment can elicit eudaimonic experiences in general, research on elevation within the context of superhero narratives is scarce. The current paper consists of a qualitative study of 20 individual in-depth interviews, specifically focusing on respondents’ elevating moments from watching superhero movies and TV shows. Results indicate that respondents experienced elevation more frequently with superhero narratives compared to non-superhero stories, especially lighter-themed narratives without moral ambiguity. Furthermore, elements such as the soundtrack, special effects and the overall storyline were perceived as important elicitors of elevation. Respondents further connected specific narrative themes such as sacrifice or saving people and certain character traits like altruism or helpfulness to their elevating experiences, as well as indicating the importance of character development, character identification and affinity. Limitations and implications are further discussed.

Eudaimonia (i.e., orienting toward or experiencing meaning, virtue, personal growth, and other worthwhile aspects of life) has recently received a great deal of academic interest in the field of media entertainment, especially for the medium of digital games. While a recent scoping review has improved the conceptual clarity on what constitutes eudaimonia in a gaming context, a broader overview synthesizing the literature on eudaimonia in digital games and identifying important research gaps of this emergent field is still lacking. Therefore, we conducted a literature review of 165 records, synthesizing conceptual, game, and theoretical information of the included studies as well as examining which antecedents and outcomes of eudaimonic game experiences the studies identified. We found a broad range of established and less studied eudaimonic concepts in the reviewed studies, a main focus on eudaimonic experiences overshadowing the interest in eudaimonic motives, and a variety of game types that can elicit eudaimonia. The review also reveals a lack of theoretical frameworks related to both eudaimonia in general and eudaimonia in a gaming context. Finally, the antecedents and outcomes related to eudaimonia were mostly connected to in-game or entertainment situations, neglecting the real-world impact these experiences might have. Contributions and a research agenda containing future research suggestions are further discussed.

The analysis of digital games is a widely used method in the field of game studies and an important instrument to study games and game-related topics. However, existing methodological work showcases a divergency of perspectives on game analyses, hindering the development of clear guidelines on how to actually conduct them. This lack of methodological consensus is fueled further by several complexities when analyzing games, such as the active participation that is required on the part of the researchers. Therefore, the current paper proposes the Digital Game Analysis Protocol (DiGAP), a methodological toolkit that, compared to existing methodological frameworks, provides researchers with sufficient flexibility and adaptability in order to cater to a game analysis’ specific focus and needs. DiGAP’s goal is twofold: to make researchers reflect on the potential impact of their methodological choices on the analysis and interpretation of game content, and to promote the transparent reporting of game analyses in academic manuscripts. Based on previous methodological scholarship, the authors’ prior game analysis experience and brainstorm meetings between members of our interdisciplinary author team, DiGAP consists of 31 items categorized in seven sections: (1) Rationale & objectives, (2) Researcher background, (3) Game selection, (4) Boundaries, (5) Analysis approach, (6) Coding techniques & data extraction and (7) Reporting & transparency. Due to its comprehensive setup and its reflexive nature, DiGAP may be used as a (didactic) checklist to make insights from the field of game studies regarding game analyses accessible to a broader range of research fields (e.g., communication and human-computer interaction). This, in turn, makes it equally valuable for (student) researchers unfamiliar with the method of game analysis as well as more experienced game scholars. ispartof: Game Studies vol:22 issue:2 status: Published online

Research on historical video games has often used the term ‘realism’ to refer to the plausibility or accuracy of a game’s reconstruction of history, but previous research on games has understood realism as a multidimensional concept and connected it to players’ perception and experience during gameplay. The present study investigates players’ perceived realism (i.e., the extent to which an audience perceives a media text as realistic) of historical video games, based on a multidimensional measurement scale previously validated in the context of shooter games. The study further examines whether perceived realism positively relates to players’ experiences of enjoyment of historical games. Specifically, this study analyzes three games from the Assassin’s Creed (AC) series: Assassin’s Creed 1, Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. By conducting an online survey among 1317 respondents, this study found that the five-dimensional structure of perceived realism (i.e., simulational realism, freedom of choice, character involvement, perceptual pervasiveness, and social realism) holds for historical video games. Differences in perceptions of social realism, perceptual pervasiveness, and freedom of choice between the three AC games were also observed. Finally, perceptual pervasiveness and character involvement were identified as strong predictors of enjoyment in historical games, supporting similar findings in shooting games and claims that perceived realism is an important antecedent of players’ enjoyment experiences. This study contributes towards further validation of the perceived realism scale across game genres, while also pleading for a systematic use of the multidimensional term ‘realism’ in historical game research.

Studies have demonstrated the eudaimonic capacity of digital games, but less clear is whether gameplay is eudaimonically motivated. The present study examined potential eudaimonic motivations of gaming fans of five different upcoming games (N = 1163). Factor analysis reported ‘eudaimonic growth’ as a distinct gaming motivation alongside ‘absorption’ and ‘social interaction.’ Eudaimonic motivations were positively related with real-life eudaimonic orientations and game preferences, but negatively related to players’ intention to play.

Video games are celebrated for their capacity to elicit myriad emotional experiences, from fun and excitement (hedonia) to reflection and contemplation (eudaimonia). Less clear is the extent to which gamers have salient eudaimonic expectations of upcoming games. The current study reports on an emergent thematic analysis of responses from N = 877 fans of five game franchises known to vary in their eudaimonic capacity but in response to yet-to-be-released games within those franchises: Far Cry 6, Final Fantasy XVI, Forza Horizon 5, Mass Effect 5, and Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (later renamed to Tears of the Kingdom). We identified 15 themes across seven categories: familiarity, aesthetics, relationships, emotions, immersion, game features, and developer notes. Most themes focused on discrete game features, while the few themes aligning with eudaimonia (e.g., "emotions" and "personal meaning") were mentioned infrequently. Gamers seem more likely to express expectations for specific content over more abstract affective experiences, offering further evidence that eudaimonia is less anticipated and more discovered during gameplay.

The year 2020 – and probably a decent amount of 2021 as well – has been dominated by the emergence and global spread of COVID-19, a respiratory infection illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 type of coronavirus (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020). To combat this pandemic, governments around the world implemented several measures to maintain physical and social distancing between people, including organizing sports and cultural events without an audience or even cancelling them, and limited or no access to restaurants, (movie) theatres, shopping, and other social venues. As such, people are spending more time at home, searching for alternative activities to engage in. One of those activities is playing digital games, which has seen an increased popularity during the pandemic. Next to their increased popularity, digital games have also been found in previous research to offer players an extensive range of experiences that can help players cope with issues that are very present during the Covid-19 pandemic, including stress, loneliness, and negative emotions. Recently, an important distinction made in entertainment research is that of hedonic (e.g., pleasure, fun) and eudaimonic experiences (e.g., meaning, self-reflection, nostalgia, elevation). Based on several case studies (including games such as Doom Eternal, Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Call of Duty: Warzone), this essay provides a reflection on how playing digital games and why specific gameplay moments led to both hedonic and eudaimonic experiences that helped me as a player cope with the pandemic.

Digital games have evolved into a medium that moves beyond basic toys for distraction and pleasure towards platforms capable of and effective at instigating more serious, emotional, and intrapersonal experiences. Along with this evolution, games research has also started to consider more deeply affective and cognitive reactions that resemble the broad notion of eudaimonia, with work already being done in communication studies and media psychology as well as in human-computer interaction. These studies offer a large variety of concepts to describe such eudaimonic reactions—including eudaimonia, meaningfulness, appreciation, and self-transcendence—which are frequently used as synonyms as they represent aspects not captured by the traditional hedonic focus on enjoyment. However, these concepts are potentially confusing to work with as they might represent phenomenological distinct experiences. In this scoping review, we survey 82 publications to identify different concepts used in digital gaming research to represent eudaimonia and map out how these concepts relate to each other. The results of this scoping review revealed four broad conceptual patterns: (1) appreciation as an overarching (yet imprecise) eudaimonic outcome of playing digital games, (2) covariation among meaningful, emotionally moving/challenging, and self-reflective experiences, (3) the unique potential of digital games to afford eudaimonic social connectedness, and (4) other eudaimonia-related concepts (e.g., nostalgia, well-being, elevation). The paper provides a conceptual map of the current research landscape on eudaimonic game entertainment experiences and outlines recommendations for future scholarship, including how a focus on digital games contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of eudaimonic media experiences broadly.

In the face of the 2020 global pandemic caused by COVID-19, governments have taken several measures to stop COVID-19’s spread. These measures include teleworking, cancelling major events, and limited or no access to restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and so forth. Along with COVID-19-related health concerns, these measures led to increased stress levels, but also to an increased use of media entertainment. This increased use might be related to the instrumental use of media entertainment as a coping mechanism for this stressful and emotionally challenging situation. The present study takes a closer look at how individuals select media entertainment – specifically TV series – during the potentially stressful COVID-19 lockdown situation, by integrating the perspectives of stress and coping, mood management, and hedonic and eudaimonic media entertainment. An online vignette survey among 336 individuals was conducted. Results based on four three-way mixed ANOVA’s suggest that people select entertainment media based on their existing hedonic and eudaimonic preferences, but also in function of their coping strategies. People who use humor as a coping mechanism prefer television programs that address the current crisis in a less meaningful, but funny way. Those who use religion as a coping mechanism actually prefer meaningful and moving content but are less likely to select television programs about the current crisis. This study includes important insights in the instrumental use of entertainment media during challenging times, and illustrates how both humor and religion are coping mechanisms that are highly personal and context-related.

Elevation is an eudaimonic experience that consists ofheartwarming and uplifting feelingswhen witnessing kindness, altruism, sacrifice,or other virtues.While eudaimonic media entertainment research primarily focuseson traditional media such as movies, a limited number of recent studies look at eudaimonic game experiences, especially among adolescents.Elevation canbe beneficial for adolescents’ development as it potentially increases prosocial and moral attitudes/behaviors.The present study intends to be the first one to gain more insight into players’ elevating game experiences, by questioning how frequently players experience elevation and which personaland game-related characteristics relate to these experiences. In a survey among207adolescent players,we found that elevation during gameplay isexperienced onsome occasions, but not very frequently. Younger adolescents, frequent players, and strongly engaged players experienced elevation more frequently, while the moral principle of loyalty and feeling responsibility for game characters led to more elevation-related prosocial tendencies. Limitations and future research suggestions are further discussed.