Narrative Justification in Emotion-Driven Games: Investigating the Impact of Context Matching on Player Immersion and Perceived Embarrassment
Description:
This thesis investigates how narrative context shapes the player experience in games that use facial expressions as input. Using a custom-built Unity prototype with real-time webcam-based emotion detection, the study tested two contrasting scenarios with thirty adult participants. In the first scenario, players were simply told to smile at a camera to open a door no story, no reason, just a command. In the second, called the Verdant Lock, the same mechanic was wrapped in a science-fiction narrative where an alien organism responded to human emotions, and living vines visibly reacted to the player’s emotional state in real time. Despite the technology being identical in both cases, the results were dramatic: player immersion rose from an average score of 1.46 out of 5 to 4.29, while feelings of embarrassment dropped from 4.47 to 2.16. Most remarkably, every single participant showed this pattern without exception, producing a perfect statistical effect size.
The findings carry a clear and practical message for game designers: when a game asks players to perform a facial expression, the story surrounding that moment is not optional it is essential. Without narrative context, players feel self-conscious and exposed, as though they are being tested rather than playing. With it, the same action feels natural, purposeful, and immersive. This study demonstrates that the gap between an awkward interaction and a meaningful one is not a matter of better technology it is a matter of better storytelling. By grounding emotion-based mechanics in the logic of the game world, developers can transform what might otherwise feel like an uncomfortable system demand into a genuinely engaging moment of play.
Programme: Master of Science in Game Development and Management (MSc-GDM)
