Don't Sweat the Small Stuff: The Effect of Challenge-Skill Manipulation on Electrodermal Activity

Challenge plays a critical role in enabling an enjoyable and successful player experience, but not all dimensions of challenge are well understood. A more nuanced understanding of challenge and its role in the player experience is possible through assessing player psychophysiology. The psychophysiology of challenge (i.e. what occurs physiologically during experiences of video game challenge) has been the focus of some player experience research, but consensus as to the physiological markers of challenge has not been reached. To further explore the psychophysiological impact of challenge, three video game conditions -- varying by degree of challenge -- were developed and deployed within a large-scale psychophysiological study ( n = 90). Results show decreased electrodermal activity (EDA) in the low-challenge (Boredom) video game condition compared to the medium- (Balance) and high-challenge (Overload) conditions, with a statistically non-significant but consistent pattern found between the medium- and high-challenge conditions. Overall, these results suggest electrodermal response increases with challenge. Despite the intuitiveness of some of these conclusions, the results do not align with extant literature. Possible explanations for the incongruence with the literature are discussed. Ultimately, with this work we hope to both enable a more complete understanding of challenge in the player experience, and contribute to a more granular understanding of the psychophysiological experience of play.