User Experience and Video Games

An assortment of video game screens from The Lion King, Skyrim, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ocarina of Time.

Video games have been a big part of my life since we got the SNES back in ‘95. Now that I’ve studied design principles, I’d like to apply them to some of my favorite games. What was the game user experience like at the time? How did the user experience hold up? What improvements might we make now that we know more about usability, user testing, and great gameplay.

User experience pillars in video games

Most video games will have the same foundational pillars: worldbuilding, story and character(s), hardware controls (and constraints), community building (whether in discussions or actually playing the game), game interface and gameplay and interaction.

Story

Here is where we really need to bring in the incredible story team collaborators. Together how might we make the game so engrossing that our gamers get lost in our game? We’ll need to create an immersive world, compelling characters, or player-driven character customization, and a gripping story arc. 

An overlook in Skyrim. Credit to reddit

An excellent example of incredible story and world-building would be Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - I spent hours and hours wandering through Skyrim and marveling at the environments, interacting with characters, and working on my sneak skill. The story and character team absolutely brought that environment to life.

Hardware controls

Games should have controls that are consistent, easy to use, and are easily understood through seamless onboarding or tutorials. Great games should allow the user to forget how they are controlling the game and only focusing on completing their next in-game objective. Can we make game controls feel as natural as using a limb? This can take some creativity as most developers must use existing hardware to build their products and there are constraints to what sort of hardware: buttons, motion detection, joysticks, and touch screens game developers will be able to integrate.

I remember when we got RumblePaks for Ocarina of Time! It made the game so much more intense! The controller RUMBLED! That was the first time I really noticed how hardware could help immerse us into games and help us truly feel like we were physically a part of the game.  

Rumble Pak accessory for N64. Credit to wikipedia

Community

In today’s world we shouldn’t forget that video games can connect us to other people, whether it’s hooking up the second controller, setting up your LAN party, swapping usernames, or waiting in the game lobby for your match to start. We use games to interact with different levels of our community. Smart studios use game technology to facilitate greater connections with their players.

Jackbox 6 starting screen. Credit to the The Spokesman Review

I remember 2019-2022 Jackbox TV games kept me connected with family and friends all across the country. Video games kept us connected even when we were isolated through a global pandemic.

Game interface

Game interface is the aspect where I think UX, UI, and Product Designers have the most control. The interface has a lot to do with player adoption; a good experience and interface can make a game easy to start or make it almost unplayable. When I specify game interface I mean things like statuses, controls, interactions, transparency of objectives, flexibility, control, and error correction. In fact, I think applying Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics would be an excellent way to analyze the user experience of video games. 

I really admired the in-game interface from Horizon Zero Dawn. There was so much data conveyed to the user, but it was subtle and not-distracting. I did think the crafting menus were a touch hard to grok, but that doesn’t stop HZD from being another A+ game for me!

Crafting a bow image from Horizon Zero Dawn. Credit to interfaceingame.com

Gameplay 

Gameplay I believe is both its own pillar and an amalgam of the previous pillars. Sometimes great gameplay can break all the rules! Take Myst for example: I personally wasn’t able to get through Myst, I simply couldn’t figure it out! But it’s been well-received and is a known classic to this day. But I think it breaks a lot of the rules! The interface is too simple, the story is hard to get into and the learning curve is steep, but people still love the game, which is a testament to the great gameplay and how they integrated the puzzles.

Next steps

As a UX designer, I want to focus on the niche of game experience design including controls, navigation, usability, and information architecture. How might we analyze current games, improve them, and look to the future of gaming experience including AR and VR? What are your experiences with video games? I’d love to hear more about the games that shaped us! And stay tuned for part 2 where I’ll dive into game experience and usability using established frameworks!