Neha Thumu
ABSTRACT
Curiosity is generally considered to be a large driver of video game players’ motivation and enjoyment. However, it is unclear how much curiosity is driven by intrinsic personality factors versus the game’s design. We explore this question through the lens of the puzzle game, Monument Valley. We create two categories of puzzles. The first category consists of simple puzzles which can be quickly solved. The second category consists of puzzles recreated from the original game. Using these puzzles, we create an online experiment platform that asks players about their innate curiosity for exploration and problem solving and then asks them to play our puzzles. In a small pilot study of this system, we analyzed the time-spent, clicks, ratings, and survey responses of 10 participants. Surprisingly, we found differences in time-spent even with our short puzzles. We also found that our participants spent the largest amount of time with puzzles that could not be solved. These results suggest future directions for research into how curiosity and persistence may be related in the context of puzzle solving.
Supplemental Material
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Index Terms
- Towards Understanding the Role of Curiosity in Puzzle Design
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