The Relationship Between Perceptions of Video Game Flow and Structure

Abstract

This inquiry asks whether or not there are preferred structural characteristics of games that are more or less likely to be associated with the experience of psychological flow during gaming. It was found that high-end game players, as defined by a variety of variables, reported relatively more flow and specific structural preferences than low-end game players when controlling for sex. Moderate game dynamic structural preferences were most predictive of pure game flow experiences. This finding echoes Csikszentmihalyi’s injunction for a balance between perceived challenges and perceived skills to attain flow.