Comparative fun analysis in the innovative playware game platform

Abstract

This paper presents comparative fun experiments in the innovative playground ‘Playware’ which is a combination of physical and virtual com ponents for activating physical and social children’s play. For this purpose, a quantitative approach to entertainment modeling based on psychological studies in the field of computer games is introduced. The paper investigates quantitatively how the qualitative factors of challenge, curiosity and fantasy contribute to children’s entertainment when playing Playware games. Statistical analysis of children’s self-reports shows that objectively children’s notion of entertainment correlates highly with the fantasy factor whereas desired levels of challenge and curiosity depend on the individual child’s requirements.