How Hard Is It Really? Assessing Game-Task Difficulty Through Real-Time Measures of Performance and Cognitive Load

Background: Serious and entertainment game designers strive to create engaging, immersive, and often, challenging games. This task involves modifying game mechanics or environments to create experiences with differing levels of challenge to meet player skill. The balance between different game mechanics or environments, and the differing levels of challenge they pose, is typically understood through iterative testing. Balance and challenge becomes increasingly important in serious games and simulation training as these games commonly need to be engaging and impart learning content. Overburdening players’ cognitive capacity with either too much gameplay challenge or learning content may reduce the educational effectiveness of the game. Aim: In this research, we develop a game-based driving simulation with different gameplay tasks to explore the impact of different types of challenges and game aesthetics on real-time cognitive load and task performance, which may inform serious game design. We also test the validity of a game-embedded real-time cognitive load measuring method. Method: A total of 31 participants undertook the driving simulation experiment under three different aesthetic conditions using a within-subject experimental design. Cognitive load was measured using three different methods, and performance was measured via in-game metrics. Additionally, demographic and engagement surveys were also completed. Results: Player performance and cognitive load respond differently to different types of challenge, and an appropriate level of game challenge can lower cognitive load. The embedded cognitive load measure was validated as an effective method for evaluating real-time cognitive load during gameplay. Conclusion: The results demonstrate the validity of a dual measure approach for future adaptive serious games and simulation training environments combining performance and cognitive load. An easy to implement, and robust, in-game measure for cognitive load has been validated in real-world conditions. From these results, a system for dynamic difficulty adjustment is proposed tailored towards serious games and simulation.