A Game that Makes You Question...” Exploring the Role of Reflection for the Player Experience

Reflection is a core design outcome for HCI, and recent work has suggested that games are well suited for prompting and supporting reflection on a variety of matters. However, research about what sorts of reflection, if any, players experience, or what benefits they might derive from it, is scarce. We report on an interview study that explored when instances of reflection occurred, at what level players reflected on their gaming experience, as well as their reactions. Our findings revealed that many players considered reflection to be a worthwhile activity in itself, highlighting its significance for the player experience beyond moment-to-moment gameplay. However, while players engaged in reflective description and dialogic reflection, we observed little to no instances of higher-level transformative and critical reflection. We conclude with a discussion of the value and challenges inherent to evaluating reflection on games.