Cutting, Joe Timothy, Gundry, David Edward and Cairns, Paul Antony orcid.org/0000-0002-6508-372X (2019) Busy doing nothing? What do players do in idle games? International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. pp. 133-144. ISSN 1071-5819
Abstract
Idle games – games where waiting for extended periods is an important dynamic – are increasing in popularity. The game Neko Atsume, a mobile game about collecting cats, is an extreme example of this genre where progress can only be achieved when the game is switched off (so-called "progress while gone"). Do such waiting games engage players? To answer this, we conducted a large survey (N=1972) to understand what players are doing when they play Neko Atsume. Players are highly “engaged” in Neko Atsume as they interact with and around the game in four distinct ways: Time spent playing, Direct sociability; Social media sociability and Checking frequency. However, these characteristics of engagement in Neko Atsume do not fit well with existing models of engagement. We propose that, in future studies, game engagement in idle games could be considered as a habit which players acquire and maintain.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Idle game,Waiting,Engagement,Player Experience,Social,Idle game,Player experience |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Computer Science (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 07 Sep 2018 14:20 |
Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2025 23:13 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.09.006 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.09.006 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:135461 |
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