The Play Experience Scale: development and validation of a measure of play

A measure of play experience in video games was developed through literature review and two empirical validation studies.

Despite the considerable attention given to games in the behavioral sciences, play experience remains empirically underexamined. One reason for this gap is the absence of a scale that measures play experience.

In Study 1, the initial Play Experience Scale (PES) was tested through an online validation that featured three different games (N = 203). In Study 2, a revised PES was assessed with a serious game in the laboratory (N = 77).

Through principal component analysis of the Study 1 data, the initial 20-item PES was revised, resulting in the 16-item PES-16. Study 2 showed the PES-16 to be a robust instrument with the same patterns of correlations as in Study 1 via (a) internal consistency estimates, (b) correlations with established scales of motivation, (c) distributions of PES-16 scores in different game conditions, and (d) examination of the average variance extracted of the PES and the Intrinsic Motivation Scale.

We suggest that the PES is appropriate for use in further validation studies. Additional examinations of the scale are required to determine its applicability to other contexts and its relationship with other constructs.

The PES is potentially relevant to human factors undertakings involving video games, including basic research into play, games, and learning; prototype testing; and exploratory learning studies.