Hold My Hand: Impact of Intimate Controllers on Player Experience

Intimate controllers are defined as devices that require players to breach their comfort zone and interpersonal boundaries to establish a physical contact between players. We developed a game that requires players to hold each other's hands to perform a special action. The main purpose was to investigate the impact that this alternative controller has on player experience. Two version of the game were created: with and without intimate controllers. We had two groups playing with each version and then fill a survey to evaluate player experience. Player experience was assessed using the Game Experience Questionnaire (Core Module, Social Presence Module and Post-game Module) but given some serious concerns regarding this model, we analyzed the data bypassing the factors and instead focusing on individual answers. The data shows that intimate controllers can lead to a much more engaging experience and feelings of closeness to other players, while eliciting stronger emotions, both positive and negative. There are also unexpected results in terms of increased engagement with the narrative aspect of the game while also reporting a decreased feeling of mastery and skills and increased weariness.