immersion

My initial understanding of immersion within video games was when a player becomes so involved in a video game that they forget all other elements surrounding them in the ‘real world’ and feel as if they really were within the game. I thought that players could only become immersed in games that have online communities where players can interact with other players, can help each other, form bonds, spend hours and hours and actually live within a gaming world. Because of the high level of interaction and the consistent environment within these kinds of games, I believed players would become easily immersed due to the consistency and social elements. When I started playing ‘One Chance’ and ‘Machinarium’ I thought that players of these games would not be able to become immersed as they lacked consistency and social interaction with other players etc, however after playing them for a longer period of time I could understand how players could become immersed in these games. These games contained many of the components found in the Calleja Immersion model. They both included decision making on the players behalf, an exciting end goal (to move on the next level, to save the world etc), easy controls so that the player could playing without thinking about how to control the game, spatial involvement where the game environment was part of a wider world not just what was viewable on screen and ‘One Chance’ included a back story of the quest giving the player information about the world within the game and what must be done. Combined, these elements all merged to create a gaming environment where players can easily become immersed.