Pulling the Strings: A Theory of Puppetry for the Gaming Experience

Eduardo H. Calvillo Gámez & Paul Cairns

Abstract - In this paper we introduce the theory of puppetry to understand the gaming experience. The paper concentrates on discussing the importance of operationalising the user experience, and how puppetry can be used to do so within the videogame domain. The paper aims to bringing the experience of playing videogames closer to objective knowledge, where the experience can be assessed and falsified. Experience is defined as a two fold phenomenon: process and outcome. The theory focuses on explaining the basic elements that form the core of the process of the experience. It argues that puppetry is formed by control and ownership. The name of puppetry is introduced after discussing the similarities in the importance of experience between videogames and theatrical puppetry. Then, puppetry operationalises the gaming experience into a concept that can be assessed.

Keywords - Gaming Experience, Puppetry

Pulling the Strings: A Theory of Puppetry for the Gaming Experience (Presented Version)
Pulling the Strings: A Theory of Puppetry for the Gaming Experience (Published Version)
Third Conference on the Philosophy of Computer Games
Conference Proceedings of Philosophy of Computer Games 2008
Potsdam, Germany, May 2008