Video games are a significant cultural and aesthetic medium, with increasing artistic ambition and expressive potential. However, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) cannot explain why games move us, intellectually challenge us, or sometimes even change our view of the world. MAGE approaches games from the perspective of Empirical Aesthetics, the study of how people experience art. The project studies how games can create emotionally impactful and thought-provoking experiences, and will provide new theoretical tools and methods to study and design aesthetic game experiences. By outlining the design and psychological mechanisms underlying aesthetic game experience, this project will build the foundation for a new area of HCI games research.

2021

2025