This thesis investigated to what extent the inclusion of a UI indicating character trait bars affects a player's empathy and decisions while playing a text-based game. First, we reference contemporary decision-based games to identify character traits suitable for the bars and use these bars as the variable meant to induce empathy. We create a short narrative called Reflect, where players are given two choices to choose from in order to advance the story. The character traits bars will move as the player makes decisions. Twenty recruited participants are split into two groups; an experimental group, with the character trait bars visible, and a control group, with no bars visible.While our findings indicate no significant differences in empathy among the experimental and the control group, we consider this may be due to our small sample size. We find that players often reference their own beliefs when playing regardless of whether or not character trait bars are included. Additionally, players are more likely to be influenced by the story and characters later on in the game if they do have the bars available to them. The inclusion of the character trait bars do impact players' choices, as the experimental group is more likely to make choices that align with the available traits (noble, daring, assertive, and generous). This suggests that the use of a UI in games and other applications may positively influence users' actions and decisions. Furthermore, the inclusion of character trait bars may lead to more interest in the characters and story, and higher levels of enjoyment. Given our small sample size this preliminary study requires further investigation and research
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest, 2020
