A Theoretical Framework for Managing Suspense in Games
Ying Zhu · 2021 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) · 2021
Suspense is one of the most important emotions for the enjoyment of games. Many techniques have been developed to generate and manage suspense in games, but a theoretical framework for this body of work is missing. In this paper, we present a framework that identifies the main components for suspense management in games. This framework includes both the cognitive model and computational model of suspense. For the computational model of suspense, we identify the affective loop between Player Suspense Model, Suspense Manager, and game content. This framework can help game designers better understand the various options and tools for creating and managing suspense and provides a road map for developing new techniques.