Game Experience Questionnaire

The Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) is a research-based survey used to understand how a game feels to play, not just whether it works correctly. Instead of focusing on bugs or controls, it looks at players’ emotions, engagement, challenge, and immersion during and after gameplay.

There are no right or wrong answers. The goal is to capture the player's personal experience.

This document contains the English version of the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ). The GEQ has a modular structure, including:

1. The Core Questionnaire

2. The Social Presence Module

3. The Post-Game Module

A concise in-game version was also developed. The three modules should be administered after the game session in the given order. Parts 1 and 2 assess players' feelings during the game, while Part 3 evaluates post-game emotions.

• Part 1 (Core GEQ): Measures seven components of game experience: Immersion, Flow, Competence, Positive/Negative Affect, Tension, and Challenge, using five items per component, with a spare item for translation accuracy. Scale analyses will refine items after initial use.

• Part 2 (Social Presence): Evaluates the player's interaction with virtual, mediated, or co-located social entities, only used when such interactions occur.

• Part 3 (Post-Game): Assesses feelings after gameplay, relevant for both natural and experimental settings.

The In-game GEQ is a simplified version of Part 1, used to assess game experience at multiple intervals during a session, aiding real-time experience tracking.

• The Core GEQ and Social Presence questions should be answered right after you finish playing

• The Post-Game questions focus on how you feel after stepping away from the game

• The In-Game GEQ can be used during play (for example, between levels or checkpoints)

Try to answer based on your immediate feelings, not what you think the designers want to hear.

For every statement, player chooses how strongly it applied to them  while playing the game:
 

• 0 – Not at all → This didn’t apply to me

• 1 – Slightly → I felt this a little

• 2 – Moderately → I clearly felt this

• 3 – Fairly → I strongly felt this

• 4 – Extremely → This described my experience very well

Please indicate how you felt while playing the game for each of the items, on the following scale:
 

0 - Not at all

1 - slightly

2 - Moderately

3 - Fairly

4 - extremely
 

1. I felt content

2. I felt skillful

3. I was interested in the game's story

4. I thought it was fun

5. I was fully occupied with the game

6. I felt happy

7. It gave me a bad mood

8. I thought about other things

9. I found it tiresome

10. I felt competent

11. I thought it was hard

12. It was aesthetically pleasing

13. I forgot everything around me

14. I felt good

15. I was good at it

16. I felt bored

17. I felt successful

18. I felt imaginative

19. I felt that I could explore things

20. I enjoyed it

21. I was fast at reaching the game's targets

22. I felt annoyed

23. I felt pressured

24. I felt irritable

25. I lost track of time

26. I felt challenged

27. I found it impressive

28. I was deeply concentrated in the game

29. I felt frustrated

30. It felt like a rich experience

31. I lost connection with the outside world

32. I felt time pressure

33. I had to put a lot of effort into it

The In-Game GEQ is a shorter version of the Core questions. It’s designed to be used during gameplay, for example:
 

• After a level

• At checkpoints

• During longer play sessions
   

It helps designers see how experience changes over time, rather than only at the end. It is answered the same way as Core GEQ, just more frequently and with fewer questions.

Survey:

Please indicate how you felt while playing the game for each of the items, on the following scale:
 

0 - Not at all

1 - slightly

2 - Moderately

3 - Fairly

4 - extremely

I. was interested in the game's story GEQ Core – 3
2. I felt successful GEQ Core – 17
3. I felt bored GEQ Core – 16
4. I found it impressive GEQ Core – 27
5. I forgot everything around me GEQ Core – 13
6. I felt frustrated GEQ Core – 29
7. I found it tiresome GEQ Core – 9
8. I felt irritable GEQ Core – 24
9. I felt skilful GEQ Core – 2
10. I felt completely absorbed GEQ Core – 5
11. I felt content GEQ Core – 1
12. I felt challenged GEQ Core – 26
13. I had to put a lot of effort into it GEQ Core – 33
14. I felt good GEQ Core – 14

When to use it:

Only use this section if the game involved other people or social characters, such as:

• Multiplayer games

• Co-op play

• Competitive matches

• Games with strong NPC interactions
   

This section looks at:

• Feeling connected to others

• Emotional reactions to other players or characters

• How your actions affected each other
   

If the game was fully single-player with no social interaction, this section can be skipped.

Survey:

Please indicate how you felt while playing the game for each of the items, on the following scale:
 

0 - Not at all

1 - slightly

2 - Moderately

3 - Fairly

4 - extremely

1. I empathized with the other(s)

2. My actions depended on the other(s) actions

3. The other's actions were dependent on my actions

4. I felt connected to the other(s)

5. The other(s) paid close attention to me

6. I paid close attention to the other(s)

7. I felt jealous about the other(s)

8. I found it enjoyable to be with the other(s)

9. When I was happy, the other(s) was(were) happy

10. When the other(s) was(were) happy, I was happy

11. I influenced the mood of the other(s)

12. I was influenced by the other(s) moods

13. I admired the other(s)

14. What the other(s) did affected what I did

15. What I did affected what the other(s) did

16. I felt revengeful

17. I felt schadenfreude (malicious delight)

This section focuses on how the game made players feel after they have stopped playing, such as:

• Feeling energized or exhausted

• Feeling proud or regretful

• Feeling like you “returned from a journey”
   

These questions help capture lasting emotional impact, not just moment-to-moment gameplay feelings.

Survey:

Please indicate how you felt while playing the game for each of the items, on the following scale:

0 - Not at all

1 - slightly

2 - Moderately

3 - Fairly

4 - extremely
 

I. felt revived
2. I felt bad
3. I found it hard to get back to reality
4. I felt guilty
5. It felt like a victory
6. I found it a waste of time
7. I felt energized1
8. I felt satisfied
9. I felt disoriented
10. I felt exhausted
11. I felt that I could have done more useful things
12. I felt powerful
13. I felt weary
14. I felt regret
15. I felt ashamed
16. I felt proud
17. I had a sense that I had returned from a journey

Reference: https://pure.tue.nl/ws/files/21666907/Game_Experience_Questionnaire_English.pdf