GEMS: Evaluating the Relative Importance of Game Attributes

Abstract

This study presents the Game Experience Multidimensional Scale (GEMS), a 13-item instrument designed to identify the attributes that players consider most influential when evaluating video games. Unlike existing scales that measure the presence of certain attributes or their intensity, GEMS focuses on the relative importance that users assign to each attribute when forming an overall opinion of a game. The scale was developed through an extensive review of the literature on existing evaluation models and refined with expert input. It was then applied to a sample of 619 students, primarily at the high school and undergraduate levels, who evaluated a game of their choice using the GEMS questionnaire. The instrument demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.861). Two analytical methods (stepwise multiple linear regression and linear programming) were employed to determine the attributes that best explain users’ overall ratings, with the regression model explaining 48.99% of the variance in overall game evaluation. Although both methods converged on similar key predictors, the findings should be interpreted with caution, as the homogeneity of the sample, the genre of the evaluated games, or demographic factors may have influenced the results. Nevertheless, GEMS offers a novel and preliminary approach to game evaluation, with potential applications in educational and professional contexts once further validation is conducted.