Breukelaar, Johan, Bojian (2026) Chocolate or Broccoli? The Effects of Mental Health Messaging on Player Expectations and Game Enjoyment in Fractured Minds. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
As the popularity of video games grows, so does the interest in serious games for mental health intervention and education. However there still is much debate surrounding the combination of game enjoyment and learning in serious game design. This study investigated how trailer framing and player expectations influence game enjoyment in the serious game Fractured Minds. A sample of 144 university students of the University of Groningen were randomly assigned to watch one of two trailers, one advertised the game as a mental health game, while the other advertised the game as a commercial entertainment game. Participants then rated their expectations of fun and attractiveness and proceeded to play the game. Afterwards, players reported their levels of game enjoyment via the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Trailers with explicit mental health messaging did not significantly influence player expectations nor game enjoyment. Instead, player expectations, specifically expected fun, emerged as the dominant predictors of game enjoyment, which functioned independently of trailer framing. For serious games to be most effective, developers should prioritize making the core gameplay inherently enjoyable and increase expectations of fun especially early on.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Poppelaars, M. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Mar 2026 07:27 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Mar 2026 07:32 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/6304 |
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