The Exergame Enjoyment Questionnaire (EEQ): An Instrument for Measuring Exergame Enjoyment

Abstract

Physical inactivity is on the rise. Exergames provide a new type of exercise that can be appealing to young people and possibly mitigate sedentary lifestyles. Unfortunately, no questionnaires exist to measure player enjoyment of exergames. We synthesized and validated the Exergame Enjoyment Questionnaire (EEQ), a new 20-item questionnaire for measuring how much players enjoyed an exergame. The EEQ was synthesized by combining questions from the GEQ and IEQ about the exergames game elements, and questions from PACES about the physical activity performed in the exergame. The EEQ was refined via focus groups and validated by comparing player responses on the EEQ to their coded responses in free form discussions about their gaming experience. For testing, the Pokémon Go and Just Dance Now exergames were selected. The EEQ score of participants corresponded to 85 percent of their coded responses in free form discussions about their gaming experience, suggesting the efficacy of our instrument. Subjects generally enjoyed Just Dance Now more (8 points higher EEQ scores on average) than Pokémon Go. However, a t-test suggests that we need EEQ scores from more subjects in order to conclude that Just Dance Now is more enjoyable than Pokémon Go.