Immersion with a real world connection

During my ongoing literature review I often discover interesting facts about things I’ve never thought about. Sometimes I can connect these facts with my own observations: The result is mostly a completely new idea why things are as they are. Maybe these ideas are new to you, too. Therefore I’ll share my new science based knowledge with you!

This week: This time, I think about how the immersive effects of computer games are influenced by the experiences we have made in the real world.

Last week-end, I started playing a new computer game called „The Long Dark“[1] and during the gameplay, I was able to make an interesting observation about the immersive effects of this game. The gameplay itself is all about a person who has to survive in the Northern Canadian Wilderness during the winter. The main objective of the player is to find shelter from strong snow storms and to find enough food in order to stay alive.

Although the whole survival part felt quite realistic, most of the immersion was caused by the game world and all the colors used in the environment. During my short game session, I was mostly walking through snowy forests. Moreover, I was able to experience a beautiful sunset which had the characteristic color of a sunset during wintertime. The color of the environment was changing from a warm orange to a cold blueish color shortly after sunset.

The Long Dark

Personally, I like the winter and I like to go hiking through snowy landscapes, so I almost felt as if I would be „at home“ as I started playing this game. This immersive feeling was completely different from the „normal“ immersive feelings of a computer game. I was not hooked up, because I was totally focussing on the action of the gameplay. Instead, it was more like being in my favorite environment.

The Long Dark

It was interesting to become immersed by a game because of a direct connection to one of my most favorite environments. It was also very interesting to observe how a direct connection to the real world was intensifying the immersive effects of a game world.