Translation, adaptation and validation of the German version of the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS-GA-18) for adolescents

Figures & data

Table 1. Existing questionnaires for player experience.

Name	Dimensions	Items number	Language
Immersion Questionnaire (Jennett et al. 2008)	Temporal dissociation, focused immersion, heightened enjoyment, control, curiosity, emotional involvement, transportation to a different place, attention, control, autonomy	33	English
Game Engagement Questionnaire (Brockmyer et al. 2009)	Absorption, flow, presence, immersion	19	English
Player Experience of Need Satisfaction Scale (Ryan, Rigby, and Przybylski 2006)	In-game-autonomy, in-game competence, intuitive controls, preference for future play, game enjoyment, presence		English
Player Experience Inventory (Abeele et al. 2020)	Ease of control, progress feedback, audiovisual appeal, goals and rules, challenge, mastery, curiosity, immersion, autonomy, meaning	52	English
Game Experience Questionnaire (Engl and Nacke 2013)	Flow, challenge, competence, tension, negative affect, positive affect, sensory and imaginative immersion	33	German
Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (Phan, Keebler, and Chaparro 2016)	Usability/Playability, Narratives, Play Engrossment, Enjoyment, Creative Freedom, Audio Aesthetics, Personal Gratification, Social Connectivity, Visual Aesthetics	55	English
GUESS-18 (Keebler et al. 2020)	Usability/Playability, Narratives, Play Engrossment, Enjoyment, Creative Freedom, Audio Aesthetics, Personal Gratification, Social Connectivity, Visual Aesthetics	18	English

Figure 1. Process of translating, adapting and validating the GUESS-GA-18.

Table 2. Process of the translation and adaptation of the items of the GUESS-18 for the use with German-speaking adolescents.

Original item	Synthesis of translations (step 2)	Expert committee (step 3)	Focus groups with early adolescents (step 4)	English translation of final German version	Final German version (step 4)
Usability/Playability
1. I find the controls of the game to be straightforward.	Ich finde die Steuerung im Spiel einfach.	Ich finde, das Spiel ist einfach zu steuern.	„	I find the game easy to control.	Ich finde, das Spiel ist einfach zu steuern.
2. I find the game's interface to be easy to navigate.	Ich finde das Interface im Spiel (z.B. das Menü) einfach zu bedienen.	Ich finde die Menüs im Spiel einfach zu bedienen.	Ich finde das Menü im Spiel einfach zu bedienen.	I find the in-game interface easy to use.	Ich finde das Menü im Spiel einfach zu bedienen.
Narratives
3. I am captivated by the game's story from the beginning.	Die Geschichte des Spiels hat mich von Anfang an gefesselt.	„	Die Geschichte des Spiels hat mich von Anfang an begeistert.	The story of the game got me excited from the start.	Die Geschichte des Spiels hat mich von Anfang an begeistert.
4. I enjoy the fantasy or story provided by the game.	Ich mag die Handlung bzw. Geschichte des Spiels.	„	Ich mag die Geschichte des Spiels.	I like the story of the game.	Ich mag die Geschichte des Spiels.
Play engrossment
5. I feel detached from the outside world while playing the game.	Ich fühle mich von der Außenwelt losgelöst, während ich das Spiel spiele.	Ich fühle mich von der realen Welt (Außenwelt) losgelöst, während ich das Spiel spiele.	Manchmal verliere ich die Zeit aus den Augen, während ich das Spiel spiele.	Sometimes I lose track of time while playing the game.	Manchmal verliere ich die Zeit aus den Augen, während ich das Spiel spiele.
6. I do not care to check events that are happening in the real world during the game.	Ich interessiere mich nicht für Ereignisse, die in der realen Welt passieren, während ich spiele.	Ich vergesse, was in der realen Welt passiert, während ich spiele.	Ich vergesse, was in der Außenwelt passiert, während ich spiele.	I forget what is happening in the outside world while I play.	Ich vergesse, was in der Außenwelt passiert, während ich spiele.
Enjoyment
7. I think the game is fun.	Ich finde, das Spiel macht Spaß.	„	„	I think the game is fun.	Ich finde, das Spiel macht Spaß.
8. I feel bored while playing the game. (REVERSE CODE)	Ich bin gelangweilt, während ich das Spiel spiele.	„		I am bored while playing the game.	Ich bin gelangweilt, während ich das Spiel spiele.
Creative freedom
9. I feel the game allows me to be imaginative.	Ich finde, das Spiel erlaubt es mir, fantasievoll zu sein.	„	Ich finde, das Spiel erlaubt mir, etwas zu verändern.	I think the game allows me to make changes.	Ich finde, das Spiel erlaubt mir, etwas zu verändern.
10. I feel creative while playing the game.	Ich finde, ich kann kreativ sein, während ich das Spiel spiele.	„	„	I think I can be creative while playing the game.	Ich finde, ich kann kreativ sein, während ich das Spiel spiele.
Audio aesthetics
11. I enjoy the sound effects in the game.	Ich mag die Soundeffekte im Spiel.	„	„	I like the sound effects in the game.	Ich mag die Soundeffekte im Spiel.
12. I feel the game’s audio (e.g. sound effects, music) enhances my gaming experience.	Ich finde, der Ton (z.B. Soundeffekte und Musik) verbessert mein Spielerlebnis.	Ich finde, der Ton im Spiel (z.B. Soundeffekt und Musik) verbessert mein Spielerlebnis.	„	I think the sound in the game (e.g. sound effects and music) improves my gaming experience.	Ich finde, der Ton im Spiel (z.B. Soundeffekt und Musik) verbessert mein Spielerlebnis.
Personal gratification
13. I am very focused on my own performance while playing the game.	Ich bin sehr fokussiert auf meine eigene Leistung, während ich das Spiel spiele.	„	Ich bin sehr konzentriert auf meine eigene Leistung, während ich das Spiel spiele.	I am very focused on my own performance while playing the game.	Ich bin sehr konzentriert auf meine eigene Leistung, während ich das Spiel spiele.
14. I want to do as well as possible during the game.	Ich möchte in dem Spiel so gut wie möglich sein.	„	„	I want to do as well as possible during the game	Ich möchte in dem Spiel so gut wie möglich sein.
Social connectivity
15. I find the game supports social interaction (e.g. chat) between players.	Ich finde, das Spiel unterstützt soziale Interaktionen zwischen Spieler*innen.	Ich finde, das Spiel fördert soziale Interaktionen (z.B. reden, chatten) zwischen Spieler*innen.	Ich finde, das Spiel fördert die Kommunikation (z.B. reden, chatten) zwischen Spieler*innen.	I think the game promotes communication (e.g. talking, chatting) between players.	Ich finde, das Spiel fördert die Kommunikation (z.B. reden, chatten) zwischen Spieler*innen.
16. I like to play this game with other players.	Es gefällt mir, das Spiel mit anderen Spieler*innen zu spielen.	„	„	I like playing the game with other players.	Es gefällt mir, das Spiel mit anderen Spieler*innen zu spielen.
Visual aesthetics
17. I enjoy the game's graphics.	Ich mag die Grafik des Spiels.	„	„	I enjoy the game's graphics.	Ich mag die Grafik des Spiels.
18. I think the game is visually appealing.	Ich finde, das Spiel ist visuell ansprechend.	Ich finde die Grafik im Spiel cool/schön.	Ich finde, das Spiel sieht schön aus.	I think the game looks nice.	Ich finde, das Spiel sieht schön aus.

Note: Step – relating to the steps in the method section; „ – no changes to the prior version.

Table 3. Guidelines for questionnaires for young people.

Guidelines	Reference
Short sentences with simple syntax	Bell (2007)
Direct and specific wording
Questions referring to the current moment or a specific reference period (e.g. ‘in the last 7 days’ rather than ‘recently’)
No ambiguous, hypothetical, negatively worded and suggestive questions
Full labelling for scales
Verbal labelling rather than numeric labelling
No more than three or four response options for younger than 11 years, a maximum of four to five options for 11 years or older
Only offer a ‘don't know’ or missing opinion should as an option if it can actually be a valid answer (e.g. as a result of lack of knowledge)
Cognitive pretesting with the target group	LaPietra, Urban, and Linver (2020)

Table 4. Demographics of the sample for the validation study.

		Sex (N)		Total
		Females	Males
Age (N)	10	10	15	25
	11	29	25	54
	12	12	21	33
	13	10	32	42
	14	5	24	29
	15	4	24	28
	16	2	28	30
	17	7	21	28
	18	34	67	101
Total		113	257	370

Table 5. Distribution of games that were chosen by the participants of the validation study.

Game	n (Percentage)	nfemale	nmale
LINA^a	107 (26.7%)	45	58
Fortnite	68 (17.0%)	7	56
GTA	59 (14.7%)	4	53
The Sims	26 (6.5%)	24	2
Minecraft	23 (5.7%)	11	11
Brawl Stars	22 (5.5%)	2	18
FIFA	12 (3%)	2	9
Candy Crush	3 (0.7%)	2	0
Other	81 (20.2%)	25	51

^a Serious game played during workshops.

Table 6. Means and standard deviations of the rating for all items of the GUESS-GA-18.

	Usability/playability1	Usability/playability2	Narratives1	Narratives2	Play Engrossment1	Play Engrossment2	Enjoyment1	Enjoyment2 *	Creative Freedom1	Creative Freedom2	Audio Aesthetics1	Audio Aesthetics2	Personal Gratification1	Personal Gratification2	Social Connectivity1	Social Connectivity2	Visual Aesthetics1	Visual Aesthetics2
Mean	4.13	4.31	4.13	3.98	3.95	3.03	4.54	4.22	3.45	3.71	3.96	3.93	4.03	4.1	3.85	4.47	4.26	4.23
SD	0.96	0.87	1.02	1.15	1.18	1.36	0.77	1.03	1.24	1.18	1.07	1.13	1.06	1.05	1.16	0.89	0.83	0.84

Note: means can vary between 1 and 5; *item recoded.

Figure 2. Intercorrelated nine-factor model of the GUESS-GA-18.

Table 7. Model fit assessment with cut-offs of the GUESS-GA-18, The GUESS-18 and GUESS-55.

Model	GUESS-GA-18	GUESS-18	GUESS-55	Fit recommendations/cut-offs (Schreiber et al. 2006)
χ^2^a	179.077 p < .001	137.015 p < .001	4,428.63 p < .001	Relation to degrees of freedom ≤ 2 or 3
Degrees of freedom^a	108	100	1394
RMSEA^a	.041	.043	.053	<.06–.08
Bollen’s Δ2^a	.959	-	-	≥.95
TLI	.932	.961	-	≥.95
CFI	.957	.974	-	≥.95
Hoelters‘ CN (.05; .01)	298; 325	-	258; 265	>200 (adequate) < 75 (unacceptable)

^a Fit indices used to evaluate the model fit.

Table 8. Model comparison of different GUESS versions.

	1-factor	7-factor	8-factor	9-factor
χ^2	χ^2 (135) = 179.077, p < .001	χ^2 (114) = 390.471, p < .001	χ^2 (107) = 288.813, p < .001	χ^2 (108) = 179.077, p < .001
RMSEA	.108	.078	.065	.041
Bollen’s Δ2	.626	.838	.894	.959
ECVI	2.182	1.351	1.132	.853

Table 9. Internal consistency of the subscales of the GUESS-GA-18.

Subscale	Usability/playability	Narratives	Play Engrossment	Enjoyment	Creative freedom	Audio aesthetics	Personal gratification	Social connectivity	Visual aesthetics
Spearman-Brown-coefficieant	.665	.807	.575	.560	.610	.777	.645	.545	.722

Table 10. Correlations between the GUESS-GA-18 and the single question ‘How much did you like the game?’

	Overall scale	Usability/playability	Narratives	Play Engrossment	Enjoyment	Creative freedom	Audio aesthetics	Personal gratification	Social connectivity	Visual aesthetics
Spearman-Rho	.53**	.25**	.33**	.26**	.51**	.30**	.32**	.32**	.20**	.45**

Note: **. significance level 0.01 (2-sided).

Table 11. HTMT values of the subscales of the GUESS-GA-18.

	Usability/playability	Narratives	Play Engrossment	Enjoyment	Creative freedom	Audio aesthetics	Personal gratification	Social connectivity	Visual aesthetics
Usability/playability
Narratives	0.17
Play Engrossment	0.23	0.37
Enjoyment	0.30	0.49	0.34
Creative freedom	0.36	0.39	0.47	0.48
Audio aesthetics	0.50	0.43	0.25	0.46	0.34
Personal gratification	0.41	0.17	0.43	0.50	0.42	0.29
Social connectivity	0.17	0.36	0.20	0.47	0.18	0.28	0.36
Visual aesthetics	0.39	0.52	0.35	0.74	0.56	0.55	0.42	0.32

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