Flow encourages task focus, but frustration drives task switching how reward and efort combine to influence player engagement in a simple video game

The current study explores the relationship between perceived cognitive and physical demands of a simple video game, and the balance of reward and efort that results in fow states during gameplay. Cognitive demands and both exertion-based and controller-based physical demands were perceived as lowest in situations where reward was high and efort was low (boredom), moderate when reward and efort were balanced (fow), and highest when the reward was low and efort was high (frustration). Surprisingly, player response times to a secondary task showed the greatest improvement when playing the frustrating video game condition. We interpret this latter fnding as evidence of an observed task-switching efect: players initially tried to master the game's over-challenging primary task before giving up and, instead, diverted attention toward a secondary in-game task that required less efort and thus, gave greater attentional rewards to the player. The implications of this cognitive ofoading are discussed.