When we first introduced game usability we said that it is focussed on ensuring the player can understand and use the game, rather than focussing on whether the game is enjoyable or not. However, the ‘enjoyability’ of a game which is sometimes referred to as its user experience (UX), or player experience, can be affected by usability issues. For example, if players are finding a game difficult to understand or can’t control their player character properly, then this is likely to diminish their enjoyment of the game. In this sense, bad usability can create barriers to your game’s player experience, reducing its potential. To see how much usability can affect the UX of a game, let’s look at an example.

Example of how usability relates to UX - Ridge Racer Unbounded

One of the more famous, and public, examples of usability impacting on player experience was the review of Ridge Racer Unbounded by Eurogamer’s Tom Bramwell . In the review Tom tells how he initially didn’t get on with the game, it was no fun at all, and he was on track to give it a low score. As part of the Eurogamer policy, they would give game publishers advance notice of upcoming review scores, mostly as a courtesy. When speaking to the publicist, it raised the question of how Tom was using the drift button, and it turns out that Tom was tapping it to use it like a handbrake, whereas he should have been holding it down. When holding the drift button it turns out the game is great, and Tom goes on to give the game an 8/10, saying that understanding how the drift button works transforms the game. So why didn’t Tom know about holding the drift button? It seems there were are at least two reasons, the first is that the game never let him know, it simply wasn’t mentioned in the tutorial. Second is that the drift button didn’t work like previous Ridge Racer titles, where even the slightest touch of the drift button would send the car sideways. Breaking from prior norms should have been a red flag to the developers that this is important to communicate to the player, however in this case that vital communication, somehow, did not happen.

Not every developer is lucky enough to have a chance to correct any misunderstandings with reviewers before launch. Nor do players have the luxury of phoning up the developer to ask how a feature works. Sure, they might go look for a YouTube review or walkthrough if they need help, but they also might quit and never come back.

Key takeaway

Although usability and UX are distinct topics and assessed in different ways, they are related in the sense that usability issues can impact the player experience.

Next: 13. Why Usability Issues Exist in Games