TY - GEN
T1 - Pathways of Desire: Enhancing Navigation and Sense of Community Through Player-Generated Desire Paths
AU - Lankes, Michael
AU - Wallner, Günter
AU - Kocur, Martin
PY - 2025/4/26
Y1 - 2025/4/26
N2 - Navigating is essential in many video games. However, previous work suggests that many games still suffer from navigational problems that decrease enjoyment. In this paper, we focus on "Desire Paths", informal trails collectively created by pedestrians representing the most convenient route. While they are known to be useful wayfinding aids, it is unclear how they affect navigation and experience in games. We therefore investigated diegetically visualized player trajectory data in a 2D game through virtual footprints that were persistently visible for all subsequent players. Through a mixed-methods study involving 50 participants, we found that virtual footprints improved navigation by guiding players to points of interest and reducing disorientation for early players. However, visual clutter from excessive footprints reduced their effectiveness in later stages. They also fostered a sense of community, especially for late-stage players and prompted exploration of yet undiscovered areas. We further discuss design implications and future research directions.
AB - Navigating is essential in many video games. However, previous work suggests that many games still suffer from navigational problems that decrease enjoyment. In this paper, we focus on "Desire Paths", informal trails collectively created by pedestrians representing the most convenient route. While they are known to be useful wayfinding aids, it is unclear how they affect navigation and experience in games. We therefore investigated diegetically visualized player trajectory data in a 2D game through virtual footprints that were persistently visible for all subsequent players. Through a mixed-methods study involving 50 participants, we found that virtual footprints improved navigation by guiding players to points of interest and reducing disorientation for early players. However, visual clutter from excessive footprints reduced their effectiveness in later stages. They also fostered a sense of community, especially for late-stage players and prompted exploration of yet undiscovered areas. We further discuss design implications and future research directions.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105005718437
U2 - 10.1145/3706598.3713191
DO - 10.1145/3706598.3713191
M3 - Conference proceedings
T3 - Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings
BT - CHI 2025 - Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
ER -