CORGIS: Challenge Originating from Recent Gameplay Interaction Scale

Measuring: Perceived Challenge

Authors: Alena Denisova, Paul Cairns, Christian Guckelsberger, David Zendle
Published: 2020
Number of questions: 30
Likert scale: 7-point for more precision or 5-point for a shorter survey [ranging from (1) Strongly Disagree to (7) Strongly Agree]

Subscales: Four sub-scales measuring different types of perceived challenge: (1) Cognitive Challenge; (2) Emotional Challenge; (3) Performative Challenge; and (4) Decision-Making Challenge

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Questionnaire items

  • Cognitive challenge:

    Arising from the need for planning ahead, memorisation, effort, preparation and multi-tasking
  • CC1. Succeeding in the game required much planning
  • CC2. I had to memorise a lot of different things when playing the game
  • CC3. I had to think several steps ahead when playing the game
  • CC4. I had to prepare for the things that the game threw at me
  • CC5. Succeeding in the game required much planning
  • CC6. I felt challenged when playing the game
  • CC7. I had lots of different things to think about at once in the game
  • CC8. The game made me manage several tasks at the same time
  • CC9. I had to constantly keep track of what was going on in the game
  • CC10. I had to think actively when playing the game
  • CC11. Playing the game required me to do my best

  • Emotional challenge:

    Arising from the emotions evoked in the player which might also have implications for things they thought about outside of the game
  • EC1. This game is more than just a game to me
  • EC2. The things that happened in the game made me sad
  • EC3. I invested much thought into the game
  • EC4. I felt a sense of responsibility for characters and events in the game
  • EC5. The game made me think about real life issues
  • EC6. Playing the game was stimulating
  • EC7. I felt a sense of suspense when playing the game
  • EC8. The game had moral dilemmas in it where the choice was not obvious
  • EC9. The game involved making moral choices that I didn't agree with

  • Performative challenge:

    Arising from the game requiring rapid and accurate action from the player
  • PC1. I had to react quickly when playing the game
  • PC2. I had to act quickly when playing the game
  • PC3. Thinking fast was an important part of the game
  • PC4. Quickly responding to things that I saw was an important part of the game
  • PC5. I had to make snap decisions when playing the game

  • Decision-making challenge:

    Arising from having to make choices that were difficult or could lead to regrettable outcomes
  • DMC1. There were some decisions in the game that I regretted
  • DMC2. I wonder how different the outcome in the game would be had I chosen a different option
  • DMC3. I had to make difficult choices in the game
  • DMC4. I had to think about possible alternatives for my actions in the game
  • DMC5. The game made me think hard about my decisions

Using the questionnaire

The questionnaire be used as a whole (all 30 items) to measure overall perceived challenge. To evaluate a separate types of perceived challenge (e.g. emotional challenge), you can use individual sub-scales.

When to use? The questionnaire is meant to be administered immediately after the game session has finished.

Ideally, items should be presented to participants in random order and without naming the four challenge types.

Scoring: To score each challenge type, take the sum (no missing values) or the average (if you have missing values) of the Likert scale responses from the items belonging to each challenge type.

Reliability and Validity

Validation: The questionnaire is a systematic, extensive, reliable, and valid tool to measure perceived challenge in video games, having been validated with 1390 players and across different genres.

Sub-scale Composite Reliability (CR) Average Variance Extracted (AVE) Maximum Shared Variance (MSV)
Cognitive Challenge 0.92 0.50 0.16
Emotional Challenge 0.88 0.47 0.42
Performative Challenge 0.96 0.81 0.06
Decision-Making Challenge 0.89 0.63 0.42

Availability: You can find a detailed description of the validation of this questionnaire in the original article:
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