The Impact of Color Blindness on Player Engagement and Emotional Experience: A Multimodal Study in a Game-Based Environment

Purpose: Color blindness can create challenges in recognizing visual cues, potentially affecting players' performance, emotional involvement, and overall gaming experience. This study examines the impact of color blindness on player engagement and emotional experience in digital games. The research aims to analyze how color-blind individuals engage with and emotionally respond to games, offering insights for more inclusive and accessible game design. Methodology/Approach: An experiment-based study was conducted using a between-group design with 8 color-blind and 8 non-color-blind participants (ages 18-30). The sample was carefully selected to ensure participants had similar levels of digital gaming experience and familiarity with digital games, reducing potential biases related to skill or prior exposure. A custom-designed game, "Color Quest," was developed to assess engagement and emotional response. Emotional responses were measured through Emotion AI analysis, video recordings, and self-reported feedback forms. Participants were also asked to rate their engagement and emotional experience on a 1-to-5 scale, with additional qualitative feedback collected for deeper insights. Findings: The results indicate that color-blind players generally reported lower engagement levels compared to non-color-blind players. Although quantitative data did not reveal a direct correlation between color blindness and visual experience, self-reported feedback suggests that color-related design choices negatively impact emotional involvement and player immersion. Furthermore, in the survey responses directed to participants, color-blind individuals rated their experiences lower compared to individuals with normal vision. Participants emphasized that certain visual elements created difficulties in gameplay, and alternative sensory cues, such as audio feedback, helped mitigate these challenges. Originality/Value: This study provides a rigorous experimental evaluation of color blindness in gaming, emphasizing the role of sensory adaptation in improving player engagement and emotional experience. The findings contribute to game accessibility research by offering concrete design recommendations for developers to create more inclusive and engaging gaming experiences for color-blind individuals.