A Phenomenological Inquiry of Sound Within Educational Games

In what ways does sound affect our experiences of play within software-based educational games? This study takes a phenomenological approach to examine participant as they played games with and without sound. Three hundred and seventy eight horizons were coded across six interviews, and a rigorous phenomenological methodology was used to distill the horizons to the essences of subjective participant experiences with sound in games. These results reinforce findings from the extant literature on game sound in which sound reinforces critical aspects of game-play. Sound provided a sense of presence in the game environment, by offering participants an entrance into a coherent, immersive experience of gameplay. Sound and visuals cohered to create a unified perceptual experience that resulted in emotional connections with the plight of in-game characters, while the lack of sound left players wanting to learn more about characters they were trying to save.