Gameful group experience questionnaire (GGEx-Quest): development of a short scale for gamified group applications

Gamified group applications are increasingly used in educational settings. This makes the reliable and valid assessment of the gamified group experience (GGEx) essential. Although a comprehensive scale of gameful experience has been developed, it neglects the characteristic of group work and its length limits its applicability in time-constrained settings. From a feasibility perspective, it is important to have a short scale that accurately reflects the playful aspect when dealing with everyday situations, such as time pressure during a game or classroom restrictions. Thus, the present study aims to validate a short GGEx scale that can be easily applied and adapted to particular gamified group applications. The Gameful Group Experience Questionnaire (GGEx-Quest) is a newly developed scale based on existing scales, related literature, and three independent studies. Methods applied include an expert survey, step-by-step scale reduction, exploratory analysis, confirmatory analysis, bivariate analysis, and structural equation modeling. Ultimately, the GGEx-Quest was proven to be a reliable, valid, and useful instrument for researchers and practitioners. By using this scale, the evaluation of gamified group applications can gain comparability and informative value. This study contributes to the field by providing a better understanding of gameful experience, informing the design of future games.