Because of their immersive and motivating nature, video games have emerged as a new way of measuring psychological traits, such as risk-taking. Virtual reality (VR), in particular, affords the salience that traditional measures lack. In this presentation, we showcase Shima, a VR game that combines free exploration with decisions along the way, and players’ gameplay experiences that help finetune our design for later iterations of the game. Specifically, the players enter with the storyline that they are photographers with the explicit goal of documenting creatures on an island. Equipped with only a virtual camera and some film, players try to take the best pictures they can without being attacked. With limited film but little time pressure, players can carefully strategize how to approach each monster to maximize their points. Observational and interview data confirm the salience of the VR landscape but also suggest superfluous design features that could be removed.
