(99) Pleasantly frustrating, educationally useful? Motivational effects of game checkpoints

Contributors: Huber, S. E. , Auer, J., Gashaj, V., Moeller, K., Ninaus, M.

Venue: FUTURE EDUCATION Conference 2026: Interdisciplinary Research Perspectives, Graz, Österreich, September 1-3, 2026

Abstract:
Introduction. Theoretical background, aims, and research questions: Whereas in education, learners often view failure as dysfunctional, eliciting frustration and avoidance (Ross et al., 2022), video games deliberately structure gameplay around cycles of failure, feedback, and retry, referred to as “pleasantly frustrating” experiences (Gee, 2005) or “graceful failure” (Plass et al., 2015). Education research likewise shows that under certain conditions, failure can be productive for learning (Kapur & Bielaczyc, 2012). In the present study, we investigate whether game design features that specifically lower the cost of failure can sustain motivation and mitigate frustration inherent to failure (Eskreis-Winkler & Fishbach, 2022). Identifying low-cost, scalable “graceful failure” structures, successfully utilized in games, may inform education research and practice about how to devise classroom and digital task design that leverages failure without diminishing engagement. In the present study, we experimentally isolate one game mechanic routinely used for such a purpose: checkpoints. We expect that by reducing negative consequences of failure, checkpoints effectively reframe failure as local and recoverable, fostering exploration and persistence (i.e., losing only progress since the last checkpoint, rather than all progress in a game level), whereas in the absence of checkpoints, frustration is amplified despite otherwise identical mechanics.
Methods. A 2D platformer video game was developed in two versions: one with regular checkpoints (reducing negative consequences of failure) and one without such checkpoints but otherwise equivalent. This game was then used in an online, randomized between-subjects experiment, in which 172 adults (18–62 years; M = 26.53 years, SD = 8.66 years; 86 female, 81 male, 5 non-binary) played the game up to 20 minutes or until completing all 10 levels of the game. Pre-gameplay, participants provided demographics and baseline levels of frustration (7-point scale; Pekrun et al., 2017). Post-gameplay, they again reported frustration, three facets of intrinsic motivation (interest and enjoyment, perceived competence, pressure and tension; 3 items each, 5-point scale) assessed via a German adaptation (Wilde et al., 2009) of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Deci & Ryan, 2003). Satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness) were measured via the Basic Needs in Games Scale (7-point scale; Ballou et al., 2024). Behavioral engagement (time on task, levels completed) was logged. Statistical analyses compared both conditions regarding frustration, motivation, and engagement measures using standard hypothesis testing and effect size estimation.
Results and Discussion. Players in the checkpoint condition explored a significantly larger portion of the game (i.e., more levels), p < .001, d = 0.59 [0.29, 0.93]. Game-induced frustration (i.e., post-game frustration minus pre-game frustration) was significantly larger for the condition without checkpoints than for the condition with checkpoints, p = .005, d = 0.47 [0.12, 0.84]. Players in the condition with checkpoints reported significantly higher means of perceived competence, p = .003, d = 0.49 [0.18, 0.87], and perceived pressure and tension, p = .009, Cohen’s d = 0.44 [0.14, 0.79], but significantly lower competence frustration p = .009, Cohen’s d = -0.44 [-0.79, -0.12]. Perceived competence, pressure and tension, and competence frustration each significantly mediated the effect of checkpoints on game-induced frustration. Our findings suggest that checkpoints effectively reduced the negative consequences of failure as envisaged, and in consequence improved persistence (i.e., exploring a larger portion of the game) and affect. In particular, introducing checkpoints effectively mitigated frustration, supporting motivation by limiting frustration of the need for competence. By decreasing regulatory demands of coping with failure (Eskreis-Winkler & Fishbach, 2022), checkpoints might enable freeing cognitive-affective resources for the reflective processes required to make failure productive (Kapur & Bielaczyc, 2012).
Educational Significance of the research. Our results show that “graceful failure” structures, like checkpoints, reduce frustration and improve motivation, offering actionable lessons for education. Beyond endorsing game-based learning (Plass et al., 2020), they highlight the importance of lowering the cost of failure to address cognitive-affective barriers inherent to failure experiences (Eskreis-Winkler & Fishbach, 2022). Educational practice could leverage this by inviting low-risk trial-and-error to make failure both informative and less ego-threatening (Eskreis-Winkler & Fishbach, 2019), and generally by working on instructional designs that reframe failure from something to avoid to a resource for learning, enabling productive failure experiences while preserving perceived competence and engagement.

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