Game Difficulty Adaptation and Experience Personalization: A Literature Review

This paper attempts to provide a detailed overview of the latest advancements in the field of game difficulty adaptation and experience personalization within the years 2005–2021 from the perspective of dynamic difficulty adjustment and procedural content generation. To this end, a systematic review process was followed in order to search in the database Scopus for relevant work within the addressed research scope. This process resulted in 109 relevant papers, which in turn were taxonomized according to the type of adaptation/personalization approach they employ in order to tailor games to each individual player. The aim of this survey is to address research concepts and problems that are related to the dynamic modeling of the players' characteristics, the impact of adaptive games on their experience and the dissemination of the relevant research. Findings of this review revealed that the adaptive and personalized games can improve and enhance the experience of the players/students and the rehabilitation of patients through the dynamic modeling of distinct personality characteristics, e.g., personal interests and exhibited emotions.