Flow Experiences of Adolescents in Terms of Internet Café Environment and Computer Game Play Characteristics

The aim of this study is to investigate the flow experiences of adolescents who play computer games at an Internet café environment. Observations and interviews were used in order to collect data from 21 adolescents aged 14 to 20 years. Results indicated that the Internet café social environment that include several activities such as talking to each other and helping other players while playing had a positive effect on the flow experiences of adolescents. While game genre, goal, and visual appearance increase the flow experiences and motivations of adolescents, the story feature of the games is not considered as an effective component of flow. The music of the games also does not have an effect on the flow experiences of most of the players.