Echoes of Gaming: Layered Sound Congruence and Its Effects on Cognition and Decisions

Tests sound as a causal variable in games via Sonic Affinity: fit between a player’s preferences and a game’s ambient+music. Pre-survey: participants hear six loudness-normalized 10s clips, rate (1–5), then rank; top = congruent-positive, bottom = congruent-negative, neutral = midpoint. Ambient congruence is set in parallel (familiar/neutral/unfamiliar anchors). Participants play an HTML-embedded geometric tracking game (no narrative/iconography) in three 3-min phases, adding one rule each phase. In-game time = 11:00 (9:00 play + 3×0:30 silent washouts + 2×0:15 shops). Audio layers per phase: SFX (0–15s), +ambient (15–30s), +music (30–150s). Shops spend earned coins; outcomes never carry over, isolating perceived gain/loss. Post-game surveys measure valence/arousal, absorption, decision security, perceived outcome, and GTP; performance is logged via random ID. Hypotheses: congruent-positive > neutral > congruent-negative for performance, experience, GTP, and riskier/faster spending.