The research aims to test the attributes proposed by the authors Katherine Isbister, Better game characters by design: a psychological approach (2006) and Ernest Adams in Fundamentals of Game Design (2006). The Playable Characters analyzed were retrieved from the most played digital games from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) reports between 2008 e 2017 and fit the following inclusion criteria: be a third person character; the aesthetical look of the Playable Character had to remain unchanged throughout the game; be a single-player game and the Playable Character from the digital game has to be the protagonist.

Considering the inclusion criteria, the Playable Characters analyzed are Niko Bellic from the digital game Grand Theft Auto IV, John Marston (Red Dead Redemption), Batman (Batman: Arkham City), Edward Kenway (Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag), Joel Miller (The Last of Us), Aiden Pearce (Watch Dogs) and Link ( The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild). The characters mentioned were selected based on their commercial success – retrieved from ESA sales reports and analyzed based on their physical and psychological attributes. The attributes were tested through 110 participants through an online survey – comparing the perception between respondents who played and did not play the games in analysis. The results show that the character perception of the respondents about physical and psychological attributes is similar regarding their gaming experience.