Engagement is not the same as immersion. Engagement happens when the attention of a participant is focused on a single aspect of the game enough for them to desire to continue or initiate an exchange. Engagement is required for immersion however; if the player is not focused on at least a part of the game they cannot be immersed in their version of the RPG Narrative. To engage a player’s attention it is vital to ‘hook’ them with a vital or strange detail. Then the GM should lay some atmosphere over that scene that as it is being described to the players.

Catching the players’ attention and then getting them to enter into the exchange of information (known as a Play-Unit), that is, the core of all TRPGs begins engagement on the part of the players. When a player is engaged they may still drop out of the game-flow if their attentions are diverted or they are frustrated, if they are not then they will enter into engrossment which is when they begin analyzing and/or exploring the imaginary contents of the game world.

Again they can be side-tracked by boredom or frustration but if they are not then they should be able to keep the exchange of in-game information going not just between themselves and the GM but with the other players as well. It is after this last process begins that the players can be considered to be becoming immersed in the game world. The players will react and act on the virtual information which they are exchanging back-and-forth.

Immersion is the willing suspension of disbelief which arises from the player making decisions for their character and it is characterized by the players engaging in the exchange between themselves and the other participants, most notably the GM. Immersion is achieved by the exchange of descriptive information describing what the Player Characters (PCs) are experiencing within the game world.

It is this exchange which builds the details and incidents that construct the fantasy world in minds of the participants and which not only initiates immersion but also maintains immersion in the game world. The road to immersion begins with the participant that always initiates the exchange which is the GM. The key here at the beginning of a scenario within a greater adventure and/or campaign is to immediately engage the players; this is done by catching their attention with detail and keeping it trained via atmosphere.