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- Back, Jon, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Codename Heroes – Designing for Experience in Public Places in a Long Term Pervasive Game
- 2014
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In: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. - 9780991398225
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Codename Heroes is a persistent, multiplayer, crowd-sourced pervasive game that uses Bluetooth, GPS and the phone camera. It plays in the world around you and is always active. Players take the roles of secret superheroes, fighting for their rights and their beliefs. The game also makes use of physical objects and places in the environment.The game targets teenagers with a specific focus on young women. The purpose of the game is to engage and empower players. The design is informed by ethnographic studies of young women as well as by gender studies. The goal is to create an incitement for young people to appropriate spaces they do not usually move in, and try things they would not otherwise do.Codename Heroes is part of a project investigating pervasive games, games that are played in the physical world with the aid of mobile technology. The current research is focused at exploring large scale, long term, non-location-specific pervasive games, while still keeping the physical aspect of game-specific objects, to understand how this physicality affects the experience of the game.
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2. |
- Back, Jon, 1977-
(author)
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Designing Activity and Creating Experience : On People’s Play in Public places
- 2013
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis deals with the design of play in public places; this can mean both pervasive games and other freer play activities. In these activities (as well as in many other game activities) the same game can spur many different ways to play it, and the same activity can be experienced differently by different players, and even differently on different occasions for the same player. An activity such as playing must be observed as a whole. The surrounding cul- ture, player preconceptions and the emergent mood within the group will affect the experience.By analysing previous frameworks, and using own design examples, a three level design framework is developed, functioning as a lens towards understanding the design of playful activities. The framework focuses on the player perspective, offering game design as an invitation and encouragement to engage in certain activities. The framework distinguishes between design at three levels:Designed construct (e.g. artefacts and rules)ActivityExperiencesBut it remains to be understood why people engage in the activities that lead to playful experiences. What encourages playful engagement? And why do people want to play one game, and not another?This question can be split into two parts:Engagement: starting to be interested in the activityCommitment: actually caring for the experienceThis issue is identified in the thesis, and examples show how convoluted this problem is, in particular in pervasive game settings. Challenges are pre- sented for future work.
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3. |
- Back, Jon, 1977-
(author)
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‘Knock Once for Yes’ – Knocking as Feedback in the Location-Based Game Passing On
- 2014
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In: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. - 9780991398225
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper the design, implementation and testing of the Location-Based game Passing On is explored. It is a multi-player game for mobile phones, with a focus on asymmetric and limited communication. While one player can communicate by talking, the other can answer only by knocking. This limited and asymmetric communication became one of the central gameplay resources in the game, shaping much of the experience for the players.Using observations and interviews, the knocking and the experience it created is analyzed and discussed. It is shown how this made the game emphasize social interaction, moving the focus from the phone to the environment, and how the knocking helped create a sense of presence for the player feeling them.
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