BOLLOCKS!! Designing pervasive games that play with the social rules of built environments

We propose that pervasive games designed with mechanics that are specifically in opposition with, or disruptive of, social rules of the environment in which they are played, have unique potential to provide interesting, provocative experiences for players. We explore this concept through the design and evaluation of an experimental game prototype, Shhh!, inspired by the juvenile game Bollocks, and implemented on Android mobile devices, which challenges players to make loud noises in libraries. Six participants played the game before engaging in semi-structured interviews, explored through inductive thematic analysis. Results suggest that the game provoked in players a heightened awareness of social rules, as well as a complex social dilemma of whether or not to act. We conclude by presenting a model for designing games that play with the social, as well as physical, rules of the environments in which they are set

Cunt touch this: a conversation on intimate design and embarrassment

This position paper presents a conversation between players and the designers of the unique mobile game experience Cunt Touch This. Revisiting their personal experiences with playing the game, the player-authors read the game as a system that takes advantage of social embarrassment as a key element from which the pleasure of the game is derived. Contrasting this view, the designer-authors comment on the original intention, production context and purpose of Cunt Touch This. The goal of this confrontation is to explore embarrassment as a feeling oscillating between the emotional and the political dimensions of play. The unusual discussion format of the paper allows us to invite potentially challenging questions: When, where and why does embarrassment come about? What function does it have in play? Is it just part of the fun, or ideologically charged? Drawing together our differing perspectives as players and designers we contribute a candid reflection on the wider issues of embarrassment as it relates to design

An Augmented Reality Game using Face Recognition Technology

In this paper, we explore the coupling of mobile facial recognition technology with the exploitation of non-players as a powerful mechanic in locative augmented reality games. A prototype game is presented which asks players to "capture" the likeness of members of the public. Driven by free-to-play models, and inspired by the phenomenal success of Pokémon GO, we have created an experience where players hunt for and "capture" real creatures in a real world

Supporting improvised games for young people in public spaces

PhD ThesisResearchers looking at technologically mediated play and games have explored how games can be taken away from the computer screen and played in outdoor spaces. This has resulted in new pervasive games that benefit from the opportunities for rich social and physical interaction in new mobile contexts. However, we have only just begun to explore these opportunities; game designs should bring young people together in these new contexts in play that is appropriate, meaningful, and can be enjoyed on their own mobile devices. The research in this thesis explores how game designers and interaction designers can design more playful mobile games for young people that can be played together in public spaces. This work draws upon a research through design approach that has been informed by the researcher’s own practice of game design and working co-creatively with custodians of public spaces. The contributions are based on the analysis of empirical data collected from two case studies in a community library and a country house, while additionally drawing upon three further game designs made in collaborations with other partners. This work contributes a game design framework that provides an approach, a step by step method, guidelines and a software library for making mobile games with more open, spontaneous, and improvised styles of play. The mobile games are designed with and based on a simplistic game system that presents digital playing cards to provide the game structure and bound play, while the mobile device is also used to configure the play space and sustain play. The intention is to provide designers with a practical and evidence-based approach to designing digital games for new mobile contexts. This work will appeal to game designers who are motivated by an interest in play and playfulness that will resonate with our childhood memories of play.UK AHRC KE Hub for the Creative Economy (ref: AH/J005150/1 Creative Exchange

Developing ideation cards to support the design of mixed reality games

Mixed reality games combine interactive digital content with real world environments, objects, and actors by utilizing a multitude of different sensors. While offering plenty of opportunities for designers, they are also notoriously difficult to design. This is in part due to them still being a relatively new form of gaming with only very few examples of commercially successful games. This means that the majority of aspiring designers lacks knowledge about the design space of these games – something that is crucial in order to create new and exciting experiences. While there exist several authoring tools to facilitate the development of mixed reality games, these tools do not provide guidance on the game design aspects. The design of mixed reality games is likewise bringing together experts from different domains (e.g. game design, technology, locales). In order to support this multifaceted and collaborative design process I have developed the Mixed Reality Game Cards. These are a deck of ideation cards that encapsulate the design space of mixed reality games in the form of physical playing cards. The cards can be used for rapid idea generation (i.e. creating a multitude of ideas from scratch in a short time) and in-depth idea development (i.e. further expanding and refining an idea). The Mixed Reality Game Cards consist of four types of cards to support idea generation as well as idea development. Opportunity Cards are the building blocks of an idea and describe potential elements of a design. Question Cards prompt the design group to consider the experience from different angles to refine the design. Challenge Cards surface typical design issues and problems that might occur. These domain-specific cards are supported by Theme Cards that are taken from the board game Dixit in order to provide additional domain-extrinsic sources of inspiration. I developed the Mixed Reality Game Cards iteratively over the course of seven studies following a Research through Design approach. This provided valuable insight into what makes ideation cards such powerful facilitators of collaborative design sessions. I identify content, appearance, and rules as crucial elements under direct control of an ideation card designer and tangible as well as playful interactions as dynamics that emerge during an ideation session. This thesis describes the development of the Mixed Reality Game Cards and uses the insights gained from this process to reflect on ideation cards as design tools in general, expanding our understanding of them

Developing ideation cards to support the design of mixed reality games

Mixed reality games combine interactive digital content with real world environments, objects, and actors by utilizing a multitude of different sensors. While offering plenty of opportunities for designers, they are also notoriously difficult to design. This is in part due to them still being a relatively new form of gaming with only very few examples of commercially successful games. This means that the majority of aspiring designers lacks knowledge about the design space of these games – something that is crucial in order to create new and exciting experiences. While there exist several authoring tools to facilitate the development of mixed reality games, these tools do not provide guidance on the game design aspects. The design of mixed reality games is likewise bringing together experts from different domains (e.g. game design, technology, locales). In order to support this multifaceted and collaborative design process I have developed the Mixed Reality Game Cards. These are a deck of ideation cards that encapsulate the design space of mixed reality games in the form of physical playing cards. The cards can be used for rapid idea generation (i.e. creating a multitude of ideas from scratch in a short time) and in-depth idea development (i.e. further expanding and refining an idea). The Mixed Reality Game Cards consist of four types of cards to support idea generation as well as idea development. Opportunity Cards are the building blocks of an idea and describe potential elements of a design. Question Cards prompt the design group to consider the experience from different angles to refine the design. Challenge Cards surface typical design issues and problems that might occur. These domain-specific cards are supported by Theme Cards that are taken from the board game Dixit in order to provide additional domain-extrinsic sources of inspiration. I developed the Mixed Reality Game Cards iteratively over the course of seven studies following a Research through Design approach. This provided valuable insight into what makes ideation cards such powerful facilitators of collaborative design sessions. I identify content, appearance, and rules as crucial elements under direct control of an ideation card designer and tangible as well as playful interactions as dynamics that emerge during an ideation session. This thesis describes the development of the Mixed Reality Game Cards and uses the insights gained from this process to reflect on ideation cards as design tools in general, expanding our understanding of them

Player attitudes to avatar development in digital games: an exploratory study of single-player role-playing games and other genres

Digital games incorporate systems that allow players to customise and develop their controllable in-game representative (avatar) over the course of a game. Avatar customisation systems represent a point at which the goals and values of players interface with the intentions of the game developer forming a dynamic and complex relationship between system and user. With the proliferation of customisable avatars through digital games and the ongoing monetisation of customisation options through digital content delivery platforms it is important to understand the relationship between player and avatar in order to provide a better user experience and to develop an understanding of the cultural impact of the avatar. Previous research on avatar customisation has focused on the users of virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games, leaving single-player avatar experiences. These past studies have also typically focused on one particular aspect of avatar customisation and those that have looked at all factors involved in avatar customisation have done so with a very small sample. This research has aimed to address this gap in the literature by focusing primarily on avatar customisation features in single-player games, aiming to investigate the relationship between player and customisation systems from the perspective of the players of digital games. To fulfill the research aims and objectives, the qualitative approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis was adopted. Thirty participants were recruited using snowball and purposive sampling (the criteria being that participants had played games featuring customisable avatars) and accounts of their experiences were gathered through semi-structured interviews. Through this research, strategies of avatar customisation were explored in order to demonstrate how people use such systems. The shortcomings in game mechanics and user interfaces were highlighted so that future games can improve the avatar customisation experience

“The Best or the Rest”: An exploration of UK Rugby Union coaches’ team selection decisions

Coaches play a crucial yet complex role in sport, including selecting players for games - a key decision many coaches regularly make. Despite this, little is known about why or how coaches make team selection decisions. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to investigate rugby union coaches’ team selection decisions, with specific reference to the cues (pieces of information) they use. Chapter 1 provides the context and rationale for this thesis. Chapter 2 comprises a systematic review which reveals the only study that has investigated coaches’ team selection decisions directly (by asking coaches), and the 15 studies that examined the differences between selected and non-selected players after selection had occurred. Given the small number of studies found in the systematic review, Chapter 3 contains a narrative literature review which summarises the cues that could influence coaches’ judgements and decisions made on their athletes while viewing them. Through a longitudinal interview study, Chapter 4 portrays the large number of diverse cues six rugby union coaches reported using to make team selection decisions and how this information changed dramatically from pre-season to post-season interviews. In Chapter 5, a case study of five rugby union coaches working within the same coaching team revealed the breadth and variety of the cues the coaches reportedly used to make team selection decisions, the processes these coaches went through (“the best or the rest” selection strategy), and how the power relationships among the coaching team impacted their selection decisions. This study also found through visual and audio observations of the head coach that most selection cues were only stated in one training session, suggesting an absence of a clear, long-term selection strategy. Chapter 6 provides coaches with a practical overview of the key results of this thesis and the implications for their coaching practices. Finally, Chapter 7 concludes this thesis by summarising the key findings and making several future recommendations for researchers and coaches