Understanding Hybrid Games

Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting, Volume 14(2017), no. 4 Games as Blends: Understanding Hybrid Games Ville Kankainen∗, Jonne Arjorantay, Timo Nummenmaaz ∗UTA Game Research Lab Faculty of Communication Sciences 33014 University of Tampere, Finland email: [email protected] yDepartment of Music, Art and Culture Studies University of Jyvaskyla PO Box 35, FI-40014 email: [email protected] www: jonne.arjoranta.fi zUTA Game Research Lab Faculty of Communication Sciences 33014 University of Tampere, Finland email: [email protected] Abstract in various types of games and use that understanding when building new designs. The meaning of what hybrid games are is often fixed to the context in which the term is used. For example, Keywords: Augmented reality games; conceptual hybrid games have often been defined in relation to re- blending; conceptual metaphor; games; hybridity; hy- cent developments in technology. This creates issues brid games; mixed reality games; pervasive games. in the terms usage and limitations in thinking. This paper argues that hybrid games should be understood through conceptual metaphors. Hybridity is the blend- 1 Introduction ing of different cognitive domains that are not usually associated together. Hybrid games usually blend do- Hybrid games, often described as games combining mains related to games, for example digital and board physical and digital elements into a single product, games, but can blend also other domains. Through are an exciting new category of games. While re- viewing game experiences as blends from different do- search projects have explored the possibilities of dif- mains, designers can understand the inherent hybridity ferent hybrids for several decades, commercial products have been rarer. Recently, this has started to + Digital Peer Publishing Licence change [TKN 16], so understanding the nature of hy- Any party may pass on this Work by electronic bridity helps in evaluating existing games out on the means and make it available for download under market as well as producing new ones. the terms and conditions of the current version Recent advances in technology seem to have made, of the Digital Peer Publishing Licence (DPPL). for example, the creation of physical-digital hybrid The text of the licence may be accessed and tabletop games an interesting and feasible prospect, Beasts of Balance retrieved via Internet at with such examples as [BF16], XCOM: The Board Game [Lan15] or World of Yo- http://www.dipp.nrw.de/. Ho [Vol16]. However, combining traditional card- First presented at ACE2016 Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, board games with electric devices is not a new phe- 2016, extended and revised for JVRB nomenon. There were already games, such as Code urn:nbn:de:0009-6-46940, ISSN 1860-2037 Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting, Volume 14(2017), no. 4 Name: Sector [Doy77], using microchips with phys- tied to the game artifact or fully contained in the ac- ical board games released in late the 1970s, and dur- tual gaming situation [May07].¨ For example, T. L. ing the eighties such games as Milton Bradley’s Dark Taylor [Tay09] argues that social connections, collec- Tower [BCE81] gained some popularity. Even prior to tive knowledge and group actions happening in the microchip technology, since 1910s, there seem to have physical world form an important part of the online been board games which had electric devices, such as gaming experience. On the other hand, Rafael Bienia small lamps, merged with physical game boards, e.g. [Bie16] has studied role-playing materials through the Electra [Sal10]. These games can be considered as actor network theory, and argues that even material el- ancestors to modern hybrid board games, which uti- ements, like the amount of light or the table that game lize the ever increasing computing power of mobile is played on, have an effect on the gaming experience. devices [KT14]. In this sense games are experience goods, where the Another example of non-digital hybrid games, experience is the actual thing sold to the customers VHS-games such as Nightmare [CT91], were popu- [Tsc05]. Playful experiences themselves can also be lar during the 1980s. As the VHS technology became used as a tool when evaluating games, as has been outdated, DVD’s were used for similar purposes, and done using the Playful Experiences (PLEX) Frame- + some of the old VHS-titles were adapted to use the up- work [LHO 13]. Thus, to be able to design and an- to-date technology. Similar trajectory can be seen with alyze hybrid games, it is important to view playful hy- the Stop Thief! [Doy79] board game, which was origi- brid products, such as games, through the experiences nally released in 1979 with a simple hand-held digital they provide and not only through their technological device, and as a revised version in 2017 ([DDJ17], this composition. time using a mobile app). The hybrid element in these While our approach gives the designer tools for examples is not tied to a specific technology, but to the analysis, design and communications, we can not experience that the technology offers. make claims that using our approach automatically re- Although it is common to view hybrid games as sults in better games being created. The view we have a combination of digital and physical elements in a about using our method for developing better games is single product, viewing them through this lens can similar to that of Bjork¨ and Holopainen [BH05], who be seen as a limiting factor in their design and anal- describe their game design patterns as a language for ysis. This type of definition also allows for prob- discussing games, but remind the reader that under- lematic cases, as most digital games use physical in- standing a language does not guarantee that one uses put methods. Furthermore, games exist to players as the language to say something interesting. Similarly in experiences, more so than as technological composi- our case, we give the designers and researchers tools tions. Experience in turn is not a simple phenomenon. and options, but do not guarantee that better games According to [Has10] ”experience emerges from the will be created. The quality of a game and it’s features intertwined works of perception, action, motivation, is also subjective and can change over time [BH05]. emotion, and cognition in dialogue with the world As such, it is better to distance our approach from eval- (place, time, people, and objects)”. He further argues uating game quality and to not make statements about that experience should come before the product in the if certain games are better than others, and focus on design process, even if it is easy to think the other way the blends themselves and their properties. around. This is apparent in many studies on hybrid games concentrating on the technical aspects of hy- 2 Previous research bridity. Before starting to design a product one should outline the desired emotional and cognitive content of The focus of the studies concerning hybrid games has the experience [Has10]. Thus, to be able to design and been mostly on augmenting traditional board games analyze hybrid games, it is important to view hybrid with digital technology, like RFID-sensors [HLMR07, games through the experiences they provide and not HKJL10, DB13], or the possibilities of digital table- only through their technology. tops like Microsoft Surface [HFK+10]. Some studies Different technologies can shape the gaming expe- [CLCL13] have also explored how to better implement rience, or act as building blocks of it, but it is hard the social dimension of board games in augmented to understand the experience purely through the tech- games. Another aspect explored under the broad la- nological perspective. The gaming experience is not bel of hybrid games is often called location-aware or urn:nbn:de:0009-6-46940, ISSN 1860-2037 Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting, Volume 14(2017), no. 4 pervasive games, where the focus is tracking players in mentation fallacy, the observation that these studies various locations, often on the streets [MCMN05]. It is may have overlooked the unaugmented appeal of these notable that almost all of the studies are concentrated games. Material elements, such as dice, are often seen on research prototypes and articles looking into hybrid as an unnecessary evil, which can be easily augmented games out on the market are almost non-existent. away with digital technology. However, as Carter et Most definitions of hybrid games are limited in al. [CHG14] argue, this is not the case. Dice and other their nature, and mostly refer to technological aspects. material game elements form an important part of the According to Mora et al. [MFM+16]: ”In hybrid player experience, and also induce new kinds of social + games, large interactive surfaces recreate the social af- interaction [XBR 11], thus actually supporting the fordances typical of board games, whilst the use of main source of enjoyment in board games [Woo12]. active or passive playing pieces preserve physical af- Recently, the importance of material elements for the fordances similar to traditional game pieces.” Streitz game experience in hybrid games has been noted in et al. [SMPR05] have recognized five qualities which several studies. For example, Mora et al. [MLD15] characterize typical hybrid games: social quality, hap- have taken an approach of digitally modifying phys- tic quality, multimodal stimulation, real world parame- ical game pieces on a regular game board instead of ters and virtual attributes of physical artifacts. Accord- using a digital tabletop, in order to minimize the effect ing to Magerkurth [Mag12]: ”in contrast to traditional hybridization has on the traditional social affordances computer entertainment, hybrid gaming applications of board games.

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