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Mall För Examensarbete nrik v He d a apa l sk Ma TABLETOP GAME PLAYER EXPERIENCE IN THE AGE OF DIGITIZATION Social and material aspects of play Master Degree Project in Informatics One year 22,5 ECTS Spring term 2021 Wilmer Tjernberg Supervisor: Björn Berg Marklund Examiner: Rebecca Rouse Abstract This thesis explores physical and social aspects of playing tabletop games physically versus remotely. It also examines the experiences of contemporary players of tabletop games, with focus placed on play during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report begins with an explanation of tabletop games, including social and material aspects as examined in previous work. To explore the thesis’ problem area, several tabletop game players were interviewed, resulting in a number of recurring themes. The interview results suggest that social rituals and material aspects of tabletop games are highly important to players. This has implications for the future of tabletop games, many of which are discussed in the text. Keywords: tabletop games, materialism, consumption, rituals, games, non-digital games, COVID-19, dice Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 2 Background ........................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Tabletop games ...................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Dungeons & Dragons ...................................................................................................... 3 2.1.2 Magic: The Gathering ...................................................................................................... 4 2.1.3 Warhammer ..................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.4 Impact of COVID-19 on tabletop games ......................................................................... 6 2.2 Online tabletop tools ............................................................................................... 8 2.3 Previous research and literature ............................................................................. 9 2.3.1 Social aspects ................................................................................................................. 9 2.3.2 Materialism and consumption ....................................................................................... 10 2.3.3 The role of the dice........................................................................................................ 11 2.3.4 Miniatures ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.3.5 Cards and booster packs .............................................................................................. 13 3 Problem statement .......................................................................................... 14 4 Method .............................................................................................................. 15 4.1 Recruitment process ............................................................................................. 15 4.2 Interview methodology .......................................................................................... 15 4.3 Ethical considerations ........................................................................................... 16 5 Results .............................................................................................................. 17 5.1 Factors influencing remote play ............................................................................ 18 5.1.1 COVID-19 ...................................................................................................................... 18 5.1.2 Physical distance........................................................................................................... 19 5.2 Social aspects of play ........................................................................................... 19 5.2.1 Role-playing .................................................................................................................. 20 5.2.2 Game-adjacent activities ............................................................................................... 21 5.2.3 Memorable moments .................................................................................................... 21 5.3 Materials ............................................................................................................... 22 5.3.1 Dice ............................................................................................................................... 23 5.3.2 Miniatures and components .......................................................................................... 25 5.3.3 Cards ............................................................................................................................. 26 5.4 Usability/Ease of use ............................................................................................ 27 5.5 Engagement in related media ............................................................................... 29 5.5.1 Digital games ................................................................................................................. 29 5.5.2 Online content ............................................................................................................... 29 6 Analysis ............................................................................................................ 31 7 Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 33 7.1 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 33 7.2 Implications for the future ...................................................................................... 35 7.3 Limitations ............................................................................................................ 37 7.4 Future Work .......................................................................................................... 38 8 Ludography ...................................................................................................... 41 9 Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 44 1 Introduction Tabletop games like board and card games have been played for thousands of years for fun, relaxation, or education. While the rise of computing technology in the modern age has created a plethora of digital gaming alternatives, traditional tabletop games continue to be a strong force in gaming, rivalling and in some cases even outselling digital games in parts of the world. Despite this, there is a problematic lack of studies on tabletop games. Carter, Gibbs and Harrop (Drafting an Army: The Playful Pastime of Warhammer 40,000, 2014) write that despite the epistemic foundations of game studies as a discipline being concerned with predigital games, many of the tabletop games that have influenced the design of several popular digital game genres are comparatively understudied. They go on to quote Woods (2008) who argues that this may be due to the inaccurate perception of tabletop games being a niche in decline. Carter, Gibbs and Harrop echo Wood’s view that this is inaccurate, arguing that tabletop games “are an established game form that have resisted obsolescence and are both historically and ludologically important.” Costikyan and Davidson (2011) further argue that many early game creators were inspired by tabletop games, and that direct lines of descent can be drawn from games like Tactics II (1958) to Call of Duty (2003), or from Dungeons & Dragons (1974) to World of Warcraft (2004). Thus, the evolutionary lineage and development of digital games can be better understood by studying tabletop games. There have been many attempts to digitize tabletop games; in some cases, these attempts have been almost as old as the games themselves. Don Daglow created the game Dungeon (1975), one of the first computer role-playing games, due to his frustration Dungeons & Dragons – which had released only a year prior. “It was so well suited to simulate on a computer [...] a lot of the things that were most frustrating on paper and time consuming, the computer does all that for you” (Donovan, 2010). 46 years and many video games later, tabletop D&D not only still exists but is also more popular than ever. Similar situations have played out with other popular tabletop games, such as the card game Magic: The Gathering (1993), the miniatures war game Warhammer 40,000 (1987), and the board game Catan (1995). Despite repeated attempts at virtually recreating or adapting these games - some of them successful in their own right - their physical editions are still widely played today. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has made physical gatherings for tabletop games difficult, leading many tabletop players to play these games virtually out of necessity. This thesis aims to explore the physical and social aspects of playing tabletop games to understand why these games are enduringly popular in the face of digitalization and within the context of materialism. The author also seeks to understand the experience of contemporary tabletop gaming, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the created necessity of playing virtual
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