Best of Both Worlds

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Best of Both Worlds Best of Both Worlds A Platform for Hybrids of Computer Games and Board Games Master Thesis in Interaction Design Jonas Rören Malmö University / Malmö Högskola Spring 2007 Supervisor: Per-Anders Hillgren Examinator: Jonas Löwgren Best of Both Worlds || Master Thesis || MAH || Jonas Rören || [email protected] Abstract This report describes my work with developing a game for a gaming platform that enables hybrids between board games and computer games. My ambition has been to develop a game that takes advantage of the novel possibilities that this platform permits. Among those are to operate with a combination of the computer game traits of complexity in the games and ease of playing; as well as the board game / card game traits of combining social dynamics around a game session with ability to keep information hidden from other players. This is accomplished by a combination of mobile phones and a computer connected to the Internet. The screen of the computer will serve as board and the phones will display cards and other private information to the players, as well as functioning as the players’ means for interaction with the game. The game developed, Wind Bugs, takes advantage of the complexity of game states that a computer easily can handle. Effort has been put into finding mechanics with a level of complexity while still implementing them in way that makes them both playable and enjoyable. Rather than focusing on immersion, which has become common in the design of computer games, hopes are that games for this platform, including the game developed in this project, will give room to social dynamics among the players. Though operating with the use of mobile phones, the platform will not support “mobile gaming”; the proposed setting is a group of players surrounding a big screen. Keywords: Games, board games, computer-augmented games, game mechanics, game rules, game dynamics, game platforms, abstract games, themed games, mobile phones, Extransit, Mobile Interaction Suite, Windmaker, Wind Bugs. 1 Best of Both Worlds || Master Thesis || MAH || Jonas Rören || [email protected] Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people: • Åsa Harvard, Jörn Messeter and Erik Königsson for making it possible for me to do this master project at Malmö University • Per-Anders Hillgren – process supervisor • Mikael Jakobsson – game supervisor • Jonas Löwgren • Tomas and Pelle at Extransit for technical support, guidance, play-testing and faith in the project • Ola Rören and Esko Vuonokari for play-testing • Björn Sjödén for views on both the report and the game • My fellow students for their ideas and opinions during seminars • Kirsti for everything 2 Best of Both Worlds || Master Thesis || MAH || Jonas Rören || [email protected] Table of Contents Abstract _____________________________________________________________1 Acknowledgements ____________________________________________________2 Table of Contents _____________________________________________________3 Introduction: explaining concept and goal __________________________________4 Theoretic framework: games, aesthetics, cognition, interaction _________________6 What is a game? __________________________________________________6 What is a board game? _____________________________________________6 What is a computer game? __________________________________________8 Combining strengths: best of both worlds? _____________________________8 Themed board games vs. abstract board games ________________________10 Tangible vs. virtual, aesthetics of mind and simulation ___________________13 Fixed vs. modifiable rules __________________________________________15 Private vs. public information _______________________________________16 Rules, mechanics_________________________________________________18 Emergent vs. progressive __________________________________________23 The social dimension – human dynamics ______________________________23 Mechanics, representations and dynamics – a three level model ___________26 Fun and games __________________________________________________29 Methods and process _________________________________________________31 Debunking immersion _____________________________________________31 A platform or a game? ____________________________________________32 A prototype game: making Windmaker 1.0 and 2.0 _____________________33 A German approach: game mechanics________________________________35 Mechanics for Windmaker 1.0, 2.0 and their successors __________________36 Windmaker 3.0 __________________________________________________43 The concept of mechanics – revisions needed? _________________________44 Getting down on the floor__________________________________________44 A second paper prototype__________________________________________57 Implementing Wind Bugs – going digital again _________________________59 Test sessions during development ___________________________________61 Initial test results of digital Wind Bugs - mechanics _____________________62 Initial test results of digital Wind Bugs – representations _________________64 A “proper” test session: participation, observation, analysis _______________65 Results – my achievements_____________________________________________69 Discussion of results and process ________________________________________72 Is there a future for hybrid game forms?______________________________73 Finding allies and markets _________________________________________74 References__________________________________________________________76 Bibliography_____________________________________________________76 Web sites_______________________________________________________80 Appendices _________________________________________________________81 Appendix 1: Game Mechanics listed on BoardGameGeek _________________81 3 Best of Both Worlds || Master Thesis || MAH || Jonas Rören || [email protected] Introduction: explaining concept and goal My aim with this project is to develop a new form of gaming, a hybrid of computer games and board games that represents “the best of both worlds”. On the technical side this will be solved by a combination of mobile phones and a computer connected the Internet. This will be made possible by technology and know-how supplied by the Swedish company Extransit. My technical solution for the gaming concept is that every player in a game has a mobile phone equipped with software for the game. The phones are connected to a single computer (via a server). The computer screen will analogous with a game board. As all players view the same screen (board), this implementation is not similar to the various online board games that are quite popular today. As the players can be presented private information (unavailable to the others) on the mobile phones, possibilities for implementation of board-type or card-type games emerge. My hope is, though, that the platform will bring forth a new generation of computer-board games that literally will represent the best of both worlds. Figure 1: Basic platform concept. Players share a “board” in form of a computer screen. Private information is presented on mobile phones. Players can share a physical space and still operate with information that is hidden from other players. Mobile units communicate with the computer running the board through a server. By “augmenting” (a term that I not really like in this context) a board game with computers, possibilities for new forms of gaming emerge. The game can handle game states with a complexity that would be difficult or uninteresting for players to 4 Best of Both Worlds || Master Thesis || MAH || Jonas Rören || [email protected] manage without support. Yet difficult to handle, the complex game states might give room to interesting gameplay. Many computer games features rules and game states that are complex compared to board games – yet still they are often easy to get started with. Thus, I will strive towards developing a game that shares these computer game traits: easy access to complex game states. An aspect of board gaming that I do not want to “design away” is the social context that occurs around a board gaming session. Similar situations might occur in the playing of multiplayer video games. But, when information is not to be shared among the players (as is common in card games and modern board games), the solution is generally to play over a network. This type of gaming (networked) can of course be described as social – but compared to the playing of board games it is limited or at least different. My aim will be to develop a platform that can support a “genuine board game setting” while playing a complex computer driven game. 5 Best of Both Worlds || Master Thesis || MAH || Jonas Rören || [email protected] Theoretic framework: games, aesthetics, cognition, interaction What is a game? Jesper Juul has made an attempt at describing, comparing and evaluating the various definitions of a game that has been proposed in various principles.1 His definition (I suppose) aims at being the definitive one, putting an end to arguments over definitions. It tries to grasp all features of a game and avoid features that do not belong to games. It is a solid definition, but as many of the previous, it is a rather heavy one: A game is a rule-based system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels emotionally attached to the outcome, and the consequences
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