Hur kan svårighetsprogression användas i skapandet av Puzzlehunts med syfte att uppnå en ökad upplevd känsla av flow hos spelaren? Denna frågeställning behandlas i uppsatsen och problemet som måste lösas är hur man kan bygga upp en ackumulerad kunskap om något vars syfte är att hela tiden tvinga dig att hitta nya lösningar på problem. I mer traditionella spel kan upprepning lära spelaren hur spelmekaniken fungerar. I puzzlehunts kan upprepning av spelmekanik inte användas eftersom målet för varje pussel är att hitta mekaniken som löser problemet. Uppsatsen visar att man genom inlärning av hur man skall tänka för att hitta lösningarna till pusslen kan bygga upp en ackumulerad kunskap hos spelaren och därmed även ha en svårighetsprogression och öka upplevd nivå av flow hos spelaren.

付記する学位プログラム名: デザイン学大学院連携プログラム / 京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(情報学) / 甲第22096号 / 情博第706号 / 新制||情||121(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院情報学研究科社会情報学専攻 / (主査)教授 黒田 知宏, 教授 吉川 正俊, 教授 矢守 克也 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Informatics / Kyoto University / DFAM

This diploma thesis "New urban games and their players" treats the new phenomenon of urban games. The text is based on the classical games theory joined with the latest developments in the area and some relevant concepts of urban sociology. From a sociological point of view this thesis explores urban games as a new leisure time phenomenon and clearly states its characteristics as well as its definition. The main focus lies in examining the recent developments in Czech urban games and describing the variety present in urban games today. Other related topics of urban activities are also explained. The mechanics of urban games is explored in the case study of Compagnie, an urban game that took place in Prague in 2010. In the case study, the urban game basics are shown in order to help the general public to understand it. This work is concluded with a socio-demographic analysis of urban game players based on an enquiry done with the participants of the game. The whole text mixes theoretic approach with practical study of urban games, sociological analysis and participatory observation.

While much attention in location-based game and wearable research is about their benefits as in-class education or is aimed at children, rather less research has been done about the combination of location-based games and wearables in private use. This paper investigates a game solution for the low history knowledge of German teenagers and focuses on the learning success of the combination of a proposed location-based mobile game and wearable, called ‘Geocation’ for educational purposes as well as the enjoyment of it. Two prototype sets, functional and appearance, about the location-relevant topic ‘King Ludwig II’ were created and tested with 36 teenagers in Munich. To analyze the learning success pre-and post-test surveys were conducted and applied to the strategy of gamification. The enjoyment of the combination of the location-based mobile game and wearable was evaluated by connecting it to the GameFlow theory and conducting post-test interviews. The study has shown that the connected wearable was not crucial for the player’s learning success; however, it contributed to the user’s motivation and enjoyment.

In a recent pilot study, it was revealed that certain players of Pokémon Go did not account for the game while asked to specify the games they played regularly, although they had previously mentioned that they play the game daily. This paper will explore those player’s perception of Pokémon Go in aim to understand why they did not account for the game. This study uses a series of interviews of the participants to explore how they perceive the game. The interviews are analysed thematically using predefined themes and the results suggests that the reason to why the game was not accounted for might be related to the pervasive nature of the game.

Online gaming has over the years become very popular and during the global pandemic of 2019, gained an even larger amount of people indulging in the activity. All this online activity has led to a decline in in-person social interactions which have been researched to have negative effects on young adults. This thesis aims to find ways to promote more in-person social interaction with the help of games. An artifact in the form of a video game was created with active video game principles and pervasive game characteristics in mind, with the goal of achieving social interaction between players and spectators. Nintendo Joy-Con controllers are the main controller used and an external microphone to capture sounds is used to fulfill the prerequisites of pervasive games. A collection of five different minigames was created, all with different ways that noise can affect the gameplay. The results of the experiments showed that the artifact promotes in-person social interactions between players and spectators by making the spectators able to interact with the games.

Abstract Modern urban space, technological infrastructure, and sociability combine into a hybrid space that is the arena for urban pervasive games. Over the past two decades the changes in this game arena have been stealthy although substantial. Technological developments have helped to achieve true mobility of gaming devices, increased precision in localization, improved connectivity, and reduced orchestration required per player. Current pervasive location-based games can be played anytime anywhere. Subsequently, doors have been opened for a growing number of commercial games. These changes demand a new conceptualization of the urban game arena. This thesis focuses on playful appropriations of hybrid space. Hybrid space is urban space that entails ubiquitous technologies. Therefore, playful appropriations of hybrid space are always, to some extent, digital as well as urban. Prior research has identified two metaphors for urban pervasive games —true mobility and true sociability. This thesis proposes an additional metaphor, called synchronicity, for binding together different realities in pervasive games. They can be anything from mirror world like realistic virtual environments, such as 3D virtual representations of a city, to abstract realities, such as the backstory of the game, or the space identity of a certain location. While location awareness is an important binding factor between the virtual and physical worlds in pervasive gameplay, synchronizable elements can be anything from encouraged collocated gameplay to semantic similarities between the combined realities. This thesis is based on five game constructs that have been specifically designed and implemented as pervasive research games. Research data has been collected and analyzed with a mixed methods approach from field trials conducted in the wild. Constructive research is complemented with a literature review that maps the characteristics of current location-based mobile games and the game space. The main contribution of this thesis is the identification of the digital, abstract, and physical layers of reality in digital urban pervasive games. The second contribution is the identification and categorization of the synchronizable elements that bind these realities together. This thesis offers initial insights into translating this knowledge into the design of future pervasive games. / Tiivistelmä Urbaanitila on jatkuvassa muutoksessa, sillä se muotoutuu ja järjestyy uudelleen siellä kulkevien kaupunkilaisten kautta. Ubiikin teknologian, ihmisten kanssakäymisen ja modernin tilakäsityksen yhteisvaikutuksesta syntyy niin sanottu hybriditila, joka muodostaa peliareenan monille pervasiivisille peleille. Viime vuosikymmeninä tällä peliareenalla on tapahtunut vaivihkaisia mutta perustavaa laatua olevia muutoksia. Pelilaitteista on tullut aidosti mobiileja, ja ne kulkevat kaikkialla pelaajien mukana. Pelijärjestely vaatii vähemmän vaivaa pelaajaa kohden, paikannuksen tarkkuus on parantunut ja muutosten kautta myös kaupallisia pelejä on enemmän saatavilla. Nykyisiä pervasiivisia sijaintipohjaisia pelejä voi pelata milloin vain ja missä vain. Edellä mainittu kehitys edellyttää pervasiivisten pelien ja pelitilan uudelleen konseptualisointia. Väitöstyön aihe ei ole pelillisyys sellaisenaan, vaan “pelillisyys ja sen hyödyntäminen hybriditilassa”. Hybriditila on aina urbaani ja sisältää ubiikkia teknologiaa, minkä vuoksi pelit tässä tilassa ovat lähes poikkeuksetta myös digitaalisia. Aiempi tutkimus esittää, että saavutetut kehitysaskeleet voi niputtaa kahden metaforan alle. Nämä metaforat ovat: aito mobiilius sekä aito sosiaalisuus. Tämä väitöskirja esittää kolmannen, vielä määrittelemättömän tai saavuttamattoman metaforan näiden jatkoksi: synkronisuus. Synkronisoitavat piirteet tai elementit sitovat todellisuuksia yhteen pervasiivisessa pelitilassa. Tilassa olevat todellisuudet voivat olla realistisia pelimaailman kaltaisia virtuaalitiloja tai abstrakteja todellisuuksia, kuten pelitarinan muodostama todellisuus tai jonkin tietyn paikan tilaidentiteetti. Vaikka sijaintipohjaisuus on tärkeä todellisuuksia yhdistävä piirre, synkronisoitavat elementit voivat olla muutakin kuin sijaintikoordinaatteja. Pervasiiviset pelit nivoutuvat pelaajiensa päivittäiseen elämään, mikä tekee pelin kontekstista erottamattoman osan peliä. Tämä ominaisuus oikeuttaa ”in the wild” -menetelmien käytön tutkimuksessa, mikä tarkoittaa, että pelaamista ja pelejä tarkkaillaan luonnossa todellisessa ympäristössään. Tässä väitöstyössä käytetään konstruktioina varta vasten tätä tutkimusta ajatellen suunniteltuja ja toteutettuja pervasiivisia tutkimuspelejeä. Konstruktiivista tutkimusta tukee lisäksi teoreettinen tutkimusosio, joka koostuu kirjallisuuskatsaukseen pohjautuvasta nykyisten sijaintipohjaisten pelien ja pelitilan kategorisoinnista. Pervasiiviset pelit nivoutuvat pelaajiensa päivittäiseen elämään, mikä tekee pelin kontekstista erottamattoman osan peliä. Tämä ominaisuus oikeuttaa ”in the wild” -menetelmien käytön tutkimuksessa, mikä tarkoittaa, että pelaamista ja pelejä tarkkaillaan luonnossa todellisessa ympäristössään. Tässä väitöstyössä käytetään konstruktioina varta vasten tätä tutkimusta ajatellen suunniteltuja ja toteutettuja pervasiivisia tutkimuspelejeä. Konstruktiivista tutkimusta tukee lisäksi teoreettinen tutkimusosio, joka koostuu kirjallisuuskatsaukseen pohjautuvasta nykyisten sijaintipohjaisten pelien ja pelitilan kategorisoinnista.

在數位時代來臨的今日，利用數位媒體或科技將虛擬的遊戲世界與現實的世界連結整合的隨境遊戲，乃是未來趨勢上相當重要的一種行銷手段。然而目前學界上卻沒有確切關於隨境遊戲的一套設計方法。有鑒於此，本研究先蒐集相關的理論與研究，進而發展出隨境遊戲模型與刺激閾模型。利用這兩個模型設計一個以推廣流浪動物TNR為議題的隨境遊戲—Trap paw。在Trap paw中，玩家可以透過各種不同的方式與情境在現實世界裡面尋找線索來進行遊戲。之後，研究者採用半結構式的深度訪談法，訪談了六位不同身份背景的玩家，以探詢他們對於遊戲的回饋與建議。綜合此訪談結果與創作經驗，除了修正Trap paw的遊戲內容外，也提出了關於使用上述兩個模型進行創作的幾點建議。 在實作之後，發現這兩個模型宛若隨境遊戲的基石般穩固、實用性也很高，沒有需要特別修改之處。只不過若要應用在行銷活動式隨境遊戲設計上的話，針對隨境遊戲模型的使用可提供三點建議：（1）考慮先從明顯易見的空間擴增發想遊戲架構。（2）嘗試創造可見的魔法圈界。（3）舉辦效果良好的慶典式遊戲活動。至於使用刺激閾模型的部分，則建議：將「權變因子」這個因素作為主動促使個體逆轉成容易接受遊戲的行為導向狀態；將「厭膩」與「挫折」這兩個因素作為尋找個體已經是處於行為導向狀態的情境。透過這兩種面向的思考，以求在正確的時間與場合讓個體接觸到遊戲，使其容易接受遊戲而成為真正的玩家。 / In this digital marketing generation, the pervasive games which connected the game world with the reality by ubiquitous computing or digital medias get more and more attentions as a method for marketing. However, there are still not specific design theories or methods of the pervasive games. For that I developed two models that can be used to design the pervasive game: pervasive game model and liminal model by the collections of concerned theories and studies. By the pervasive game model and the liminal model, I created a pervasive game which is about promoting TNR-—Trap paw. In the Trap paw, players can find clues in a wide range of ways and in the different scenario out of their imagines. Qualitative interview is adopted as a research method and I interviewed six people to look for the feedbacks and suggestions about the game. Combined with the outcomes of interviews and my personal experience, I modified parts of the game. In the end, I give some suggestions about creating a pervasive game by using these two models. After completing the game, I find out that the two models are not only stable as the foundation stones of the pervasive games, but they can be applied widely. No further modifications are needed. However, when applying the pervasive game model to the field of promoting campaign, there are three suggestions: (1) begin with the space expansion (2) try to make some visible or tangible magic circles (3) through some gaming ceremonies. As for using liminal model to developing a game, I suggest that “contingent events” can be used to be an active factor to reverse individuals from telic state into paratelic state and concerning “frustration” and “satiation” to be factors to define whether an individual is in the paratelic states. Through these kinds of thinking, game might contact to the target audience in the right time and space. In this way, it’s easier for them to embrace the game and become real players.

Στόχος της εργασίας είναι η μελέτη, ανάπτυξη και αξιολόγηση συνεργατικών εφαρμογών σε φορητές συσκευές. Για την μελέτη αυτή, αναπτύχθηκε ένα παιχνίδι διάχυτου υπολογισμού, το οποίο υποστηρίζει την χρήση του από πολλούς παίκτες ταυτόχρονα και μπορεί να παιχτεί παράλληλα σε διαφορετικές πόλεις από διαφορετικές ομάδες παικτών. Το παιχνίδι αυτό ανήκει σε ένα αναδυόμενο είδος παιχνιδιών που αναμιγνύουν την πραγματικότητα με τον εικονικό ψηφιακό κόσμο, χρησιμοποιώντας τον πραγματικό χώρο σαν το περιβάλλον του παιχνιδιού. Το παιχνίδι που αναπτύχθηκε εδώ χρησιμοποιεί σαν βασικά στοιχεία την μπλόφα, την παραπλάνηση και την ανάθεση ρόλων. Για την ανάπτυξή του ακολουθήθηκε ένα επαναληπτικό μοντέλο σχεδιασμού με την αξιολόγηση να παίρνει μέρος με διάφορες τεχνικές και μεθόδους στα διάφορα στάδια ανάπτυξης. Η υλοποίηση πραγματοποιήθηκε για κινητά τηλέφωνα με λειτουργικό σύστημα Android, μια επίσης καινούργια πλατφόρμα για φορητές συσκευές από την Google και την OHA. / The aim of this project is the design, development and evaluation of collaborative applications on mobile devices. For this study, a pervasive game was developed, which supports the use of it by many players simultaneously and can be played simultaneously in different cities by different groups of players. This game belongs to an emerging genre that mixes reality with the virtual digital world, using the real space as the gaming environment. The game was developed here uses the main elements of the bluff, deception and the assignment of roles. For its development an iterative design model was followed. The evaluation phase took place with various techniques and methods in different stages of development. The implementation was made for mobile phones running Android, also a new platform for mobile devices from Google and the OHA.

This thesis sets out to explore why people engage in, and how to design for, play in a public setting. It does this by separating design for play from design of games, describing play as a socially and mentally understood activity, and a playful approach to engaging in that activity. It emphasises that while play is voluntary, design can help shape the players’ mode of engagement. The thesis uses a qualitative and inductive approach to research, with an understanding of knowledge as being constructed in the individual. The research is grounded in human computer interaction and interaction design, and closely related to game studies and design science. The research question concerns how design can influence the player activity in order to create a desired player experience in public, by harnessing playful engagement. It’s foundation is a theory of play which describes play as a framed, or hedged-off, activity with a fragile border; where knowledge and feelings can leak both in and out of the activity, and affect the play as well as what is around it. The theory of enjoyment of play is discussed, and the problem of treating this as ‘fun’ is addressed, concluding in a presentation of how playful engagement can be harnessed through design. The theory is applied in five design cases: I’m Your Body, a locative storytelling app; Codename Heroes, a pervasive game of personal empowerment; Passing On, a slow-paced game about communication; Busking Studies, which involves observing street performers and their shows; and DigiFys, an architectural design exploration of playgrounds and play paths. Finally, three concepts, or design tools, are presented, which address: 1) a structure for understanding a design through three layers, constructs designed by the designer, inspiring play activity with the player, leading to experience; 2) an approach to designing invitations to play; and finally 3), a four faceted structure for understanding play engagement when players engage in non intended ways.