With the new and rising popularity of Baldur’s Gate 3, an exploratory qualitative research comparing it to its tabletop predecessor: Dungeons and Dragons 5E, is necessary to gather new data about player experience within these different formats.  This research explores the difference in immersion into character between Dungeons and Dragons 5E and Baldur’s Gate 3. This is done through a mixed methods approach, combining interviews and digital ethnography. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 interviewees from varying backgrounds who had played both games for a significant amount of time. For the digital ethnography, relevant selected posts from Reddit users in r/DnD and r/BaldursGate3 were filtered and selected using the software Communalytic.  The themes correlated to immersion into character were transformative play, social play, and creative agenda. Through these themes, it was concluded that the main difference between these two games were related to transformative potential, as well as the social aspect 2 of both games, where in-person D&D and co-op BG3 seemed to help players get immersed into their characters more easily than in online D&D and solo mode BG3.

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.

Pour respecter les droits d’auteur, la version électronique de ce mémoire a été dépouillée de certains documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal. / La constitution du jeu en objet de science et l’institutionnalisation du jeu vidéo font en sorte d’évincer l’essence, et donc le sens du sujet qu’elles entendent définir. L’objet jeu et l’espace de la représentation ludique ont pris le pas sur l’expérience du jouer. Le phénomène jeu reste un objet subjectif: en définissant l’objet, on minimise cette dimension subjective et ses variables expérientielles, et tout particulièrement le temps et le mouvement. En s’appuyant sur des théories pluridisciplinaires telles que la phénoménologie, la sémiologie et la linguistique cognitive, ce mémoire cherche à réhabiliter le temps, le joueur et l’expérience vécue du jouer. Le premier chapitre examine l’ambiguïté du mot jeu, qui renvoie à la fois à l’objet jeu et à l’activité jouer, et interroge la primauté du game sur le play au sein des études du jeu. Le deuxième chapitre questionne la conception dualiste du jeu, telle que véhiculée par le modèle du cercle magique, qui oppose le jeu au réel. Le chapitre trois propose la métaphore conceptuelle du temps suspendu dans l’espace afin d’expliquer d’une part, le rôle structurant de l’espace dans le processus cognitif, et d’autre part la surenchère spatiale des discours vidéoludiques. Finalement, il s’agit de tenir et de maintenir l’équilibre dynamique entre la structure du game et l’expérience du play, et de souligner l’importance de l’unité espace-temps. / The game constitution as an object of science and the institutionalization of the video game oust the essence, and therefore the meaning of the subject they intend to define. The game itself and its playful representation took precedence over the experience of the player. The game phenomenon remains a subjective object: when defining the object, this subjective dimension and its experiential variables are subjectively minimized, especially time and movement. Based on multidisciplinary theories such as phenomenology, semiotics and cognitive linguistics, this paper seeks to rehabilitate the time, the player and the experience of playing. The first chapter examines the ambiguity of the word game, which refers to both the object and the game playing activity, and questions the primacy of game over play in the game studies. The second chapter questions the dualistic conception of game, as conveyed by the magic circle model, which opposes gaming to reality. Chapter three provides the conceptual metaphor of time suspended in space to explain firstly, the structuring role of space in the cognitive process, and also the spatial outbid of the video game discourse. Finally, it is about holding and maintaining the dynamic balance between the gaming structure and the experience of playing, and stress the importance of space-time unity.

Exploramos aspectos da espacialidade nos videogames, aplicando o conceito de círculo mágico como abordado por Johan Huizinga, refletindo sobre a experiência da imersão e da observação externa. Empregamos, como objeto do pensamento, ferramentas provenientes da teoria dos games, geometria, semiótica, fenomenologia, psicologia, informática e pós-estruturalismo. Observamos a estrutura triádica na percepção do jogador alicerçada sobre três categorias espaciais: físico-tátil, imagético- narrativa e intencional. Levantamos informações relativas aos sistemas de objetos próprios dos jogos eletrônicos. Classificamos esquemas espaciais utilizados para a apresentação do espaço diegético na tela. Aplicamos o conceito de flow, criado por Csikszentmihalyi, para avaliar a imersão e o engajamento do jogador. Investigamos possíveis extrapolações do círculo mágico formado pelo jogar. Observamos modos de virtualização e atualização na interface dos games. Abstraímos o jogo como obra de metadesign, considerando modos de autoria pelo interator. Verificamos processos de embodiment através do agenciamento via avatar. Contemplamos aspectos topológicos de rede e estruturas labirínticas. Ponderamos sobre as possibilidades abertas pelo game thinking, como processos de ludificação e simulação. Por fim, divisamos as circunstâncias de transcendência do espaço do jogo por meio da alteridade e da expansão do círculo mágico. / We explored aspects of video game spatiality, using the magic circle concept, as approached by Johan Huizinga, pondering upon the experience of immersion and external observation. We applied, as object of thought, tools originated from the theory of gaming, geometry, semiotics, phenomenology, psychology, computing and post-structuralism. We observed the triadic structure of the player\'s perception based on three spatial categories: physical-tactile, imagery-narrative and intentional. We collected data related to the system of objects used in electronic games. We classified spatial diagrams utilized in the presentation of diegetic space on screen. We applied the flow concept, created by Csikszentmihalyi, to valuate immersion and engagement of players. We explored possible surpassing of the magic circle created by the act of playing. We observed modes of virtualization and updating of the gaming interfaces. We abstracted gaming as a work of metadesign, considering means of authorship by the interactor. We verify embodiment processes via avatar agency. We observed topological aspects of network and labyrinth structures. We pondered the possibilities opened by game thinking, like processes of gamification and simulation. Finally we glimpsed the circumstances of gaming space transcendence by the means of alterity and the expansion of the magic circle.

Exploramos aspectos da espacialidade nos videogames, aplicando o conceito de círculo mágico como abordado por Johan Huizinga, refletindo sobre a experiência da imersão e da observação externa. Empregamos, como objeto do pensamento, ferramentas provenientes da teoria dos games, geometria, semiótica, fenomenologia, psicologia, informática e pós-estruturalismo. Observamos a estrutura triádica na percepção do jogador alicerçada sobre três categorias espaciais: físico-tátil, imagético- narrativa e intencional. Levantamos informações relativas aos sistemas de objetos próprios dos jogos eletrônicos. Classificamos esquemas espaciais utilizados para a apresentação do espaço diegético na tela. Aplicamos o conceito de flow, criado por Csikszentmihalyi, para avaliar a imersão e o engajamento do jogador. Investigamos possíveis extrapolações do círculo mágico formado pelo jogar. Observamos modos de virtualização e atualização na interface dos games. Abstraímos o jogo como obra de metadesign, considerando modos de autoria pelo interator. Verificamos processos de embodiment através do agenciamento via avatar. Contemplamos aspectos topológicos de rede e estruturas labirínticas. Ponderamos sobre as possibilidades abertas pelo game thinking, como processos de ludificação e simulação. Por fim, divisamos as circunstâncias de transcendência do espaço do jogo por meio da alteridade e da expansão do círculo mágico. / We explored aspects of video game spatiality, using the magic circle concept, as approached by Johan Huizinga, pondering upon the experience of immersion and external observation. We applied, as object of thought, tools originated from the theory of gaming, geometry, semiotics, phenomenology, psychology, computing and post-structuralism. We observed the triadic structure of the player\'s perception based on three spatial categories: physical-tactile, imagery-narrative and intentional. We collected data related to the system of objects used in electronic games. We classified spatial diagrams utilized in the presentation of diegetic space on screen. We applied the flow concept, created by Csikszentmihalyi, to valuate immersion and engagement of players. We explored possible surpassing of the magic circle created by the act of playing. We observed modes of virtualization and updating of the gaming interfaces. We abstracted gaming as a work of metadesign, considering means of authorship by the interactor. We verify embodiment processes via avatar agency. We observed topological aspects of network and labyrinth structures. We pondered the possibilities opened by game thinking, like processes of gamification and simulation. Finally we glimpsed the circumstances of gaming space transcendence by the means of alterity and the expansion of the magic circle.

Videogame tinkerers, players, and activists of the 21st century are continuing, yet redefining, the avant-garde art and literary movements of the 20th century. Videogames are diverging as a social, cultural, and digital medium. They are used as political instruments, artistic experiments, social catalysts, and personal means of expression. A diverse field of games and technocultural play, such as alternate reality games, griefer attacks, arcade sculptures, and so on, can be compared and contrasted to the avant-garde, such as contemporary tactical media, net art, video art, Fluxus, the Situationists, the work of Pollock or Brecht, Dada, or the Russian Formalists. For example, historical avant-garde painters played with perspectival space (and its traditions), rather than only within those grid-like spaces. This is similar in some ways to how game artists play with flow (and player expectations of it), rather than advancing flow as the popular and academic ideal. Videogames are not only an advanced product of technoculture, but are the space in which technoculture conventionalizes play. This makes them a fascinating site to unwork and rethink the protocols and rituals that rule technoculture. It is the audacity of imagining certain videogames as avant-garde (from the perspective of mainstream consumers and art academics alike) that makes them a good candidate for this critical experiment.

Denna studie utgår från transpersoners och icke-binära personers erfarenheter av lajvande i Sverige under 2000-talet. Lajv är en typ av performance, liknande improviserad teater utan publik, där deltagarna gestaltar och förkroppsligar olika karaktärer, en roll eller alternativ identitet. Även om lajvs potential att förändra har tidigare studerats har ingen forskning gjorts om transpersoners erfarenheter av hur lajv och karaktärer har förändrat dem. Denna studie undersöker därför hur lajv och erfarenheter av att förkroppsliga karaktärer har påverkat hur de ser på sin könsidentitet och använder sig av könsuttryck i vardagen. I fokus står deltagarnas aha-upplevelser om sitt kön före, under, kring och efter lajv. Med intervjuer och queer fenomenologi visar studien att lajvande och karaktärer har hjälpt dem att hitta, utforska, testa och orientera sig mot nya könslinjer, könsidentiteter och könsuttryck samt gett dem verktyg att börja följa dessa könslinjer i vardagen. Studien visar även hur de har hindrats och hjälpts av andra lajvare, samt hur gränsen mellan lajv och vardag läcker och transformerar. Studiens resultat bidrar till en ökad kunskap om hur lajvande kan ha en förmåga att förändra och hur svenska lajvkulturen har utvecklats under 2000-talet. / This thesis concerns trans and non-binary persons’ experiences of live action role-playing (larp) in Sweden during the last 20 years. Larp is a form of performance, similar to improvised theater without any external audience, where the participants (larpers) play and embody characters. The characters are similar to theater characters, but are also a form of persona or alternative identity for the larpers. Although earlier research has shown that larp has a potential to transform and change larpers, little research has been done on transpersons’ experiences of how larping and characters have changed them. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how larping and experiences of embodying characters have affected how they understand their own gendersex and use gendered expressions, clothes, and behaviors in everyday life. A central part of the analysis is the participants' feeling of wonder over their gendersex before, during, around, and after larping. By using interviews, queer phenomenology, and the concept of bleed, the study shows how larping and characters have helped them to find, explore, try, and orient themselves toward new gender lines, gendersexes and gendered expressions and also given them tools to help them following these new gender lines and embody their gendersex in everyday life. Furthermore, the study shows how they have been hindered and helped by other larpers, and how the borders between the larp worlds and the world of everyday life are porous and transformative. The findings of the study gives new insights of transpersons’ experiences of larping. Furthermore, the results deepen our knowledge of larping’s transformative potential, how role-playing can be used in identity processes, and how the Swedish larping community has evolved during the 21th century.

[pt] Os jogos de tabuleiro, também chamados de board games, são comumente associados a jogos como Banco Imobiliário, War, Jogo da Vida, entre outros. Contudo, nos últimos anos, a indústria mundial se diversificou e atualmente podese observar uma grande inovação nos títulos, além do crescente interesse do público por novos jogos analógicos. Em uma sociedade cada vez mais individualista e tecnológica, os board games proporcionam interações comunicacionais presenciais entre indivíduos, movimento reverso às relações virtuais. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa pretende abordar os jogos de tabuleiro em um contexto comunicacional e cultural, tendo como objetivo a compreensão do momento significativo (e repleto de significado) que o retorno do interesse por esse tipo de jogo pode vir a refletir. Para isso, analisamos o jogo de tabuleiro sob três dimensões: objeto (sob a ótica das teorias do consumo); atividade (a ideia de Círculo Mágico, a imersão do jogador e seu provável consumo de experiência) e mídia (a possibilidade da leitura dos jogos de tabuleiro como textos de mídia e sua ressonância cultural). Como metodologia, adotamos entrevistas qualitativas semiestruturadas e entrevistas quantitativas (aplicação de survey junto a um público praticante), além da revisão bibliográfica que percorreu obras de Paul Booth, Jesper Juul, Stewart Woods, Emmanoel Ferreira (na área dos Games Studies); Mary Douglas, Jean Baudrillard (na área do consumo); Cláudia Pereira, Tatiana Siciliano e Everardo Rocha (na ideia de consumo de experiência); e Jesús Martín-Barbero, Ana Carolina Escosteguy, Douglas Kellner (sob a ótica da mídia e dos Estudos Culturais), entre outros autores. / [en] Table games, also called board games, are commonly associated with games such as Monopoly, Risk, Game of Life, among others. However, in recent years, the world industry has diversified and today you can see a great innovation in titles, in addition to the growing public interest in new analogue games. In an increasingly individualistic and technological society, board games provide face-to-face communicational interactions between us, a reverse movement to virtual relationships. Thus, this research intends to approach board games in a communicational and cultural context, aiming to understand the significant moment (and full of meaning) that the return of interest in this type of game may reflect. For this, we analyze the board game under three dimensions: object (from the perspective of consumption theories); activity (the idea of the magic circle, the player s immersion and his probable consumption of experience) and media (the possibility of reading board games as media texts and their cultural resonance). As a methodology, we adopted semi-structured qualitative interviews and quantitative interviews (application of survey in a practicing public), in addition to the bibliographical review that covered the works of Paul Booth, Jesper Juul, Stewart Woods, Emmanoel Ferreira (in the area of Games Studies); Mary Douglas, Jean Baudrillard (in the area of consumption); Cláudia Pereira, Tatiana Siciliano and Everardo Rocha (in the idea of consumption of experience); and Jesús MartínBarbero, Ana Carolina Escosteguy, Douglas Kellner (from the perspective of the media and Cultural Studies), among other authors.