Deivisceris is a four-player role-playing tabletop game that focuses on themes of horror. It looks into ideas from the horror genre as a whole while combining aspects from the body horror and cosmic horror subgenres to create a discomforting horror experience. The game features illustrations and written events with a choice-based narrative that can have multiple outcomes depending on a player's decisions, stats, and items. Deivisceris utilizes randomness in order to create a new experience each time it is played through randomized characters and a randomized game board that is built up as it is played. The game reveals its narrative through clues within the gameplay, illustrations, and written text as characters enter the game's world blindly. Deivisceris is an immersive tabletop horror experience that can be further expanded on in the future with the possibility of a larger production. / Master of Fine Arts / Deivisceris is a four-player tabletop game that looks into the ways horror can be created in a board game format. It examines various ideas from the horror genre as a whole while taking inspiration more directly from two subgenres of horror: body horror and cosmic horror, each of which has very different ways of evoking horror. The game includes a variety of full-color illustrations and written situations that give players a chance to make their own decisions. Deivisceris utilizes randomness in order to create a new experience every time it is played. The game board is built up differently every time it is played and characters' stats, such as strength, intelligence, and endurance, may be different in each game. The game's story is revealed through clues within the gameplay, illustrations, and text. Deivisceris is a tabletop role-playing horror experience that can be further expanded on in the future with the possibility of a larger production.

Yes / The unique characteristics of games have led scientific research to increasingly focus on their potential role in learning processes. Currently, their effectiveness in fostering experiential learning and skill acquisition in several areas is already supported by the existing evidence, mainly about the potential of digital games. Paradoxically, the current post-digital era seems to have led to a growing popularity of analogue games. The present Systematic Literature Review aimed to map the existing literature on the potential of board, tabletop, or other analogue games in learning processes. It intended to systematize the contemporary state of the art (2012-2022) around the pedagogical role of these games, their effectiveness, the promoted learning outcomes, the methodological aspects of the interventions, the used games – including mechanics and other characteristics – and the current discussions around inclusion and accessibility in analogue game-based learning. Adopting the PRISMA methodology, we searched ACM Digital Library, EBSCO, ERIC, Scopus - Elsevier, and Web of Science databases, as well as other peer-reviewed “grey literature” sources. The search resulted in an initial sample of 2741 articles that was then screened by inclusion and exclusion criteria previously defined according to the research objectives. We obtained a final sample of 45 articles. To formulate the mapping of existing research, these studies were analyzed using a combination of statistical, content, and critical analysis procedures. The obtained results support the role of board, tabletop, and other analogue games in educational contexts – based on their educational potential – with a broad range of knowledge, cognitive, and psychological outcomes. The study also emphasized the relevance of these games in the promotion of soft skills and other aspects typically associated with meaningful learning, such as engagement, satisfaction, flexibility, and freedom of experimentation. However, important limitations were found in a fair amount of the pedagogical approaches studied, which can be mostly attributed to the low prevalence of modern board games that relate what is intended to be learned to aspects of game design and have little to no consideration of accessibility and inclusion aspects in these studies. / The present work was developed in the scope of the Project Training the Educators to Facilitate the Teaching and Assessment of Abstract Syllabus by the Use of Serious Games – TEGA (2020-1- UK01-KA203-079248), funded by the European Commission on the scope of Erasmus+ Programme. The research team also acknowledges the funding by Fundação para a Ciência e para a Tecnologia (FCT) provided to CICANT R&D Unit (UIDB/05260/2020), on the scope of Verão com Ciência initiative, which allowed the inclusion of a research initiation grant holder as co-author of the present work.

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This paper shows the difference in User Experience between Physical and Digital tabletop games. The goal of the project is to get an understanding of how and why playing tabletop games differentiates depending on the platform. Seven tabletop games have been chosen from different genres with an official digital adaptation. We’ve measured four key factors, Usability, Aesthetics, Social Connectivity and Engagement. The key factors have been used to gather User Experience metrics that were used to compare the digital and physical versions of the tabletop games. The result from this thesis is that physical tabletop games have a higher rating than the digital versions in all key factors except in usability where the differences were miniscule. Games that rely on imperfect information offer a much higher social connectivity and engagement when it’s played around a table. Games relying on tile-placement offers a higher usability and engagement when played digitally due to the assistance provided by the game. Physical tabletop games are the preferred option of the two but the accessibility of the digital versions makes them remain relevant.

[pt] Ao mergulhar na área dos estudos lúdicos, é possível notar que os jogos muitas vezes são estudados como ferramentas educativas ou fenômenos sócio-antropológicos. Até o momento, pouco foi discutido sobre os processo de aprendizado de jogos – e muito menos sobre os manuais de regras de jogos, que são constantemente negligenciados inclusive nos projetos e produção de jogos. Por este motivo, a presente dissertação tem como objetivo iniciar um diálogo sobre manuais de jogos, culminando na proposta de critérios de ordenação para as informações contidas nestes documentos, tendo como referência o ponto de vista da Ergonomia Informacional. Considerando a escassez de produção de bibliografia específica sobre o assunto, a fundamentação teórica foi construída a partir da revisão bibliográfica de literatura referente às áreas de estudo da Ergonomia Informacional, Estudos Lúdicos, Psicologia Cognitiva, Linguística e Educação – apresentados nos capítulos 2 a 4. Esses conteúdos foram, então, organizados no contexto da Hierarquia Informacional de Manuais de Jogos Analógicos, tendo como o foco o processo de aprendizado de regras em situações de primeiro uso. A fim de avaliar a aplicabilidade prática dos levantamentos realizados, foi conduzida uma rodada de entrevistas com game designers que possuem experiência com a redação de manuais de jogos – seja para jogos de autoria própria ou de terceiros. A partir das respostas das entrevistas, aliadas ao referencial teórico, foi então definida uma lista de diretrizes de ordenação das regras de manuais de jogos analógicos, além de critérios de utilização de imagens complementares ao texto. Por fim, estas diretrizes foram postas à prova por meio de um experimento de playtest , no qual usuários foram convidados a jogar dois jogos: No Thanks! e SET. Cada grupo de usuários – composto por grupos de 3 a 4 participantes – interagiu com um jogo com seu manual original e o outro com um manual revisado a partir das diretrizes definidas pela presente pesquisa. A fim de avaliar o desempenho de cada grupo, foram definidas as seguintes variáveis a serem analisadas: tempo de leitura do manual; tempo de jogo; quantidade de erros cometidos; quantidade de interrupções no jogo para revisar as regras; tempo total de interrupção do jogo para revisar as regras. Além disso, foi considerada a opinião de cada participante em relação à redação do texto, a fim de identificar se os pontos de atenção identificados em cada manual se tornaram aparentes durante a experiência de primeiro uso dos manuais e jogos em questão. Foi feita uma análise da aplicação do experimento, identificando os impactos que as alterações do manual proporcionaram no desempenho dos participantes. Como resultado, e devido às limitações de contato físico e presencial decorrentes da situação de pandemia e quarentena, em função Covid-19, o resultado final desta dissertação é a proposta revisada do experimento, a ser aplicado em momento mais propício à pesquisas presenciais. / [en] By dwelling on the area of Playful Studies, it becomes hugely noticeable that games are often regarded as educational tools of socio-anthropological phenomena. So far, very little has been discussed about the board game learning process, and even less about their rulebooks, which tend to be sidelined even during the development and production of tabletop games. For this reason, this dissertation aims to start a conversation about tabletop games rulebooks, culminating in a proposition of new criteria that can be used to better organize the information contained in rulebooks of tabletop games. Those criteria were determined from the standpoint of Informational Ergonomics and Human Factors. Considering the shortage of bibliography regarding this specific matter, the theoretical foundation has been built upon the literature review of works in the fields of Informational Ergonomics, Playful Studies, Cognitive Psychology, Linguistics and Education – presented in chapters 2 through 4. The relevant concepts and ideas found on these works were then adapted to the context of the Informational Hierarchy of Tabletop Games Rulebooks, specifically during the first time when players were interacting with the games and their rulebooks. In order to evaluate how useful those findings were in practice, a round of interviews was conducted with game designers who have previous experience with writing rulebooks – either for their games or as a consultant. Their answers, along with the theoretical foundation previously mentioned, served as the foundation to propose a list of guidelines, that aim to help organize the information contained in tabletop rulebooks and the usage of complementary images to better explain the game s rules. Those guidelines were then put to the test by means of an experiment, in which participants were invited to take part in a playtest of two well-known games: No Thanks! and SET. Each group of players interacted with the two games: the first, containing its original rulebook; the second, containing a revised version, based on the previously mentioned criteria or organization. To evaluate the group s performance, five variables were analyzed: Time elapsed while reading the rulebook; time elapsed during the game; the quantity of mistakes made; the quantity of pauses in order to revise the game s rules; and time elapsed while revising the game s rules. On top of that, the participants opinions and impressions were taken into consideration, in order to identify whether the points of concern previously mentioned became apparent to them as well, as a result of their interactions with the games and their rulebooks. Afterwards, the experiment results were analyzed, in order to identify the extent of the impact that the new criteria had on the player s performance. Due to the pandemic and quarantine – caused by Covid-19 –, this dissertation s final result is a revised proposal for the experiment – to be applied whenever the conditions once again favour the development of experimental and in-person research.

Tabletop games have within recent years evolvedto become more and more complex, such as through the useof dynamic rules, permanently changing how the game worksafter a playthrough, and players playing different roles in thegame. This leads to unique challenges for Artificial Intelligence.A Tabletop Games Framework (TAG) is a framework intended topromote research within general AI for modern tabletop games.Rolling Horizon Evolutionary Algorithms (RHEA) are a typeof algorithms that have been applied to games with successin the past. By implementing a RHEA agent we can studyhow it compares to other types of agents such as Monte CarloTree Search and Random Mutation Hill Climbing agents. Ofparticular interest is the game Pandemic (2008), as the existingagents are unable to win at it.

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.

[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.