Digital tabletop computers are an ideal platform for games with the social advantages of traditional tabletop games, such as board games and card games, combined with the more streamlined and automated gameplay of video games. Implementing a board game digitally allows for aspects of the game, such as routine in-game activities, rule enforcement and game progression, to be automated. However, the effect of this automation on the players’ social experience and enjoyment is poorly understood. To explore this question, a mixed-method study was carried out in which 24 groups of participants played either the abstract strategy board game Checkers or the cooperative board game Pandemic using three different interfaces: the original physical game; a digital tabletop interface which provided minimal automation in an attempt to replicate play of the original game; and a digital tabletop interface which automated many in-game activities, enforced the rules and managed the progression of the game. The study revealed that while automation does have the potential to reduce the overhead to play the game, it can lead to player frustration in several ways. Automating routine in-game activities and game progression can lead to severe awareness deficits. Automation of rule enforcement and management of the game state can streamline gameplay, but can lead to scenarios where players would prefer more control over the game. The negative space around the active game area is important to consider for storage of digital artifacts and physical objects above the table. Finally the digitization and automation of the games did not reduce social interaction, making digital tabletops a promising platform for social games. / Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-08 10:32:08.405

abstract: This study frames research on board games within a body of anthropological theory and method to examine the long-term social changes that effect play and mechanisms through which play may influence societal change. Drawing from ethnographic literature focusing on the performative nature of games and their effectiveness at providing a method for strengthening social bonds through grounding, I examine changes in the places in which people engaged in play over the course of the Bronze Age on Cyprus (circa 2500¬–1050 BCE), a period of increasing social complexity. The purpose of this research is to examine how the changes in social boundaries concomitant with emergent complexity were counteracted or strengthened through the use of games as tools of interaction. Bronze Age sites on Cyprus have produced the largest dataset of game boards belonging to any ancient culture. Weight and morphological data were gathered from these artifacts to determine the likelihood of their portability and to identify what type of game was present. The presence of fixed and likely immobile games, as well as the presence of clusters of portable games, was used to identify spaces in which games were played. Counts of other types of artifacts found in the same spaces as games were tabulated, and Correspondence Analysis (CA) was performed in order to determine differences in the types of activities present in the same spaces as play. The results of the CA showed that during the Prehistoric Bronze Age, which has fewer indicators of social complexity, gaming spaces were associated with artifacts related to consumption or specialty, heirloom and imported ceramics, and rarely played in public spaces. During the Protohistoric Bronze Age, when Cyprus was more socially complex, games were more commonly played in public spaces and associated with artifacts related to consumption. These changes suggest a changing emphasis through time, where the initiation and strengthening of social bonds through the grounding process afforded by play is more highly valued in small-scale society, whereas the social mobility that is enabled by performance during play is exploited more commonly during periods of complexity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2016

Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka hur brädspel kan användas i engelskundervisningen samt hur elever upplever att brädspelet kan påverka deras engelskundervisning och deras lärande. Forskning har försökt finna olika undervisningsverktyg som kan motivera och hjälpa elever att utveckla deras språkkunskaper i engelska. Bland dessa har moderna datorspel studerats som dock visar på en problematik vid spelens användning. Dessa problem har dock inte visats vara förknippade med användandet av brädspel i undervisningssammanhang. Däremot visar forskning att brädspel som har använts i undervisning har haft en positiv inverkan på både elevers inlärning och engagemang. I denna studie undersöks hur brädspel kan användas i engelskundervisning för elever i mellanstadiet med hjälp av en aktionsstudie och studien grundar sig på Vygotskijs sociokulturella teori. Studien har genomförts hos två olika skolverksamheter med elever från både årkurs fem och årskurs sex. Studiens resultat visar att elever anser att brädspel bidrar till en mer engagerande lektion som skapar ett arbetsklimat som inbjuder fler elever till att aktivt delta i lektionen. Majoriteten av de deltagande eleverna anser att brädspel kan utveckla deras engelska genom att utöka deras ordförråd och förbättra deras uttal samt förmåga att konstruera meningar. Dock kan användandet av brädspel som undervisningsverktyg vara problematiskt vid större elevgrupper. En del elever kan ha svårt att anpassa sitt beteende till undervisningsformen, vilket kan påverka undervisningen negativt. / Departing from the students' own experience, the purpose of this study is to investigate how board games can be implemented in the EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom and how board games can affect their learning environment and outcome. Previous research has focused on trying to find different teaching tools that could help motivate pupils to develop their English language skills. Modern computer games have been studied among these different teaching tools, but have revealed a problem when using modern computer games for educational purposes. However, these problems have not been shown to be related to the use of board games in educational contexts. On the contrary, research shows that board games can have a positive impact on both pupils’ learning ability and their commitment. This study examines whether board games can be used in the EFL classroom for pupils at the middle school by conducting action research based on Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. Two schools have been involved in this research project involving pupils from the fifth and sixth grades. The results show that students believe that board games contribute to more engaging lessons while also encouraging more pupils to actively participate in the lesson. The majority of the participating pupils believe that board games can help them develop their English language skills by expanding their English vocabulary and improving their English pronunciation and their ability to construct sentences correctly in English. However, the use of board games in larger groups may be problematic, since some students may find it difficult to abide by the in-game requirements, which may have an adverse effect on teaching.

Os jogos de mesa são atividades que promovem a valorização do idoso na sociedade através da intensificação das relações sociais; proporcionam também estímulos físicos, mentais e psíquicos, contribuindo para minimizar ou retardar os efeitos negativos do processo natural do envelhecimento (senescência). O design, como campo do conhecimento que estuda os objetos e suas relações com o homem, cumpre um papel fundamental na pesquisa e na atuação para projeto e produção de jogos adequados aos idosos considerando aspectos sintáticos, semânticos e pragmáticos. Este estudo analisa o dominó devido à preferência dos idosos por este jogo tradicional, já incorporado culturalmente as atividades de lazer deste grupo de usuários, sendo praticado regularmente tanto por mulheres quanto por homens em locais públicos e privados. Foram selecionados para análise os exemplares do jogo dominó disponíveis na cidade de São Paulo, com o intuito de avaliar sua adequação a este grupo de usuários. O respaldo teórico para a análise teve como referência os aspectos de design relacionados à forma (pressupostos da Gestalt), à cor e à ergonomia, englobando principalmente o desenhos, as dimensões e o manuseio das peças analisadas, além de considerar as necessidades específicas dos idosos, devido aos declínios decorrentes da senescência. As analises destacam alguns aspectos fundamentais do dominó, que subsidiaram a formulação de parâmetros a serem considerados no projeto e na produção de outros jogos voltados ao público idoso. / Board games are a type of active leisure that promote the valuation of the elderly in society through the intensification of social relationships; they also promote physic, mental and psychic stimulus helping to reduce or retard the negative effects of the natural act of aging. The knowledge of design studies the objects and it`s relations with men and performs an essential hole in research, acting in the project and the production of game boards appropriated to the elderly considering syntactic, semantic and pragmatic aspects, contributing to guarantee the realization of quality leisure activities. This study analyses the domino, considering the preference of the elderly for this traditional game which is already culturally incorporated to leisure activities of this group of people and has been practiced regularly for men and women in public and private institutions. Several domino set types available in San Paulo city were selected for the analysis with the purpose of evaluating it`s adjustment to this group of people. The doctrinaire base for the analysis had as a reference the aspects of design related to the form (Gestalt issues), the colors, and ergonomics, involving mostly the drawing, the dimension and the handling of the pieces, besides considering also the specific necessities of the elderly, in due to the natural act of aging. The analysis highlight some fundamental aspects of domino, that provided the formulation of parameters to be considered in the project and production of other games designed for the elderly.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2016-08-10T15:47:56Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - José António Loures Custódio - 2016.pdf: 12315710 bytes, checksum: 2eaa82821554c7e7a60d7390e2c9cd45 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-08-12T13:53:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - José António Loures Custódio - 2016.pdf: 12315710 bytes, checksum: 2eaa82821554c7e7a60d7390e2c9cd45 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-12T13:53:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - José António Loures Custódio - 2016.pdf: 12315710 bytes, checksum: 2eaa82821554c7e7a60d7390e2c9cd45 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-04 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Board games are cultural reflexes, born as religious and mythological rites, took up the entertainment object condition, and finally, were subverted and transformed into an art form. This theoretical and practical character dissertation investigates this last stage, and research artists and works of analog gamearte aiming to understand the creative process behind the art of board games, still little explored field. This research presents a pioneer, because there are no studies on the game boards through art in Brazil. The first categorization of Brazilian board games that belong to the gamearte settings. It is also proposed to present the relevance and persistence of analog game in a digital contemporaneity. These investigations serve as a reflective theoretical framework for the simultaneous development of poetic practice this research, an authorial artistic board game. / Os jogos de tabuleiro são reflexos culturais, nasceram como ritos religiosos e mitológicos, alçaram a condição de objeto de entretenimento, e por fim, foram subvertidos e transformados em forma de expressão artística. Essa dissertação de caráter teórico-prático investiga esse último estágio, e pesquisa artistas e obras de gamearte analógica visando compreender o processo criativo por trás dos jogos de tabuleiro de arte, campo ainda pouco explorado. Esta pesquisa se apresenta pioneira, pois não há estudos sobre os jogos de tabuleiros através da arte no Brasil. A primeira categorização dos jogos de tabuleiro brasileiros que pertencem as definições de gamearte. Também se propõe a apresentar a relevância e persistência dos jogos analógicos em uma contemporaneidade digital. Essas investigações servem de arcabouço teórico reflexivo para o desenvolvimento simultâneo da prática poética dessa pesquisa, um jogo de tabuleiro artístico autoral

Risk is a game in which traditional Artificial-Intelligence methods such as for example iterative deepening and Alpha-Beta pruning can not successfully be applied due to the size of the search space. Distributed problem solving in the form of a multi-agent system might be the solution. This needs to be tested before it is possible to tell if a multi-agent system will be successful at playing Risk or not. In this thesis the development of a multi-agent system that plays Risk is explained. The system places an agent in every country on the board and uses a central agent for organizing communication. An auction mechanism is used for negotiation. The experiments show that a multi-agent solution indeed is a prosperous approach when developing a computer based player for the board game Risk. / I brädspelet Risk är det svårt att använda traditionella Artificiell-Intelligens-metoder eftersom sökrymden är extremt stor. Lösningen till detta kan vara att använda distribuerad problemlösning i form av ett multi-agent system. Detta måste testas innan man kan säga om ett multi-agent system är framgångsrikt, eller ej, i att spela Risk. Denna uppsats går igenom utvecklingen av ett multi-agent system som spelar Risk. Systemet placerar en agent i varje land på brädet och använder en central agent för att organisera kommunikationen. En auktionsmekanism används vid förhandlingar. Experimenten visar att ett multi-agent system är en framgångsrik infallsvinkel vid utveckling av en datorbaserad spelare för brädspelet Risk.

Risk is a game in which traditional Artificial-Intelligence methods such as for example iterative deepening and Alpha-Beta pruning can not successfully be applied due to the size of the search space. Distributed problem solving in the form of a multi-agent system might be the solution. This needs to be tested before it is possible to tell if a multi-agent system will be successful at playing Risk or not. In this thesis the development of a multi-agent system that plays Risk is explained. The system places an agent in every country on the board and uses a central agent for organizing communication. An auction mechanism is used for negotiation. The experiments show that a multi-agent solution indeed is a prosperous approach when developing a computer based player for the board game Risk. / I brädspelet Risk är det svårt att använda traditionella Artificiell-Intelligens-metoder eftersom sökrymden är extremt stor. Lösningen till detta kan vara att använda distribuerad problemlösning i form av ett multi-agent system. Detta måste testas innan man kan säga om ett multi-agent system är framgångsrikt, eller ej, i att spela Risk. Denna uppsats går igenom utvecklingen av ett multi-agent system som spelar Risk. Systemet placerar en agent i varje land på brädet och använder en central agent för att organisera kommunikationen. En auktionsmekanism används vid förhandlingar. Experimenten visar att ett multi-agent system är en framgångsrik infallsvinkel vid utveckling av en datorbaserad spelare för brädspelet Risk.

The main goal of this master´s thesis is to write a business plan for the board games café in Prague. The other objective is to verify its feasibility and return on investment. The key users of the business plan are founders of the café and it forms the basis for the future decision about its realisation. The theoretical part describes basic terms and individual sections of the business plan. The practical part contains the business plan itself. The main focus is on the description of the entrepreneurial opportunity, competitive analysis, marketing and financial plan, risk analysis and identification of the potential business strategies. The conclusion consists of the overall evaluation of the project based on the applied methods. The plan presents a complex picture of running a business in the chosen industry and proves a viability of the café in the future.

Ancestral forms of entertainment were not only meant as a pastime but also to carry forward the cultural values and stories over generations. With the ease of access to the technologically advanced and immersive games, we do not necessarily opt for traditional board games that are a representation of our culture. Dhayam VR is an amalgamation of a traditional Indian board game and virtual reality technology. Inspired by the story of Mahabharata – a Hindu epic, it creates an expressive, educative, and entertaining experience. It provides an opportunity to contribute toward keeping traditional and cultural values alive, in a more expressive form using the latest technologies which are relatable to the current and future generations. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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