Design Aspects and Context Awareness in Pervasive Games

Abstract

Pervasive games are a new type of digital games that combines game and physical reality within the gameplay. This novel game type raises unprecedented research and design challenges for developers and urges the exploration of new technologies and methods to create high quality game experiences and design novel and compelling forms of content for the players. This chapter follows a systematic approach to explore the landscape of pervasive gaming. First, the authors approach pervasive games from a theoretical point of view, defining the four axes of pervasive games design, introducing the concept of game world persistency, and describing aspects of spatially/temporally/socially expanded games. Then, they present ten pervasive game projects, classified in five genres based on their playing environment and features. Following that, the authors present a comparative view of those projects with respect to several design aspects: communication and localization, context and personal awareness aspects, information model, player equipment, and game space visualization. Last, the authors highlight current trends, design principles, and future directions for pervasive games development.