Dislocated Boardgames: Design Potentials for Remote Tangible Play

Abstract

Conventional digital and remote forms of play lack the physicality associated with analog play. Research on the materiality of boardgames has highlighted the inherent material aspects to this analog form of play and how these are relevant for the design of digital play. In this work, we analyze the inherent material qualities and related experiences of boardgames, and speculate how these might shift in remote manifestations. Based on that, we depict three lenses of designing for remote tangible play: physicality, agency, and time. These lenses present leverage points for future designs and illustrate how the digital and the physical can complement each other following alternative notions of hybrid digital–physical play. Based on that, we illustrate the related design space and discuss how boardgame qualities can be translated to the remote space, as well as how their characteristics might change. Thereby, we shed light on related design challenges and reflect on how designing for shared physicality can enrich dislocated play by applying these lenses.