Location-Based Mobile Games

Design Perspectives

by Davide Spallazzo, Ilaria Mariani

This book approaches Location Based Mobile Games from a design perspective, investigating the peculiar traits that make them compelling contemporary practices and challenging fields of investigation. Relying on an interdisciplinary theoretical background and empirical studies, it delves into LBMGs’ intertwining theoretical assumptions and describes their translation into practice. The authors examine these games from different perspectives, exploring how they can impact the way we look at our surroundings, their influence on our social dimension, their ability to translate a wide range of information into a game experience, and the negotiations they activate by intertwining two realities. Each issue is addressed from a twofold perspective: that of the designers who craft the games, and that of the users who interpret the designers’ choices and take part in the game experience. In so doing, the book covers the relationship between processes of designing and playing, investigating games that communicate through meaningful interactions, share perspectives as forms of narratives, and integrate physicality and surroundings in the play activity. The reasoning advanced throughout the chapters will benefit researchers, designers and entrepreneurs in the field, as it provides a novel perspective on LBMGs, seeks to increase designers’ awareness of often-neglected issues, and suggests interpretations and practices that can impact how commercial games are designed.

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