Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
13.
Promotion/degradation system
: whether the game contains a promo-
tion/degradation mechanism. That is, whether players can achieve a higher
(social) status or ranking through playing the game. This dimension is related
to both key issue B and F, as a promotion/degradation mechanism creates so-
cial hierarchy and allows for goal setting (attaining the highest 'level'). Note
that interactions that are based on this dimension should not strive to make a
player's status explicit (e.g. showing points). However, a playground could be
designed such that players bear different (virtual) features (e.g. different colours
assigned to players). Players can then attribute these feature differences to a
player's status, and strive to obtain an equal set of features for themselves.
14.
Player can be 'game over'
: whether a player can lose or not win the game.
Loosely associated with key issue F.
15.
Time limit
: whether the game is strictly limited in time. Is a specific case of
dimension 6.
16.
Sound plays a role
: whether sound plays (or can play) a determining role in the
game.
17.
Physical contact between players required
: whether players need to touch,
hit, kick, etc. each other. A specific case of dimension 2.
18.
Requires extra (physical) items
: whether the game needs any physical objects
such as a ball or rope. Play environments that allow players to bring in their own
physical objects and are able to incorporate these objects in their interactive be-
haviour, could provide an opportunity for emergent play. Incorporating physical
objects might also increase the amount of partially contained play, since the fo-
cus of the play might shift to the objects themselves, rather than the playground
per se
.
19.
Shared/individual items
: whether there are item(s) required for the game that
are shared amongst all players, or 'owned' by individual players. Item possession
may become a matter of 'status' and hence a goal (see next dimension), thereby
leading to social interaction and physical chasing/running around. To achieve
this, the system needs to (a) contain items that (b) can be 'attached' to someone.
20.
Item possession is a (sub)goal?
: whether the possession of an item is a goal of
the game itself. Is a specific case of dimensions 7 and 19.
The dimensions that are listed here, form a bridge between the high-level, abstract
goals and concrete interactions implementing these goals. These dimensions are ab-
stractions of the interactions that are found in the games that have been analysed. Such
dimensions provide a valuable tool for designing for open-ended play in interactive,
intelligent playgrounds.
5.5
A Novel Approach to Interactive Playground Design
Although a lot is known about key issues for interactive playgrounds through evalu-
ation studies of various prototypes (cf. the sections above), a fully structured method
leading from a playground concept to interactions for a working prototype is still
