Ville Kankainen

Understanding smart device tabletop games

The aim of this short paper is to understand smart device tabletop games as a part of the larger phenomenon of hybrid tabletop games. The approach taken is to create a loose typology of smart device tabletop games via analyzing the features of such games currently on offer and mapping them in the historical context of hybrid tabletop games. The process of creating a typology also helps us move towards understanding the nature of a wider hybrid gaming experience, not restricted merely to the delivery medium of the game.

Blending in Hybrid Games: Understanding Hybrid Games Through Experience

The meaning of what hybrid games are is often fixed to the context in which the term is used. For example, hybrid games have often been defined in relation to recent developments in technology. This creates issues in its usage and limitations in thinking. This paper argues that hybrid games should be understood through conceptual metaphors. Hybridity is the blending of different cognitive domains that are not usually associated together. Hybrid games usually blend domains related to games, for example digital and board games, but can blend also other domains. Through this type of thinking, designers can be more open to exploring how their games can be experienced.

Playful Furniture: Breaching a Serious Setting With Interactive Seats

Are shaggy seats which make cute noises playful or disruptive in a conference setting? This article pushes the limits of game scholars’ lusory attitude by breaching an academic seminar with a playful experiment. Five MurMur Moderator seats, interactive and interruptive furniture prototypes, were set up at a game research seminar where they were used as ambient elements during the presentations. The experience was evaluated by observation, accompanied with seminar tweets, and by conducting a small survey after the seminar. The experiences of the participants varied from enthusiastically positive to strong negative feelings. Through this experiment, we were able to explore the important issue of polarized attitudes of adults toward play and provide some food for thought for the future design of adult play.

The Interplay of Two Worlds in Blood Bowl: Implications for Hybrid Board Game Design

Digital board games, along with hybrid board games, that combine physical and digital elements have grown in success recently. This interview study compares the experiences of playing a material board game and digital adaptations of it. Overall, the material and digital play were experienced to be different aspects of the same hobby -- thus being parts of a wider pastime. The results provide insight into different aspects that players appreciate in both ways of playing. In conclusion, these results are weighed as to what kind of design implications they offer for future hybrid board games.

Participative Game Design in the Zet Project – Engaging the Youth to Enhance Wellbeing

Engagement in meaningful activities is important in supporting the youth in their wellbeing for today as well as for the future. Serious games and game design provide an interesting field for exploring the opportunities and possible benefits for activating the youth at the same time benefiting from their experiences. In this article, a game design process conducted following the principles of participatory design is presented. The article provides examples of the positive as well as the challenging aspects of engaging the youth.