Mob-GS
For a complete brief of Mob-GS please refer to my masters project: Pervasive Game Are Not A Genre! (They are a sub-genre).While researching the field of pervasive gaming, which is a sub-genre of what I term "appropriative games," I quickly determined that the potential for single player and small group "pick-up" appropriative gaming had yet to be explored. My primary goal in developing this prototype was to maximize the affordances of the mobile phone while developing an encompassing single-player experience.
Mob-GS is essentially three separate components that will eventually be combined into a single mobile phone application. Those sections are:
- A GPS navigation system for finding pervasive games.
- A suite of single-player and small group pervasive games.
- A system for exchanging points earned by playing games for real world commodities.
GPS Navigation System
Mob-GS' navigation system is intended to function similarly to the questing system and mini-map navigator found in World of Warcraft (WoW). The player is persistently in the center of the navigation screen's compass. While the player is standing still, they are represented as a black dot. While the player is moving, they are represented as a black arrow pointing in the direction of their course. Mob-GS game spots are displayed as dark blue dots. The player is able to cycle through visible game spots via a pointer in order to learn their game type and distance from the player. When a player arrives at a game spot, they receive a prompt briefing explaining the spot's game and asking if they player wishes to play.
Single-Player Pervasive Games
In designing Mob-GS' game content, there were defined design goals that I sought to aspire to. My primary goal was to maximize the affordances of the mobile phone. I believe there is a propensity in mobile development to approach mobile phones simply as portable screens with buttons, and I wanted to avoid this practice at all cost.
Example Game: Payphone Steeple Chase
Inspired by the film Die Hard: With a Vengeance, where a man calling himself "Simon" threatens to detonate bombs around New York City unless NYPD Officer John McClane cooperates in a cross-town version of Simon Says, Payphone Steeple Chase (PSC) is essentially an individual urban obstacle course.
When the player finds him or herself near a PSC game spot, they receive a prompt in Mob-GS that asks, "Do you want to play Payphone Steeple Chase?" If the player replies "yes," an SMS is sent to the player's phone that says something similar to:
There is a payphone on the corner of 5th & Broadway. You have 15 minutes to get there and call 555-555-5555. When asked, your agent id is "1234" and the codeword is "Zeus."
There are three main elements of gameplay in PSC. Primarily, the player must successfully navigate to the payphone within the allotted time. The "obstacles" are anything and everything in the lay of the land between the player and the payphone. Additionally at some point, the player must consider if he or she has the correct change for placing the call on a payphone. Finally, the player might have to consider their course of action if someone else is using the payphone when they arrive.
Reward System
Mob-GS' final component is a system that allows players to exchange points earned by completing Mob-GS games for tangible rewards. My goal for this component was to design a system that featured a high level of convenience, automation, and security.
When a Mob-GS player purchases a reward with his or her points, a QR Code is generated on their mobile phone's screen. Encoded into that QR Code is a URL with specific arguments embedded into it. Participating reward locations would be provided with a mobile device with a Mob-GS-branded QR Code reader. When the player redeems a reward, an employee at the reward location scans the QR Code which opens a website verifying the rewards legitimacy and instructing the employee how to process the reward within their proprietary systems.