Undercurrents: A Computer-Based Gameplay Tool to Support Tabletop Roleplaying

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Bergström Karl Jonsson Staffan Björk Staffan
2010 DiGRA Nordic '10: Proceedings of the 2010 International DiGRA Nordic Conference: Experiencing Games: Games, Play, and Players

This paper introduces Undercurrents, a computer-based gameplay tool for providing additional communication and media streams during tabletop roleplaying sessions. Based upon a client-server architecture, the system is intended to unobtrusively support secret communication, timing of audio and visual presentations to game events, and real-time documentation of the game session. Potential end users have been involved in the development and the paper provides details on the full design process.

 

Designing Puzzles for Collaborative Gaming Experience – CASE: eScape

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Manninen Tony Korva Tuomo
2005 DiGRA '05 - Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play

This paper examines the issues of puzzle design in the context of collaborative gaming. The qualitative research approach involves both the conceptual analysis of key terminology and a case study of a collaborative game called eScape. The case study is a design experiment, involving both the process of designing a game environment and an empirical study, where data is collected using multiple methods. The findings and conclusions emerging from the analysis provide insight into the area of multiplayer puzzle design. The analysis and reflections answer questions on how to create meaningful puzzles requiring collaboration and how far game developers can go with collaboration design. The multiplayer puzzle design introduces a new challenge for game designers. Group dynamics, social roles and an increased level of interaction require changes in the traditional conceptual understanding of a single-player puzzle.