real world gaming

hot topic!

Real World Social Gaming

Popular Mobile Games

Something people do in downtime-Smash some pigs in Angry Birds

Or a form of escapism-Build up another life in the Sims / Small Worlds

Generally not particularly active or demanding

-The ‘mobile’ aspect of the game simply that its always in your pocket.

-The social aspect may be completely virtual

Typical Mobile Game Experience

The game space is the real world

The other players are real people (as opposed to real people represented by avatars)

Your smart phone is the console(not the only window into the game)

Generally a game layer is built on top of something we already do.(for now at least)

Real World Social Game Experience

Case Study

Case Point

Some product issues-Plz use twitter handles not phone numbers for sign up!

When do I play this?Set up a game on saturday night?

Play exclusively with people who lunch in my area?

Allow killing in the office?

It requires effort :(

Case Study

Think we all agree that Foursquare is successful

The ‘whats the point’ factor is still a common sentimentWhy would I want a virtual badge?

Who cares if you are the mayor?

What else is going on then?

How Important is the Game Layer?

Its a utility too!

‘Checking In’ is not a natural behaviorAside from cold hard data its hard to think why people would do it

The game layer has been enough to bring Foursquare to the point where their utility works..Now they have a social graph + a geographical history for their users.. they can build the

best social city guide.

It is something they are still excited about!Denis Crowley’s baby! A virtual game element w/real life activities.

But they face the same barriers.. Its new, not everyone gets it

How the Game Layer Serves Foursquare

Capture the Flag

Group Based gameplayMore potential for people to be part of winning the venue..

Points also help to identify trending places with different groupsWe use a weighted version of the score to calcualte venue wins,

It also helps bring recently popular spots to the top of the list

Built location social off something people already do(taking photos)

Things we did to expand on the Foursquare model

Its a utility too!

Still hasn’t totally taken offSmall user base, but some people are really into it.

Some issues we are working onWhat connection do people have with their teams?

Do we need to more clearly define some game outcomes?

Tried to put too much into the first version, need to strip back the premise.

Is the game layer actually making it harder to explain to people?

Go download it bearches!

Cool huh?

Play this - get free stuff!Brands are sponsoring teams.. happy to give away prizes, create their own teams.

Improve the UtilityMake it an even better way to find cool places around you.

Simplify the Game MechanicMaybe it does need to be something that works for the individual - i.e. best photo at this

venue.

How to hook people en-masse?

Its social (real world social)!Instead of gaming pulling us away from our real lives into a virtual world it can be something

that adds another layer to our interactions with each other.

We ♥ web meets world!Take advantage of the connectivity the internet creates for us, have it enrich our non virtual

lives.

It can make mundane things less mundaneIf a game layer can make something we ordinariliy do more ‘gamey’ then why not :)

Why are we all so excited about ‘Real world social gaming’?

Make it useful, make it fun.. (duh)

Can real world gaming help us overcome other problems of social interaction?Games as an icebreaker..

Games as a way to create random connections

Games as a way to encourage new kinds of activities in spaces

What are we going to do to make it awesome?