Augmented Adventures: Using Different Perspectives to Design Novel Tabletop Game Experiences with Augmented Reality

The proliferation of smartphones and accelerating development of Augmented Reality tools have made it possible to both research and deploy new gameplay interaction paradigms for gaming at a relatively low cost. Here we explore the design space of using Augmented Reality in Tabletop gaming. A research through design approach is followed, where 80 novel gameplay ideas have been brainstormed and subsequently categorized. From this, we found that Augmented Reality can be used to provide interesting perspectives on a game, with especially a second-person perspective opening up new avenues for having interesting gameplay experiences. We subsequently developed this second person perspective into a design exemplar called Eye of the Cyclops, a collaborative adventure game where the smartphone provides the perspective of the main antagonist. Subsequent playtests show that the game led to a significantly higher immersion, audiovisual appeal, curiosity, and meaning compared with benchmark games, even though some clear limitations remain.