The development and balancing of location-based games is challenging, because the gameplay depends on local environmental conditions. A tool based analysis of common game mechanics could provide a remedy for this problem, but requires precisely defined gameplay patterns. This paper presents systematic selection of spatio-temporal game design patterns together with a software tool, able to simulate location-based gameplay in different spatial environments. Introduction postconditions for each pattern. There are no detailed
In video- and board game design, patterns are long established
tools. These design patterns are used to gather inspiration,
communicate with peers and professionals or solve design as
well as interaction problems. Extensive collections for these
types of games have been compiled by various authors (e.g.
Bjork/Jussi 2004). When it comes to pattern libraries,
locationbased games have not received an equivalent amount of
attention although first attempts have already been made to
compile lists of patterns that cover design aspects new to
mobile location-based games
In this paper I present a systematic approach for the
identification of a subset of spatio-temporal design patterns for
location-based games. By means of a self-imposed restriction
to the examined problem space, I am able to give pre- and
The purpose of this library of location-based game design
patterns differs from that of other collections. Its intention is
not just to collect patterns that are applied in existing games,
but to maybe even uncover, describe and name unknown and
never before used patterns that could be implemented in future
generations of location-based games. For this reason, the
collection process was not researching a selection of existing
games. Instead I chose a proven game model as starting point
for the analysis, the player model of
The geogame model allows for a multitude of different relations between the game entities it defines, such as topological, Euclidean and also independencies between entity states. The possible outcomes are too numerous to be all covered in a first exploration/collection process. Therefore, further restrictions were imposed. Patterns should initially only refer to the relation between the two most important entities. These are:
Players: The most essential element of every game. In the case of location-based games, players move through their geographic environment while trying to win the game by executing given game actions. In this process players experience their environment. The knowledge about this environment is enriched by data displayed on devices – in most cases smartphones or tablets – running the game application, displaying a map that visualizes entities relevant for the player.
Places: A finite set of (immobile) areas of interest in the geographic environment. Game actions are often bound to corresponding places and a player can only execute them if he/she is located there.
Every game application has to contain an implementation of its relevant game mechanics and has to be able to decide over the outcome of this game. Hence, virtual representations of relevant game entities have to be stored. Location-based games also require the software to have a GIS component that handles the position and geometries of mentioned entities. In almost any location-based game, players are reduced to simple point objects. In the case of places, the respective GIS objects are chosen depending on game mechanic use cases. Sometimes it is sufficient to store the place as a point (point of interest). If the game mechanic needs to calculate exactly whether the player is located inside a specific region, this place (region of interest) has to be linked to a polygon geometry.
Game design patterns that will be explored in this work specifically refer to the virtual representations (PoI, RoI) of involved game entities. These representations are also used when the game decides on the outcome of a game action. Therefore, they play a central role in the balancing of game mechanics. Area of focus of the patterns will be the player. Differentiating between the geometry types for places and the specification that places cannot act on themselves, three couples of entities can be identified: Player – PoI Player – RoI Player – Player The game patterns will describe relations between the entities of each couple that belonging to the perception of the player, that can also be applied to the geometries of the entities. Two fundamental relations provide the basis for the pattern exploration procedure:
Equals/Contains: Relates to the position of the geometries
and indicates whether a player is located directly at a place or
shares his/her location with another player. Small differences
in the position can be neglected depending on the respective
application. This subsection of the region connection calculus
(RCC)
Line of Sight (LoS): Indicates whether a line of sight between the player and other entity exists. The line of sight may be blocked by the environment the player is moving through. Any kind of entity state changes are ignored. 2.1
For a first pattern listing, each pattern will be defined by a change of the connection between an entities couple. Both relations can be observed separately or in interpendence with each other by building the Cartesian product of each relation and its negation. In the latter case not all combinations are possible because a LoS is automatically in existence if the equals/contains link is evaluated to be true. In table 1 all of the 45 different relations between the entity couples are listed. Each entry represents a game design pattern and was given a name. Some of the pairing’s patterns offer a lot of similarities. This is also shows in the pattern names, which in some cases read exactly the same because identical game mechanics are applied to different kind of game entities.
¬EQ EQ ¬ EQ EQ ¬LoS
LoS ¬EQ, ¬LoS ¬EQ, LoS
EQ
EQ ¬EQ, ¬LoS ¬EQ, LoS ¬EQ, ¬LoS ¬EQ, LoS The following short description for one of the listed patterns will serve as an example for an entry as it will be found in the pattern library. Whenever possible, pattern names as well as pattern descriptions will be given from the perspective of the player. Pattern title: Search and enter
Explanation: The players goal is to enter the RoI geometry. At the beginning, the player has no line of sight to the RoI. The player may, however, have knowledge about the location of the RoI via textual description or any kind visualization of the RoI. The player moves through his/her geographic environment in search for it. The pattern is terminated once the player has entered the geometry defined by the RoI.
Sibling patterns: Search and go to, Search and meet Technical details and a detailed walkthrough of the simulation framework created especially for the exploration of said patterns will be omitted. These will be explored in a follow-up work. Nevertheless, a short description will be given to explain the advantages over established agent-based simulation frameworks.
The simulation framework is based on a heavily modified
version of the agent-based simulation framework MESA1
Discussion and Outlook This paper presents a small selection of location-based game design patterns. In the future the library of game design patterns is going to be extended. Moreover, it will be easily applicable to wide variety of game design problems due to its usage of an abstract game model. Usage and implementation of the described patterns is facilitated by their formal description.
The simulation of these patterns via a web based simulation framework already works flawlessly. Being able to set up selfchosen configurations in all kinds of geographic environments, without the need for any kind of special hardware seems like a promising approach for designers of location-based games and applications. With this kind of simulation framework – usable on any portable device – users are able to create and simulate pattern configurations for site specific game mechanics, while being on-site and making themselves familiar with the environment. Users can easily share simulations with others via a hyperlink. This will further improve communication about problems or benefits of applying game design patterns to certain conditions.
A next topic to explore are the combinations and interactions between different patterns. Computational tools will be added on top of the existing simulation routines. This will help designers with the task of balancing game mechanics for specific spatial environments.