This paper presents a study based on research through design, exploring the potentials of the intersection between human play, forests, and technology. Building on the existing literature on urban games, we introduce the idea of sylvan games which focus on deepening the relations between players and natural spaces. We designed two different games, Sensor Hunt and Pathmaker, focusing on different dimensions of navigation and technologies. Fourteen participants played the games while quantitative and qualitative data was collected using pre and post gameplay surveys, open questions, and drawings. A hybrid thematic analysis approach was employed to analyse the data and four themes were identified: the game, the technologies, the forest, and the participants' emotions. The emotional influences of the games were further explored using PANAS and text analysis. We discuss these results and suggest a list of design considerations for future sylvan games based on our findings. Gamification, forest games, sustainability, location-based games, play in the wild
The human relationship with nature is the epicentre of many of the societal challenges of our time, a key component in the struggle for building sustainable societies and in the efforts to promote human well-being. Within this context the UNITE project explores novel ways to help humans relate, preserve, and interact with natural spaces, and in particular forests. As part of this project, we present a pilot study exploring the design possibilities at the intersection between humans, technology, and nature. This pilot consists of two simple games designed to explore the potential of playful human-machine-forest interactions.
This study employs research-through-design
(RtD) [
2023 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative
[
Urban play has been a key research area within
games-studies [
There is an underexplored design space, therefore, for games focusing on the relationship between natural spaces, technology, and human play. In this study we decided to focus on forestry space and to explore it by developing sylvan games. 3.2.
Sylvan games differ from urban games
because of the spatiality they face: while urban
games happen in a strongly striated space (i.e.,
strictly structured environment [
In our game design, we decided to focus on the
use of sensors in forests and on exploring play
potentials [
We designed two games for forest spaces using
different kinds of sensors. These are prototypes
for more complex and carefully designed future
sylvan games. For accessibility, we opted for
cheap sensors that are easy to program and deploy
(MicroBit 2.0), or sensors already in possession of
the players (GPS tracking in smartphones) in
combination with free applications. We used the
games to focus on two key issues concerning
navigation: wayfinding [
The games were tested in a 3-day retreat in the “Uniikki lomapaikka” mökki in Jämsä, Finland with members of the Gamification Group, including the authors. The games could be played at any time, with instructions given to the group verbally and in print. Both games could be played alone or in groups, and required the use of technology (smartphone) while going out in nature.
Sensor Hunt (SH) focused on wayfinding and using a heat sensor. Players were provided with approximative coordinates to a nearby woodland location where a slightly personified temperature sensor called “Sauron” because of the red eye on its display (Fig.1) was “hidden” (Fig. 2). Participants had to find it and record the temperature it displayed. The player that would record the highest temperature in the 3 days would win. This entailed that participants might revisit the sensor to increase their winning chances.
Pathmaker (PM) focused on pathmaking and GPS. Players were instructed to download a free app called “My Track” which uses GPS to record their path on a map. The goal of the game was to use it to produce a word or a drawing by walking in the forest. There were no winning conditions
Both games were played in Spring 2022, in
Finland, during relatively sunny days. Participants
were almost the same for both games, 8 for SH (5
male, 2 non-binary, 1 female) and 6 for PM (4 m,
1 nb, 1 f), mean age 32.57 (26-38). To assess their
experience, all participants were asked to
complete the PANAS 10-item questionnaire [
Following we present the data collected and propose an analysis leading to design considerations for creating sylvan games. 4.1.
The data collected consist of text and drawings
and has been analysed through a hybrid thematic
analysis approach [
Accordingly with best practices, our analysis was articulated in 6 steps: 1) Initial data familiarisation; 2) Preliminary coding scheme based on observations; 3) To ensure reliability of the codes, both authors coded all data independently and formed two lists of possible themes; 4) Compared results and resolved conflicts through discussion, clarifying definitions of inconsistent codes and adding new codes; 5) Both authors coded the entire data using the improved themes. 6) Produced a report containing our observations based on the themes constructed. Our analysis identified four themes relating to different elements involved in the experience: the game, the technologies, the forest, and the emotions and self of the participants. Each theme is then articulated with several subthemes.
Relation Navigation Temporal factors Accessibility Anxiety & Dangers Animals met Animals imagined
Negative Expectation Changes in perception Reflection Text Map Drawing Comic Word-art
Humor 4.1.1. Game
The first theme focuses on what the players expressed regarding ludic aspects. Many players reported their opinions about gameplay, especially expressing difficulties they encountered (12 times), or the ease to accomplish tasks (6). Difficulty was often associated with challenges related to technology or the environment. Interestingly, players referred to the same situations in different ways, either because of perception of the space or atmospheric factors. P4: “There were many trees around the sensor, so it took time to find it”.
P6 “It was easy to find the sensor, because it was shiny bright at night.”
Another subtheme was the strategy players adopted. One of the key elements that emerged was the use of ingenious solutions (5 occurrences) including using body heat to achieve a higher temperature (SH), looking for shortcuts, and exploiting GPS drift (PM).
P3 “I used my body to heat up the sensor for a higher number”
Several players set up their own objectives, especially in PM, which had no clear goals. Players decided what to draw or what style to adopt (a tree, a spiral, a circle, inorganic shapes contrasting the forest…), and some connected gameplay to other objectives, such as supporting a running routine or preserving memories. P12 “it is good to record the trip in the forest and save it as a souvenir ”
Other themes related to strategic thinking were evident by behavioural flexibility (players adapting their strategy to, e.g., the terrain or mistakes they made) and reflections on learning through practice (P10 mentions “mastering the tool” in PM).
Many players made use of additional forms of entertainment while playing, including music, drinking alcoholic beverages, working-out, exploring the forest, and even instances of pretend play that accompanied, and enhanced, their playful experience.
P13 “I listened to good music and walked in beautiful nature.”
P14 “I had a go-pro and I was talking to it.” These additional layers of play were more present in the free-form PM, but several were also mentioned for SH (notably music and drinks). Finally, players reported their social relations with other players. Two cooperated in SH, going to look for the sensor late at night, and two others mentioned spotting other players and having to wait for them to leave. Competition emerged only hypothetically in one of the responses about SH:
P3 “I think if I was more incentivized by competition (I am not) I would try to learn everybody else’s numbers to calculate if I need to go back.”
The second theme focuses on the relations between players and technology. Most players reported using or interacting with sensors in different ways. Many used them for navigation with Google Maps being abundantly mentioned for SH and MyTrack for PM. Only one player mentioned the use of MyTrack to record and conserve the path, others focused instead on the act of drawing with it. Several players reported their interactions with “Sauron” when finding the sensor, operating it and, in two cases, warming it up. Other tech was also mentioned by several players, including: Flashlight, Phone (video, pictures), GoPro, and Smart Watch.
P6 “We used a phone (navigation), a flashlight and a glass of gin-tonic.”
Finally, players mentioned several technological challenges while playing the games, notably: GPS accuracy (P5 “It did not point me first to exactly the right place”), misrepresentation of their path in MyTrack (P9 “it made an ugly line that did not even show up in the final drawing”) and difficulties in operating (P5 “Filming and clicking without shaking the thing (sensor) was annoyingly hard”). Technical challenges were generally associated with playing difficulties and often generated negative emotions. 4.1.3. Forest
A This theme is related to the natural environment of the game. Most players described different kinds of engagement they experienced with the woodland. Their personal relations with the environment were the most cited (15 times), including both positive and negative perceptions. Some players mentioned their relationship changed because of the game.
P8 “I did feel a positive familiarity when I returned.”
P4 “I had too much expectation about this experience so when the experience failed to meet my high expectation, that caused some negative emotions, which reflect on the area [sic] of the forest (my relationship with the place).”
Several (7) descriptions of the environment were presented, generally mentioning the presence of many trees, wet moss, and pathways.
P1 “There is no path towards it, so you need to walk between trees, between the trees on the soft soil covered with moss.”
The role of the environment in navigation also emerged strongly (6) with a strong focus on a carroad passing through the forest, and on existing paths:
P1 “I am glad it was not too far away from the road”
P2 “I liked that it was not on this road, but I had to explore a bit”
Interestingly, no other environmental elements emerged as landmarks in the players responses. Temporal effects were also mentioned twice, by players that played at night and indicated darkness as part of their experience. Two players mentioned the possible presence of animals, but never actual encounters. This possibility was always considered threatening:
P1 “I immediately imagined snakes under my feet. The most unpleasant experience was when I (...) touched sticks because they are home for ticks and mites.” agreed on a total of 10 negative expressions, and 28 positive ones.
Emotional influences were also explored using
a quantitative comparison using PANAS [
Additionally, some players voiced their expectations, especially when not met, regarding the game or their own performance:
P9 “I did not know whether I should blame it or myself when the drawing did not go as expected.”
Players also mentioned forest challenges, both related to accessibility in relation to wet soil and to possible dangers.
Others reported playing helped them obtain a new perspective on the technology or the environment.
P9 “I was attentive of the ground not to hurt myself” 4.1.4. Forest
The final theme focuses on the players, and in particular on their emotions and self-reflections. Players expressed both positive (niceness, familiarity, enjoyment, happiness, fun, excitement, inspiration, comfort, soothingness, safety, activity, amazement, pride, awe, generic “good” feelings) and negative (annoyance, fear, disappointment, stress, pressure, dislike, unpleasantness, and frustration) emotions. Positive emotions were often connected to playful activities and to natural spaces. Negative emotions were often connected to technological or natural challenges and possible dangers. As part of the analysis, both authors individually marked all expressions of emotions indicating clear negative or positive valence through all reports. Then the authors compared notes and P 11 “It made me map the environment/ reflect on GPS +phone (how it works/ways) to exploit it)different context than “normal” google maps/GPS use!”
P 13 “Helped me obtain a new perspective.” Some players also shared their reflections during the playful activity:
P11 “I reflected on inorganic shapes and tried to create non-foresty shapes”
P12 “I was thinking about the beauty of nature, magic of nature”
Lastly, our analysis individuated several different forms of expression the players adopted to express their experience. In particular: written text (majority of answers), maps (5), drawings (7), use of humour (5), one comic and one “word-art” (reading “DARK”). We found the use of such creative forms highly relevant, but their analysis will be the object of another study.
The analysis of the data collected by the players prompted a discussion between the game designers, which led to several design considerations. These considerations can be the base for future projects involving both the creation of sylvan games and the study of forest design space. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, the following considerations are preliminary steps, illustrating possible resources for future designs and refinement.
● While the PANAS test did not produce any significant result in the emotional state of participants before or after the game, the players' answers report many strong emotional responses, possibly confined during the game experience. This suggests the potential of sylvan games to provide visceral experiences to players.
● The emotions reported by the players,
while often positive, varied greatly. The strong
dislike and fear of forest spaces from some of the
participants suggests that different layers will
respond in significantly different ways to games
that take place in woodland. Designers can
cautiously use this as a resource, realising games
that aim to invoke different emotional responses,
including fear and discomfort, that can still be
appreciated by players [
● From the responses, it appears that spatial navigation relied heavily on different technological means and the only spatial features players used to navigate were human-made (roads, paths). Similarly, fauna was mentioned only as an imagined possible threat. While this might be due to the types of players involved (urbanites without a deep knowledge of the flora and fauna) it also indicates a possible design direction: games that require a more close engagement with the natural space. Offering natural landmarks alongside coordinates in the game instructions, for example, might increase the connection with nature and even present learning occasions (e.g. if players need to spot an Oak tree near certain coordinates, they will have to first learn its features).
● Many players reported encountering natural challenges, often related to the difficulty of reaching a specific location due to obstacles or moistness of the terrain. While urban games cater for a space that is generally stable, sylvan games happen in continuously changing environments. A couple of days of rain, a coat of snow, or a wet season could significantly alter the accessibility of several locations. Sylvan game designers must keep this in consideration, both as a limitation, but also as a possible resource for seasonal or otherwise situation-dependent opportunities.
● Players also reported frustration towards malfunctioning inaccuracies of the technologies used, especially the GPS. While malfunctions can hinder enjoyment, we also argue that inaccuracy could be used as a resource to indicate the “offthe-grid” nature characterising sylvan games. Inaccurate GPS might require longer searching to find specific coordinates, or longer paths to be able to draw some specific shape in PM. This increased need of time or distance is metaphorically well connected with the features of natural spaces, which are more rarefied than urban spaces.
In conclusion, our preliminary and exploratory study was able to inspire several design implications that can help guide the development of sylvan games as an area of design and research. The current study is limited in scope, as it included a restricted number of participants and two relatively simple games. Additional data including psychophysiological measures during play (Empatica), and maps realised by the players were collected and will be explored in future studies aiming to establish a more concrete framework for safe and influential sylvan games.
This work was supported by the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme (337653 ForestHuman-Machine Interplay (UNITE). 7. References