=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3669/paper9
|storemode=property
|title=Designing and implementing a global multilingual real-time location-based game as a novel highly gamified spatial crowdsourcing platform
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3669/paper9.pdf
|volume=Vol-3669
|authors=Manuel Baer
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/gamifin/Baer24
}}
==Designing and implementing a global multilingual real-time location-based game as a novel highly gamified spatial crowdsourcing platform==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3669/paper9.pdf
Designing and implementing a global multilingual
real-time location-based game as a novel highly
gamified spatial crowdsourcing platform
Manuel F. Baera
a
Centre for eResearch, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract
Spatial crowdsourcing and other participatory methods of high-quality spatial data generation are
increasingly popular in academic research. However, participatory approaches face issues of user motivation
and retention. Gamification has been identified as a valuable approach towards increasing user motivation,
engagement and retention by offering an entertaining experience. This paper presents a case study of
the literature-based development and implementation of Arcane Shift, a novel globally available location-
based game as a highly gamified spatial crowdsourcing platform. In particular, this paper focuses on
the first three activities (problem identification, problem definition and application development) of
the Design Science Research Methodology and how the implementation was guided by the established
Gamification Framework for Volunteered Geographic Information and the Mechanics, Dynamics and
Aesthetics Framework. Internal testing revealed the game to be enjoyable, albeit in need of further content.
Four concrete implementation recommendations and considerations (develop for testing, incorporate
caching, build for longevity and spatial is special) were gleaned from the development process and are
presented as a methodological contribution to the design and development of location-based games and
spatial crowdsourcing platforms. Finally, a list of future research agendas is provided including urban
data generation, educational content delivery and motivating physical activity.
Keywords
Design science research; mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics framework, gamification framework for volun-
teered geographic information; spatial crowdsourcing; gamification; location-based game
1. Introduction initiatives (e.g. [13, 14, 15, 16]) and has shown
to successfully motivate users to participate
Participatory approaches to generating spa- [9, 17]. However, many gamification efforts in
tial data for academic research have enjoyed a academic crowdsourcing have implemented a
surge in popularity over the past two decades limited number of gamified elements such as
[1, 2, 3, 4]. In particular, spatial crowdsourcing points, badges and leaderboards [18, 17] whilst
approaches have shown immense potential in highly gamified applications such as location-
generating rich high-quality spatial information based games remain rare.
about our environments for comparatively low Meanwhile, commercial location-based games
financial investments [5, 6, 7, 2]. However, a such as Ingress1 and Pokémon GO2 have moti-
limiting factor of crowdsourcing approaches, vated millions of users [19, 20, 21] to contribute
and participatory approaches in general, is data on unprecedented scales [22, 23]. Location-
user motivation and retention [8, 9, 10, 11]. based games offer playful virtual interactions
A maturing approach to increasing user en- according to the real-world coordinates of a
gagement, retention and satisfaction in crowd- respective user [24, 21] and are predominantly
sourcing tasks is gamifying the participatory played in urban areas [25, 24] (showing spa-
process. Gamification, summarised as “hedonic tial biases towards wealthier neighbourhoods
or entertainment-oriented technologies being re- [26, 19]).
appropriated for productive use” [12, p. 191], Skillfully balancing entertainment and spa-
has been applied to a number of crowdsourcing tial crowdsourcing tasks has seen success in a
handful of academic studies [cf. 27, 13, 16], and
8th International GamiFIN Conference 2024 (GamiFIN seeing the great potential of using more ludic
2024), April 2-5, 2024, Ruka, Finland. applications such as location-based games to
$ manuel.baer@auckland.ac.nz (M. F. Baer) motivate users to contribute data towards scien-
0000-0002-9474-3299 (M. F. Baer)
© 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Use permitted under Creative Commons Li- 1
cense Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY https://www.ingress.com/ (accessed: 19.11.2023)
4.0). 2
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19.11.2023)
http://ceur-ws.org
Workshop ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
(CEUR-WS.org)
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Workshop ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
88
tific crowdsourcing efforts, this paper presents of the data used to understand the status quo
the design, development and implementation of our environment are produced by sensors,
of a globally available, modular, multilingual through computational algorithms or reported
real-time location-based game as an underlying by specific demographic groups. Temperature
crowdsourcing platform. Specifically, this pa- and pollution readings are captured by fixed
per aims to make a theoretical contribution to measuring stations [38] or through remote sens-
the design and implementation of entertaining ing [39], walkability analyses of urban and resi-
spatial crowdsourcing platforms by presenting dential areas focus on tangible variables of the
the case study of Arcane Shift, a location-based built environment disregarding individual per-
game as a spatial crowdsourcing platform. This ceptions [40], and city planning is only now
paper is particularly interested in how we can gravitating from top-down approaches towards
design and implement a highly gamified spatial the inclusion of local citizens [41, 42].
crowdsourcing platform in the form of a glob-
ally accessible location-based game by focusing 2.1. Spatial crowdsourcing and
on the following research questions:
participatory data collection
• What are the key underlying game fea-
Contrasting more automated spatial data col-
ture requirements to develop a highly
lection approaches are initiatives that include
gamified spatial crowdsourcing platform
non-expert users in spatial crowdsourcing tasks.
and how do these map onto established
Many approaches exist concerning the collec-
implementation frameworks?
tion of spatial information contributed by non-
• How can underlying crowdsourcing func-
experts including volunteered geographic infor-
tionalities be complemented with enter-
mation [5] where individuals voluntarily make
taining game features offering global real-
some form of spatial data available [1] and pub-
time gameplay?
lic participation geographic information systems
• What are key considerations and recom-
(PPGIS) [43] where individuals contribute data
mendations for developing spatial crowd-
through a participatory mapping effort. An
sourcing platforms and location-based
umbrella term for many participatory (spatial)
games?
data collection approaches is crowdsourcing
In the following, I introduce relevant previous [1, 3, 4], “a type of participative online activ-
work as well as the topical background before ity in which an individual, an institution, a
diving into the specifics of the underlying sys- non-profit organization, or company proposes
tems and how individual features were designed to a group of individuals of varying knowledge,
and implemented. The final sections of the pa- heterogeneity, and number, via a flexible open
per culminate in discussing the implemented call, the voluntary undertaking of a task“ [44, p.
location-based game in light of the literature, 197]. This participatory approach can broadly
presenting key lessons learnt during the design, be split into two categories: (1) active crowd-
development and implementation processes as sourcing where data is actively contributed for
a theoretical contribution to the design of gam- a specific task or question as part of a data
ified spatial crowdsourcing platforms. Finally, collection effort (e.g. open street map (OSM)3 ),
this paper presents further recommendations and (2) passive crowdsourcing where data is
and propositions as well as future avenues of contributed for another intention than what it
research. is ultimately used for (e.g. social media data)
[1].
Spatial crowdsourcing initiatives have been
2. Previous work found to produce high-quality data at a frac-
tion of the cost of more traditional expert-
Multiple studies showcase the direct influence based approaches [1] and have been found to
our surroundings have on our social, mental complement more technocratic and top-down
and physical well-being [28, 29, 30]. Examples approaches to data collection (e.g. through
range from street design increasing perceived sensory networks and remote sensing) by pro-
safety [31, 32], over particular areas offering viding novel insights into more subtle dimen-
tranquillity [33, 34] boosting mental well-being sions of human perception [cf. 45, 46, 33, 34].
[35, 36], to public transportation networks in-
creasing physical activity [37] whilst reducing 3
https://www.openstreetmap.org/ (accessed:
personal motorised vehicles. However, much 19.11.2023)
89
This can lead to a more holistic understand- ified urban data crowdsourcing effort and Fo-
ing of emergent spatial issues such as urbani- toQuest Austria [13] as well as StarBorn [16],
sation, sustainability and well-being, making entertaining approaches to collecting landcover
spatial crowdsourcing an invaluable data gen- information.
eration approach. Whilst successful large-scale Location-based games are entertaining ap-
spatial crowdsourcing efforts in academia re- plications, commonly played on devices with
main scarce, non-academic entities have identi- location tracking features such as a global po-
fied the value of location-based user-generated sitioning system, where a player’s in-game po-
content and boast several successful applica- sition reflects their real-world coordinates [24].
tions. Examples include the location-based Players navigate the virtual game world by
games Ingress and Pokémon GO crowdsourcing changing their real-world position and in-game
the collection of culturally significant objects interactions are dependent on the real-world
through their Wayfarer system [23], Google position of a user and their proximity to virtual
Maps collecting vast amounts of user-generated objects. As such, location-based games offer
spatial information such as points of interest a particularly interesting platform to collect
[47] and Waze focussing on mobility-related geospatial data from a heterogeneous group of
data such as real-time traffic updates [17]. De- users. Pokémon GO and Ingress are highly
spite having large repositories of spatial data, popular commercial location-based games [21]
these are not easily accessible, nor are these shadowing other approaches in terms of user
systems customisable to specific scientific data engagement, successfully motivating hundreds
needs, and thus new academic initiatives are of millions of users to engage with the appli-
called for. cation and contribute rich spatial information
A shift towards more bottom-up approaches [22, 23]. This begs the question: can a location-
to data collection in academic spatial research based game be implemented to crowdsource
encourages a reformulation of traditional re- heterogeneous spatial information for research
search agendas and has raised some underlying purposes?
methodological questions about how we can ef-
fectively include citizens in science and how we 2.3. Design science research and
can motivate long-term engagement. However,
questions of user motivation and user retention
relevant frameworks
arise [10, 11], especially when competing with Application development and implementation
an onslaught of entertainment and otherwise processes concerning the construction of infor-
available playful activities. mation systems as problem solutions to con-
crete issues can be grounded in design science
2.2. Gamified crowdsourcing and research [48, 49, 50, 51] which "seeks to enhance
technology and science knowledge bases via the
location-based games
creation of innovative artifacts that solve prob-
A recent development sees the emergence of lems and improve the environment in which
crowdsourcing efforts capitalising on entertain- they are instantiated" [51, p. 1], or more gener-
ing features through gamification [9]. Gami- ally "the construction and evaluation of generic
fication can be summarised as “a process of means–ends relations" [50, p. 470]. One widely
enhancing services with (motivational) affor- used and well-established framework is the De-
dances in order to invoke gameful experiences sign Science Research Methodology presented
and further behavioral outcomes” [18, p. 3026]. by [49], dividing the overall goal of develop-
Gamification shows great potential in generat- ing and evaluating an application aiming to
ing crowdsourced urban data and complement- address a specific problem statement into six
ing geospatial crowdsourcing more generally distinct activities (for a detailed discussion, see
[9, 2]. In the context of crowdsourcing, gami- [49]):
fication has successfully been incorporated in
1. Identifying concrete research problems
a number of academic studies as a means of
as well as justifying the importance of
increasing user motivation (for an overview,
the proposed solutions
see [9]), albeit commonly implementing sim-
2. Defining specific objectives and require-
ple competitive features such as points and
ments of the envisioned solutions
leaderboards. More gamified geospatial crowd-
sourcing efforts include Urbanopoly [27], a gam- 3. Designing and implementing the applica-
tion or artefact
90
4. Demonstrating the implemented applica- makes the Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthet-
tion’s or artefact’s ability to address the ics framework particularly interesting in terms
identified problems of gamified application design is the emphasis
5. Evaluating the application’s or artefact’s on taking both the developers as well as the
ability to address the identified problems user’s perspectives into consideration, allow-
6. Communicating the initial problem state- ing for a more holistic approach to application
ments, the implemented application or design.
artefact and the design process as well Drilling down to specific frameworks regard-
as the evaluation to a heterogeneous au- ing the gamification of geospatial information
dience collection, the Gamification Framework for Vol-
unteered Geographic Information aims at bridg-
Whilst offering a stable foundation to con- ing the divide between geospatial crowdsourc-
duct research relating to application design ing applications and their gamified equivalent
and offering clearly defined overarching activi- by mapping the terminology between the two
ties, it makes sense to complement the Design domains [53]. When translating from a na-
Science Research Methodology with additional tive volunteered geographic information ap-
more specific frameworks when developing a plication to a gamified implementation, users
specific application. To build a globally avail- become players, the map transforms into the
able, modular, multilingual crowdsourcing plat- game board, geo-data is used to generate virtual
form as a location-based game, further estab- goods and tasks translate to challenges. Addi-
lished frameworks exist to ground specific de- tional gamification elements aim at increasing
velopment decisions in theory and guide the collaboration and/or competition and include
implementation. Two established frameworks leaderboards, social elements such as friends
with increasing topic specificity include the Me- lists, votes as well as levels, points, badges and
chanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics Framework [52] bonuses as typical rewards.
concerning general gamified applications and This paper delves particularly into the first
the Gamification Framework for Volunteered three activities of the design science research
Geographic Information [53] which focuses on approach. After having identified the concrete
volunteered geographic information, albeit ap- research problem of increasing user motivation
plicable to geospatial crowdsourcing efforts in and retention in spatial crowdsourcing in the
general. introduction and background sections (activity
A framework seeing widespread adoption in 1), in the following I focus on defining specific
both designing [15] as well as analysing [54] objectives and requirements of a solution (ac-
games and gamified applications is the Me- tivity 2) and shed particular light on how the
chanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics framework Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics frame-
[52] which segregates an application into three work as well as the Gamification Framework
underlying categories. Firstly, the aesthetics for Volunteered Geographic Information were
of an application is what the user directly ex- used to develop and implement the application
periences and what invokes a user’s emotional Arcane Shift (activity 3).
response towards specific parts of the appli-
cation (e.g. the design of the user interface).
An application’s aesthetics are of particular 3. Design and implementation
importance and can further be subdivided into
eight categories: sensation, fantasy, narrative, The location-based game named Arcane Shift
challenge, fellowship, discovery, expression, and aims to combine various game elements into
submission. Secondly, the dynamics represent an entertaining crowdsourcing experience. In
the systems that influence or are influenced a first step, and using the two aforementioned
by a player’s interaction with the application frameworks, a list of envisioned features was
and which result in specific behavioural out- created to guide the development. Firstly, the
comes (e.g. a button that opens a specific overarching theme of the application was set
screen affording new interactions within the as a synthwave-inspired sci-fi experience where
application). Lastly, the underlying algorithms users would captain a futuristic spacecraft. Set-
and data structures are summarised within the ting the theme allowed for individual game
mechanics of an application and build the back- features to be designed around said theme.
bone of the gamified system (e.g. the database To allow for persistent player data as well as
in which application data is stored). What to collect basic demographic information from
91
the participants, crucial data in active crowd- collected basic ores that were procedurally gen-
sourcing platforms, a registration system and erated depending on the underlying real-world
onboarding system were needed. Seeing the land cover of an area (Figure 1 G). Users could
location-based nature of the application, an un- either combine specific combinations of ores
derlying spatial system was needed to allow the into new materials increasing their value or sell
generation and visualisation of location-based ores for gold rewards. Gold could then be used
content, a common feature of location-based to construct buildings for their team (Figure
games [24, 21, 23]. Tying into the spatial sys- 1 D) or to buy other ores. If a user’s ship had
tem of the location-based game, the application enough energy (Figure 1 I ), enemy buildings
required a number of spatial content systems (Figure 1 E) could be attacked (Figure 1 F )
(e.g. resource system, building system) to al- and destroyed freeing up an area for friendly
low for the persistence and correct placement buildings. Further, users could accept and com-
of in-game content such as items and struc- plete a variety of quests (individual crowdsourc-
tures. To introduce a form of progression and ing tasks) from survey drones (Figure 1 B) or
to reward the user for in-game activities, a their quest log (Figure 1 J ). Many in-game
level system was required which is commonly activities such as completing quests, collecting
found in gamified applications [53, 12]. Seeing resources, forging items and building friendly
the application focuses on spatial crowdsourc- or destroying enemy buildings rewarded experi-
ing, a questing system was needed allowing ence points (Figure 1 I ). Leaderboards showed
the integration of a variety of crowdsourcing the top-performing users and an activity log
tasks. Primarily, the application should allow (Figure 1 L) displayed a user’s past actions
users to upload location-specific content such as well as the enemy users who attacked their
as location-based natural language reports and buildings. By limiting a player’s view to a fixed
ratings, commonly collected variables in spatial distance (approximately a radius of 1km) the
crowdsourcing. To foster motivation and incen- game aimed to engage the users’ inquisitive
tivise continued engagement with the platform, nature and hoped to motivate users to explore
the application was in need of entertaining sys- their surroundings.
tems offering a variety of in-game activities. In First user feedback revealed the core game
line with the overarching theme of the applica- loop to be interesting, albeit lacking content to
tion, a ship upgrade system, an attack system motivate long-term engagement. As such level-
and a forge system were envisioned. Having dependent unlockable content was introduced.
unlockable and upgradable in-game items offers Thereafter, users could additionally spend gold
a form of progression and positively affects a on unlocking various spacecraft component up-
user’s motivation [53, 12]. Attackable in-game grades such as energy generators (e.g. increas-
structures increase an application’s competitive ing energy regeneration rate), tractor beams
elements, which have been found to positively (e.g. increasing number of simultaneous ore
affect user engagement [17] and allowing users collections) and weapons (e.g. increasing dam-
to forge new items offers a form of discovery age). Gold could also be spent on unlocking
and a collaborative element, increasing the like- and constructing improved buildings for the
lihood that the application is recommended user’s team such as forges with reduced forge
[17]. Lastly, an alert system was deemed nec- times or markets with increasingly discounted
essary to inform users of important in-game prices. An overview of the current core game
activities. loop is presented in Figure 2.
These envisioned features of the application In the following, I first present the infrastruc-
were mapped to the broader categories of the ture with which the application was built before
two aforementioned frameworks helping to struc- introducing core features as well as discussing
ture the development and guide the implemen- the implemented systems.
tation. Table 1 shows the implemented features
of the location-based game and the correspond- 3.2. Infrastructure and core systems
ing categories of the frameworks.
The location-based game was built from scratch
in the Unity4 game engine (version: 2022.2).
3.1. The core game loop
Within the location-based game, users captain
a futuristic spacecraft (Figure 1 H ) and initially
4
https://unity.com/ (accessed: 10.01.2024)
92
Table 1
Features of the implemented location-based game and how they map to the Gamification Framework for
Volunteered Geographic Information and the Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics Framework
Game Feature Gamification Frame- Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics Framework
work for Volunteered
Geographic Informa-
tion
registration user / player aesthetics: narrative, fantasy; dynamics: registra-
and onboard- tion form, email confirmation, demographic infor-
ing mation report, character selection, team selection;
mechanics unity game code, firebase authentica-
tion, firestore database
spatial system map / gameboard aesthetics: discovery; dynamics: providing and
translating coordinates, downloading, caching and
displaying map tiles; mechanics: unity game code,
MapBox tile server
level system challenges, levels aesthetics: challenge dynamics: increasing levels
unlocks various in-game items mechanics: unity
game code, firestore database
ship system virtual goods, chal- aesthetics: fantasy, narrative, challenge, discovery;
lenges, levels dynamics: ship components can be unlocked and
equipped changing the behaviour of a user’s ship;
mechanics: unity game code, firestore database
quest system tasks / challenges, geo- aesthetics: challenge, discovery, expression; dy-
data namics: quests can be accepted and submitted,
submitting quests rewards the user; mechanics:
unity game code, firestore database
resource sys- virtual goods, chal- aesthetics: fantasy, narrative, challenge, discovery;
tem lenges dynamics: spawning resources depend on the real-
world landcover in the spawn location, resources
can be collected and forged into new resources,
collecting resources rewards experience points, re-
sources can be bought and sold; mechanics: unity
game code, firestore database
forge system virtual goods, chal- aesthetics: sensation, challenge, discovery; dy-
lenges namics: forging allows new items to be discov-
ered increasing their value, forging rewards experi-
ence points; mechanics: unity game code, firestore
database
building system gameboard, social ele- aesthetics: fantasy, challenge, fellowship, expres-
ment sion; dynamics: buildings can be built and inter-
acted with by users on the same team. Enemy
buildings can be attacked and destroyed; mechan-
ics: unity game code, firestore database
attack system gameboard, points, lev- aesthetics: sensation, fantasy, challenge, fellow-
els, challenges ship, discovery; dynamics: in-game buildings of the
enemy team can be attacked and the attack dam-
age depends on a user’s ship’s weapon, destroying
a building rewards experience points; mechanics:
unity game code, firestore database
activity alerts social element aesthetics: discovery, fellowship, challenge; dynam-
ics: alerts of important in-game activities; mechan-
ics: unity game code, firestore database
Google Firebase5 and Firestore6 , massively scal- able NoSQL database solutions, were intro-
5
https://firebase.google.com/ (accessed:
duced to provide authentication and storage for
10.01.2024) the application. Leveraging Firestore’s event
6
https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore (ac- functionality I introduced real-time gameplay
cessed: 10.01.2024)
93
Figure 2: Schematic representation of the current
core game loop of the location-based game
3.2.1. Data downloading and caching
In a first iteration, all game data was stored on
the user’s device, however, to allow for rapid de-
velopment and balancing during testing, game
content must remain updatable allowing for
small tweaks according to user feedback (e.g.
weapon damage). Seeing the uneven cover-
age of mobile broadband internet, especially
in rural areas [55], and to limit needed mo-
Figure 1: The main game screen. (A) settings; (B) bile data, specific game content is cached on
location-based quest / spatial crowdsourcing task; (C) a user’s device. A caching pipeline was im-
stylised base map; (D) friendly building; (E) enemy
plemented where content is initially stored on
building; (F) weapon charging and weapon projectile;
a server and is only (re)downloaded from the
(G) procedurally generated ores; (H) user’s spacecraft;
(I) ship energy generator and user experience point server if the content is not found in the user’s
indicator bars; (J) quest log; (K) ship menu; (L) in- persistent data cache or if the content has been
game alerts updated on the server. The downloaded con-
tent is then stored in a persistent cache on the
user’s device as well as in memory, allowing fu-
through subscribing to database document events ture access to up-to-date data without needing
and acting accordingly. In other words, updat- to (re)download the content (cf. Figure 3).
ing a document in the database triggers an
update event, which in turn triggers all listen- 3.2.2. Application environments
ing devices to call a respective method. This At the start of the development process, a sin-
event-based approach allows for chosen in-game gle environment was used for development and
actions to be propagated to all connected user testing. However, with growing complexity and
devices, allowing for real-time gameplay. to allow for easy updates and continuous inte-
gration [56, 57], the application was segregated
For example: When a user attacks an enemy into three separate environments: a develop-
building the persisting building data in Firestore ment environment for rapid prototyping, a stag-
is updated, triggering all listening devices to call ing environment for beta-testing with test users
the method to update the respective building’s and a production environment used for the live
health. application. Each environment is accompanied
by a decoupled database instance, allowing for
94
if the database document has been updated.
This allows the textual content to be seamlessly
translated and updated in the application, a
key ingredient in contemporary application de-
sign [60].
3.3. Registration and onboarding
To ensure an individualised experience, users
must register and go through an onboarding
process (Figure 4). After registering with email
and password, users are required to confirm
their email address to minimise misuse. When
logging in for the first time, an onboarding pro-
cess is started, where users are first presented
with the free and prior informed consent of
Figure 3: Schematic representation of the data the application’s intended use and how a user’s
caching pipeline data will be used and processed. This allows
users to make an informed decision on whether
they would like to proceed, in line with con-
large changes to be implemented and tested temporary data protection regulations when
without affecting other environments. This ap- collecting user-generated data [61]. Users are
proach follows general software development then introduced to the underlying narrative
guidelines and allows for rapid prototyping, of the location-based game and are asked to
continuous integration and stable production make a character, provide basic demographic
environments. information and choose their preferred user-
name and team. The onboarding process ties
into the game narrative, which has been found
3.2.3. Internationalisation
to increase user engagement and motivation
Having multilingual content allows for a more [62]. Once a user has provided the required in-
diverse audience and has been found to be an formation, they enter the location-based game
important consideration in modern applications world.
[58, 59]. Internationalisation of game content
was thus implemented as an integral part of the 3.4. Spatial features
application and allows the game to be played
in multiple languages (at the time of writing, A defining feature of location-based games is
this includes te reo Māori, English, French and the translation of a user’s real-world coordi-
German). Chosen game content (e.g. textual nates into a (virtual) game world [24]. This
content) was translated into the mentioned generally requires two broader systems: (1)
languages and respective translations were ini- querying a user’s real-world coordinates as well
tially stored using Unity’s Localization package. as (2) translating these to respective game-
However, similar to the reasoning of moving world coordinates and constructing the game
game content data to an external database to world accordingly. At first, the location-based
allow for rapid prototyping and quick adjust- game was developed implementing the MapBox
ments (Section 3.2), translation tables were Software Development Kit (SDK)7 for Unity.
moved to the Firestore database. In the cur- However, the SDK was accompanied by three
rent iteration, translated texts are referenced main limitations: (1) computational overhead
as translation keys and translation data is han- due to the number of features, (2) complexity
dled similarly to general game data in terms of extending the SDK and (3) discontinued de-
of caching where data is only downloaded if velopment of the SDK leading to deprecated
it is not found in the translation table cache third-party code. As such, two custom spatial
on a user’s device, or if any updates to the systems were built to allow customisation and
translation table are detected. In other words, integration in the game.
translation tables for textual content are stored
online and downloaded on demand and only 7
https://www.mapbox.com/unity (accessed:
05.09.2023)
95
Figure 4: Screenshots showing the onboarding in the application. (A) free and prior informed consent;
(B) spacecraft selection and customisation; (C) personal information; (D) display name and referral code;
(E) team selection
In the implemented application, a location long-term in-game goals [53, 12]. The imple-
provider was implemented which uses a respec- mented platform features experience points and
tive device’s location features to periodically a levelling system, belonging to the most com-
query the user’s current coordinates. A map- mon gamification elements [18]. Users initially
ping engine was built to leverage the location start the game at level 1 and are rewarded with
provider and convert between the retrieved real- experience points for several in-game activities
world latitude and longitude coordinates and such as the completion of quests, destroying
the game world coordinates. The mapping enemy buildings, building friendly buildings
engine calculates the current map extent of and collecting or forging ores (cf. Figure 2).
the player and identifies the needed map tiles. Once a level-specific threshold of experience
The device’s cache is queried and existing map points is reached, the player’s level is incre-
tiles within the user’s vicinity are retrieved mented. Initially, the application featured a
and drawn to the screen as an underlying base linear progression system, where every level
map in the game world. Missing map tiles are required the same amount of accumulated ex-
downloaded from MapBox8 and cached on the perience points to advance. However, in a
user’s device to reduce the bandwidth needed later iteration, this was changed to exponen-
when a user revisits locations. When the user tial experience point thresholds to ensure long-
changes their location in the real world their term challenges. With increasing player levels
position within the game is updated to reflect new game content is unlocked, providing an
the player’s new real-world position. This in additional incentive to accumulate experience
return triggers the querying, downloading and points.
displaying of new relevant tiles as well as dis-
abling no longer needed tiles. Another key 3.6. Ship system
implemented spatial feature of the mapping
engine is the support for the global hexagonal Gaining increasing levels within the applica-
indexing system H39 . This allows chosen con- tion unlocks further in-game content. In an ini-
tent (e.g. quests, buildings, resources) to be tial version of the application, additional game
placed in hexagonal tiles on a global grid. content was restricted to additional buildable
structures. However, user feedback highlighted
the lack of incentives and thus a ship com-
3.5. Level system
ponent system was introduced, where users
An important dimension in gamified applica- could upgrade individual components of their
tions is progression and inducing a sense of spacecraft. Implemented ship components con-
sisted of energy generators, tractor beams and
8
https://www.mapbox.com/ (accessed:
weapon systems. The energy generator com-
04.01.2024) ponent provides a limited amount of energy
9
https://h3geo.org/ (accessed: 03.01.2024) that recharges over time and which limits the
96
allowed use of other components. Upgrades to and placed at specific locations to collect spe-
the energy generator include a higher energy cific location-dependent information. In con-
capacity and a faster recharge over time. The trast, the latter refers to crowdsourcing tasks
tractor beam component uses energy to collect that are randomly generated throughout the
resources. Upgrades include faster resource game world, independent of location. In a
collection times and an increasing number of preliminary version of the application, each
simultaneous collections. Finally, the weapon user could complete each quest once. However,
system uses energy to fire projectiles at enemy many spatial crowdsourcing tasks are suited
structures. Key upgrades include increasing to be repeated in different locations (e.g. per-
the number of simultaneous projectiles and in- ceived scenicness of an area) or at varying times
creasing each projectile’s damage. Users can (e.g. perceived safety during the day vs. dur-
view key statistics as well as access their ship’s ing the night). Seeing the global nature of,
cargo bay, ship components, a general market and the focus on, geospatial crowdsourcing,
and the building tool through the ship menu quests were thus extended to be either local or
(Figure 5). global and repeatable or non-repeatable. Table
2 shows an overview of the quest categories and
examples of questions or tasks that could be
incorporated.
Quests are comprised of one or multiple quest
steps, which in return are made up of one or
multiple quest tasks (Figure 6). In addition,
quest steps can be locked and only made avail-
able to the user if other specific quest steps are
completed first. This allows a sequence of quest
steps to be combined into a journey, guiding
the user through multiple locations in the real
world. This in return opens the door to col-
lecting specific spatially nuanced information
or guiding users through educational journeys
in a given landscape.
Example: A quest could ask a user to go to
the main train station and report on their ex-
perience. This quest would be divided into two
quest steps (1) navigate to the specific area of
the train station and (2) report on their expe-
rience, where (2) only becomes available after
completing (1).
Figure 5: A screenshot of the ship menu and the
user’s key statistics as well as the available options 3.8. Resource system
Collectable entities are common in location-
based games and provide an incentive to nav-
3.7. Quest system igate the game world as well as a means of
generating in-game value. Within Arcane Shift
According to the Gamification Framework for users can collect a variety of basic ore crystals
Volunteered Geographic Information, spatial which are procedurally generated depending
data contribution tasks in crowdsourcing are on the respective real-world land cover of a
mapped to challenges in gamified systems [53]. given area (Figure 1 G). Collected basic ore
These are commonly implemented as quests, crystals are stored in the users inventory and
short in-game tasks that afford progression in can be sold for in-game gold, a basic in-game
the game, and commonly reward a player with currency. This currency can be used to buy
virtual in-game items or points. The quests specific in-game ores as well as to unlock a va-
implemented in Arcane Shift fall into the broad riety of in-game content (e.g. ship component
categories of designed or generated. The former upgrades), supposing all level requirements are
refers to quests that are purposefully designed
97
Table 2
Quest Categories and Types
Category Type Description Examples of Underlying
Tasks
Designed Local non- Quests that are purposefully placed and that Complete the educational
repeatable can be completed exactly once in each avail- coast walk and do the
able location. quiz.
Designed Local repeatable Quests that are purposefully placed and that Is any of the infrastruc-
can be repeated multiple times in each avail- ture in this park in need
able location, requiring a set amount of time of repair?
to pass between submissions.
Designed Global non- Quests that are purposefully placed and that Describe your favourite
repeatable can be completed exactly once globally. place in the world.
Designed Global repeatable Quests that are purposefully placed and that Tell us about your
can be repeated multiple times globally, re- favourite new place you
quiring a set amount of time to pass between have discovered this
submissions. month.
GeneratedLocal non- Quests that are randomly generated and What is your first impres-
repeatable that can be completed exactly once in each sion of this area?
available location.
GeneratedLocal repeatable Quests that are randomly generated and How safe do you feel in
that can be repeated multiple times in each this area?
available location, requiring a set amount
of time to pass between submissions.
GeneratedGlobal non- Quests that are randomly generated and Do you prefer urban or ru-
repeatable that can be completed exactly once globally. ral landscapes?
These quests are useful to generate generic
not necessarily spatial data.
GeneratedGlobal repeatable Quests that are randomly generated and Upload an image of
that can be repeated multiple times glob- your favourite place this
ally, requiring a set amount of time to pass month.
between submissions.
met. gagement with an application as well as the
likelihood of word-of-mouth recommendations
3.9. Forge system [65, 17]. Within Arcane Shift, the users must
choose between one of three teams during the
Exploration as a dimension of gamification onboarding process. The teams each boast
ties into the Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthet- an intriguing backstory and players within a
ics Framework aesthetic of discovery and has team can interact with buildings built by other
been found to increase user motivation [63, 64]. players within the same team. Buildings of
Besides exploring the game world, another im- the same team allow for more in-game inter-
plemented form of exploration revolves around actions (e.g. access to the forging mechanic
the forging feature, where players can submit as shown in Figure 7) and as such, there is a
four ore crystals and have the chance to dis- strong incentive for players to be in proximity
cover new items (Figure 7). However, only to friendly buildings. In a first iteration, users
specific combinations of ores will result in a could build buildings if they had sufficient gold
successful forge rewarding a new item, meaning in their inventory and if there was an unoccu-
players must explore the various combinations pied hexagonal H3 tile in the vicinity of the
and potentially share their findings with other user. The application would display preview
players. buildings and once a user chose the preferred
building location by clicking on a preview, a
3.10. Building system loading screen would show whilst the build-
ing was created and subsequently saved on the
Another key dimension is collaboration, which server. However, constant loading screens were
has been found to boost motivation in and en- perceived as disruptive to the game experience.
98
Figure 6: A screenshot of an example location-based Figure 7: A screenshot of the forging mechanic, only
quest or spatial crowdsourcing task with two depen- accessible through friendly buildings
dent quest steps
view of a specific building. This was achieved
As such, loading screens were masked with a by: (1) starting a weapon charging animation
new building warp mechanic, where the appli- to mask client-server communication lag, (2)
cation would show a warping animation instead updating the persistent building data in the
of a loading screen (Figure 8). In addition, fur- database, (3) firing a document update event
ther unlockable building tiers were added as informing all connected devices of a change and
additional game content. (4) updating a respective building’s health on
all connected devices.
3.11. Attack system
Competition, if provided in adequate amounts, 4. Internal user testing
has been found to increase user motivation and
engagement in games and gamified applications A testing pipeline was set up on the Google
[9, 17]. As such, providing the right amount of Playstore to perform internal user testing. This
competitive elements is a valuable tool within allowed invited test participants to download
gamification efforts. Within the location-based the application through the Google Playstore
game, besides incorporating a variety of leader- and update the application as soon as new ver-
boards, competition is fostered by the limited sions of the application became available, a
building space in the virtual world and enemy crucial feature to allow for iterative develop-
buildings being destroyable to make room for ment. First internal pilot tests were conducted
buildings for one’s own team. If a user’s ship’s with a small group of three users to test the sta-
generator has enough energy, a user can click on bility of the main game systems and to identify
an enemy structure to fire the ship’s weapons at points of improvement. All users were between
the enemy structure, inflicting weapon-specific the ages of 32 - 45 years old and covered all
damage to the structure. Once a structure’s levels of expertise with location-based games
health depletes, it is destroyed to make room for including one user with no experience, one ca-
buildings for one’s own team, leading into the sual user and one expert user. The users were
dimension of competition. Building updates given access to the application and received
must be propagated to all other players with an overview of the location-based game, the
99
volved around user convenience and interaction
features such as auto-login or revising the touch
detection and tap interactions within the ap-
plication. The location-based game will be
trialled with a larger test user group before
being opened up for public beta testing.
5. Discussion and outlook
The developed and implemented location-based
game is a novel highly gamified crowdsourcing
and citizen science platform, upon which var-
ious interesting systems can be built. This
paper presents the implementation and the
literature-based reasoning behind various de-
sign decisions as well as gives an overview of
the current state of the application and fu-
ture potential. In the following, I first discuss
gamifying spatial crowdsourcing in general be-
fore presenting key recommendations for build-
ing highly gamified spatial crowdsourcing plat-
forms and location-based games, gleaned from
Figure 8: A screenshot of the building warp mechanic lessons learnt during the development of Ar-
which masks loading screens with a warping animation cane Shift. Finally, I lay out specific future
whilst data is being persisted to the server agendas for the platform and summarise the
findings in the conclusions.
various features of the application as well as de- 5.1. Gamifying crowdsourcing
tailed instructions of the testing process. The
internal test users were asked to pay particular
through a location-based game
attention to the core systems (e.g. questing, Common approaches implementing the design
collecting, building, attacking) and were asked science research method identify a specific topi-
to report if they encountered any errors or un- cal research question or organisational problem,
expected behaviour. In addition, the users were which is subsequently distilled into application
asked for their opinion of the first test version features to be implemented [48, 49, 50, 51]. The
and potential improvements that would make approach presented here attempts to address
the game more enjoyable. Feedback was col- the more general problem of how users can be
lected through an online form, as voluntarily motivated to participate in spatial crowdsourc-
submitted additional written feedback and as ing tasks through a gamified application, in
one-on-one discussions. return allowing a plethora of domain-specific
The users generally enjoyed the location- research questions to be asked. Specifically,
based game and reported it being engaging Arcane Shift was built to allow for a variety
and mostly stable (n = 3). The users reported of user contributions, allowing for most crowd-
liking (n = 1) or loving (n = 2) the overall aes- sourcing tasks to be translated into location-
thetics of the game and it being a little (n = 1), based game quests, offering a novel approach
very (n = 1) or extremely (n = 1) motivating in to crowdsourcing and citizen science.
its current state. Chosen features of the game The implemented location-based game fur-
such as upgrading ship components, gaining ex- ther transcends traditional crowdsourcing plat-
perience points and levelling up were reported forms in regards to the special focus on en-
to be enjoyed by the test users (n = 3). How- tertaining and motivational elements, allow-
ever, many features such as collecting resources, ing for high-quality data generation whilst of-
constructing buildings and buying items from fering entertaining virtual experiences. This
the in-game market were reported to be only contrasts with many more traditional crowd-
moderately enjoyed due to the limited amount sourcing approaches, where participants are
of in-game content. Further key feedback re-
100
motivated through monetary rewards, scien- provements or important considerations in the
tific or other forms of acknowledgements or are design and implementation process.
encouraged to participate as part of a curricu-
lum [1, 9, 10, 2]. Scientific inquiries leveraging 5.2.1. Develop for testing, test for
crowdsourced spatial data are plentiful with development
examples ranging from characterising specific
landscapes [66], over detecting popular view- Rapid prototyping and user testing are the
ports [67] and analysing urban mobility [68], to backbones of creating new information systems
mapping a city’s smellscape [45]. These gener- and have proven to be invaluable in the develop-
ally use the rich spatial information contained ment of Arcane Shift. Developing applications
within geolocated social media data as well as can be seen as an iterative circular process start-
other forms of (online) user-generated content ing with implementing features, subsequently
and are a welcomed source of easily accessi- testing features and collecting feedback and fi-
ble data from a heterogeneous crowd. How- nally refactoring or implementing new features
ever, such datasets are generally noisy with according to the collected feedback, effectively
many irrelevant data points. The implemented starting a new iteration loop. This approach
location-based game aims at minimising irrele- however requires two key implementation con-
vant contributions through an active approach siderations from the start of a project.
to collecting data. Being able to strategically Firstly, a given application should be divided
place crowdsourcing tasks (quests) at specific into at least three distinct environments: (1)
locations and the ability to create tailored tasks a development environment in which develop-
to collect any information needed makes the ment takes place, (2) a staging environment
implemented application a novel highly gami- with which internal or open user testing is con-
fied crowdsourcing platform, transcending more ducted and (3) a production environment en-
passive approaches to generating crowdsourced compassing the live application. These envi-
data. ronments can further be extended according
Combining the ease of adding new crowd- to the needs of the project (e.g. additional
sourcing tasks either globally or in specific internal, closed and open beta testing envi-
locations with the general goal of developing ronments). Using modern versioning software
extendable core systems makes this platform such as GIT10 , the code base for each envi-
especially interesting for longitudinal studies. ronment can be tracked and changes can be
As such, this surpasses general academic crowd- merged as required. Finally, each environment
sourcing efforts which are typically developed should incorporate a decoupled database in-
for a specific project after which they tend stance so changes to one environment’s back-
to disappear [69], potentially due to the dif- end database does not influence the other en-
ficulty of updating the underlying systems to vironments. Seperating environments and us-
accommodate new research endeavours. The ing version control is common practice in soft-
location-based game presented in this paper ware development [71, 72] and despite the ad-
takes a different approach: the core systems ditional overhead of setting up versioning and
are built to function independently of overar- distinct environments with decoupled database
ching projects and research questions. instances, this has proven invaluable to allow
for simultaneous testing of multiple versions as
well as continued development.
5.2. Recommendations and lessons A second important consideration is mak-
learnt ing content easily updatable and propagating
During the implementation of Arcane Shift the updates to test users. This is especially im-
application has gone through several versions portant for data where minor changes might
and substantial amounts of code were refac- become necessary, for example for balancing
tored with each new iteration. This dynamic (e.g. weapon damage, energy use, recharge
and evolving nature of the application is in rates). Storing such content online and hav-
line with modern agile software engineering ap- ing the application download updated values
proaches [70, 71] and allows for flexibility in when the application starts allows developers
design and development. In the following, I to change values as needed without needing to
touch upon four key areas of location-based distribute a new application build to the test
game design that have proven to be key im- 10
www.git-scm.com (accessed: 03.01.2024)
101
users. However, downloading content on the coordinates. This becomes particularly impor-
fly has the caveat of needing an internet con- tant when incorporating an increasing amount
nection, a particularly important consideration of third-party software with unclear develop-
when designing mobile applications. ment and maintenance roadmaps. Adhering to
established principles where sensible ensures
5.2.2. Incorporate caching and on-demand code is reusable and remains maintainable. Us-
content retrieval ing interfaces and favouring composition over
inheritance also allows for the easy addition of
Moving content to online storage and download- new items such as different ores and a variety of
ing needed data when starting an application new buildings or new ship component upgrades.
allows for rapid value updates, however, load- This effectively allows for large updates of the
ing content from external sources can result in location-based game with new content, keeping
notable amounts of mobile data usage. Dur- players engaged and motivated (with infrequent
ing the development of Arcane Shift it became large updates reported as preferable over fre-
evident that the majority of content remained quent small updates [76]), and as such arguably
unchanged between application usages. This increasing the likelihood of players contributing
highlighted the importance of caching content to the various crowdsourcing tasks.
on the device to minimise mobile data usage.
Caching was introduced where content was only
5.2.4. Spatial is special
downloaded from an external source if the on-
line content was updated. This allowed the A final key area worth considering is the spe-
seamless updating of existing content as well as cial nature of developing a globally available
the addition of new content, whilst minimising spatial application. Firstly, visualising a digi-
needed bandwidth and mobile data usage. This tal representation of a user’s surroundings as
is in line with modern online application design the game world requires careful consideration
best practices, advocating for fast content load- of the level of abstraction of the spatial fea-
ing and easy navigation [73, 74]. Carefully con- tures. Adding too many details such as points
sidering which content is immutable and which of interest or cluttered map labels can result
content requires dynamic updating is thus a in cognitive overload [77] whilst reducing the
key consideration when building location-based available screen real estate for virtual game
games or spatial crowdsourcing applications. objects. Reducing map complexity could also
be in part responsible for the lack of altitude
5.2.3. Build for longevity information in many location-based games [21].
However, not adding enough spatial informa-
The location-based game was built keeping fu- tion can confuse the user as to their in-game
ture development in mind and thus, particular location and the translation between real-world
focus was set on building expandable core sys- and game-world coordinates. As such, striking
tems and interchangeable modular components a balance between incorporating a minimalist
with accessible interfaces. An important consid- base map with enough spatial information to
eration when building an application is follow- ground the user in the game world is needed.
ing established software development principles. Secondly, seeing the potentially global scale of
Modern well-known software design principles location-based games, I recommend pursuing
advocate single responsibility classes (such as a threefold content creation strategy: (1) de-
advocated by the SOLID principle [75]) and signed content, (2) user-generated content and
urge not to repeat code. Developing an applica- (3) procedurally generated content. Developing
tion in line with these principles ensures a mod- the application to accommodate these three
ular system with accessible interfaces making distinct content generation strategies will allow
code reusable and testable. An added benefit for specific areas of the game to be purpose-
is the ease of updating individual components fully designed especially in highly frequented
of the application. For example, seeing the areas inviting the creation of custom content.
location provider implemented in Arcane Shift In addition, having user-generated content al-
exposes the current coordinates of the player lows for a dynamic and changing game world
through a public interface that other classes can and procedurally generated content offers glob-
consume, the location provider can be updated ally available content. Finally, of particular
or completely changed at any point as long as it importance when designing applications geared
exposes the same public interface that provides towards crowdsourcing spatial information is
102
considering the spatial and temporal availabil- vate physical activity), and location-based games
ity and repeatability of crowdsourcing tasks. in general, have been found to increase physi-
During the development of Arcane Shift, four cal activity and in return affect users’ overall
overarching categories of tasks emerged: spa- health and well-being [86, 87]. This offers a
tially and temporally repeatable, spatially but third and important line of research for the
not temporally repeatable, temporally but not implemented application: questioning the abil-
spatially repeatable and neither spatially nor ity of the location-based game to motivate in-
temporally repeatable. This allows for the col- creased physical activity. Motivating users for
lection of detailed information about specific physical activity in urban environments has be-
areas over time as well as increasing spatial come an important dimension of urbanisation
coverage. research and entertaining motivational incen-
tives such as location-based games show great
5.3. Future agendas potential.
Within this paper, I have presented the design
decisions and the reasoning behind the individ- 6. Limitations
ual implementation steps in creating Arcane
Shift, a global gamified crowdsourcing platform. The implemented location-based game is ac-
In the following, I divulge three key lines of companied by various limitations, key of which
research building on top of the implemented are listed here.
platform. These aim to showcase the potential Firstly, a large active player base and broad
of the application for sparking future research spatial coverage of game content are needed to
in a wide variety of domains. make a virtual world feel alive and motivate
Crowdsourcing and participatory approaches user engagement [88]. This limitation can be
have been identified as valuable complementary somewhat mitigated by procedurally generated
approaches in policy and decision-making con- content and non-player characters or large-scale
texts [78, 79, 80]. A first scientific avenue to in-game events, conjuring the illusion of an
explore is thus the potential of using the imple- active and dynamic game world.
mented location-based game to collect policy A second key limitation is the requirement
and decision-making relevant spatial datasets. of an adequate internet connection. This ex-
Seeing the particular need for urban data to cludes many rural areas which have generally
pave the way for future urban living [81, 82] been underrepresented in location-based games
in combination with the high spatial coverage [19], potentially reinforcing the digital divide
of mobile broadband internet in urban areas, [5]. However, an active internet connection
the implemented location-based game offers is required to allow for real-time updates as
a particularly interesting platform to collect needed for the game experience. As such, an in-
a variety of urban information from the local evitable tradeoff between real-time multiplayer
citizens themselves. features and asynchronous offline gaming must
Secondly, location-based games have shown be carefully considered. One possible approach
great potential in delivering certain educational to address this limitation is to implement spe-
content [83, 84]. The possibility of implement- cific offline features accessible anywhere (e.g.
ing chained quest steps as journeys opens the accepting a quest) which are not dependent
door to investigating the platform’s ability to on real-time updates from other players or the
deliver location-based educational content, which game world.
may be of particular interest to educational One final major limitation of the implemented
professionals seeking new ways to engage with location-based game is the dependence on com-
their students in a time of increased blended mercial products. The implemented platform
and gamified learning [85]. The platform of- was built from scratch using state-of-the-art
fers the ability to create tailored educational technology and commercial products (e.g. Unity,
journeys, guiding learners through specific real- MapBox, FireStore) were used or integrated as
world locations. Thus, testing educational vari- a means of minimising overall platform main-
ables such as knowledge acquisition and learner tenance. Access to these products may change
motivation could become an interesting future in the future, raising an important issue of
investigation. longevity. I try to address this issue by im-
Lastly, exergames (applications that moti- plementing many of the core systems to be
modular and adapted if need be. For exam-
103
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