Battleship by foot: learning by designing a mixed reality game

Abstract

We reflect upon a novel set of pedagogical methods to innovate a mixed-reality Location-Based-Game (LBG). Undergraduate students in two 2nd and 3rd year IT subjects designed, specified and coded a Battleship LBG. This required them to consider physical and cognitive play experiences in figural and physical design spaces and address emergent properties of ubiquitous contexts. Our methods reconciled physical methods and enacted knowledge with traditional systematized design and development processes. We iteratively, integrated tangible and conceptual activities (e.g. bodystorming, prototyping of different fidelities, game concept abstraction, agile UP). We suggest these, differentially, supported students use of indexical resources and the assimilation of their embodied knowledge into design.