We introduce a location-based game called Feeding Yoshi that provides an example of seamful design, in which key characteristics of its underlying technologies-the coverage and security characteristics of WiFi-are exposed as a core element of gameplay. Feeding Yoshi is also a long-term, wide-area game, being played over a week between three different cities during an initial user study. The study, drawing on participant diaries and interviews, supported by observation and analysis of system logs, reveals players' reactions to the game. We see the different ways in which they embedded play into the patterns of their daily lives, augmenting existing practices and creating new ones, and observe the impact of varying location on both the ease and feel of play. We identify potential design extensions to Feeding Yoshi and conclude that seamful design provides a route to creating engaging experiences that are well adapted to their underlying technologies.

Pervasive gaming is a new form of multimedia entertainment that extends the traditional computer gaming experience out into the real world. Through a combination of personal devices, positioning systems and other multimedia sensors, combined with wireless networking, a pervasive game can respond to a player's movements and context and enable them to communicate with a game server and other players. We review recent examples of pervasive games in order to explain their distinctive characteristics as multimedia applications. We then consider the challenge of scaling pervasive games to include potentially very large numbers of players. We propose a new approach based upon a campaign model in which individuals, local groups and experts draw on a combination of pervasive games, online services and broadcasting to take part in national or even global events. We discuss the challenges that this raises for further research.

Abstract. This paper focuses on orchestration work in the first iteration of a mobile game called Day Of The Figurines, which explores the potential to exploit text messaging as a means of creating an engaging gaming experience. By focusing on orchestration we are especially concerned with the 'cooperative work that makes the game work'. While the assemblage or family of orchestration practices uncovered by our ethnographic study are specific to the game -including the ways in which behind the scenes staff make sense of messages, craft appropriate responses, and manage and track the production of gameplay narratives as the game unfolds -orchestration work is of general significance to our understanding of new gaming experiences. The focus on orchestration work reveals that behind the scenes staff are co-producers of the game and that the playing of games is, therefore, inseparably intertwined with their orchestration. Furthermore, orchestration work is 'ordinary' work that relies upon the taken for granted skills and competences of behind the scenes staff; 'operators ' and 'authors' in this case. While we remain focused on the specifics of this game, explication of the ordinary work of orchestration highlights challenges and opportunities for the continued development of gaming experiences more generally. Indeed, understanding the specificities of orchestration work might be said to be a key ingredient of future development.

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The chapter describes the development of a prototype digital game which was designed to make players more aware of the health consequences of their behaviours. The emphasis was on enabling players to become more aware of the performance of their heart–but without setting them targets, prescribing fitness programmes, or in any other way making them feel that they were doing ‘work’ or ‘exercise’. A prototype developed principally by artists and designers rather than by health professionals, the game has so far only been evaluated informally, and no longitudinal studies have been undertaken. Nevertheless, some interesting issues have been raised. These include the use of digital gameplay as a potential means to modify attitudes and behaviours; the possible benefits of live feedback during use as distinct from retrospective review of performance; and the success of this project in terms of multidisciplinary collaboration. Since few projects have been based on live heart-rate, the chapter also introduces some of the problems and the potential of exploiting this aspect of behaviour in digital play. First, two contexts are described: the crisis in health caused by widespread low levels of physical activity and the technocultural context in which the work was developed. An account of the innovative features of the project leads into a discussion of the issues arising.

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