CARD GAME
A research project focusing on the question:
"How might we build community/relationship that engages multi-generational family members through gaming?"
I've always been interested in games and technology. Being half-way across the world from my family, I realized that often times, families don't spend enough time with each other. And for most families, the amount of time they spend together is usually around the dinner table.
Hence, I wanted to pursue a topic focusing on bringing families together to spend some much needed quality time together.
INCORPORATES AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)
Research
Secondary Research
Literature Review
During my literature review, I studied various articles and studies that were done before. I focused on looking at the motivations behind a person's will and want to play games. I found that gaming has been praised for the ability to boost relationships between generations and while gaming has a distinct culture, it welcomes anyone and everyone into its community.
To name some of the sources that I looked at:
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Comunello, F., & Mulargia, S. (2017). My Grandpa and I “Gotta Catch ‘Em All.” A Research Design on Intergenerational Gaming Focusing on Pokémon Go. Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Applications, Services and Contexts Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 228–241. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-58536-9_19
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Osmanovic, S., & Pecchioni, L. (2017). Pass the Control(ler): Shifting of Power in Families Through Intergenerational Gaming. Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Applications, Services and Contexts Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 266–279. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-58536-9_22
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Zhang, F., Doroudian, A., Kaufman, D., Hausknecht, S., Jeremic, J., & Owens, H. (2017). Employing a User-Centered Design Process to Create a Multiplayer Online Escape Game for Older Adults. Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Applications, Services and Contexts Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 296–307. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-58536-9_24
(Download full literature review)
Concept Map
Concept maps visually synthesize robust amounts of information and complex relationships. It brings new connections into context with the information that is already known. Below is my concept map for my research question:
PRIMARY Research
Methodology
Diving into the project, I needed to conduct my own primary research. The three primary research methodologies that I had chosen to pursue were: Interviews, Focus Groups and Surveys.
Interviews
During the interview process, I had interviewed 4 different sets of parents with kids that ranged from 8 years old to 23 year old. Speaking with parents really gave an insight of how families operate and their relationships with games. It was noticed that a lot of parents played games/had family game nights with their kids when the kids were younger and a lot of them played mainly board games/card games. As the kids grow up, they tend to adopt to video game play while parents tend to spend less time with the kids’ gameplay. Majority of interviewees also agreed that playing games (whether it was a more traditional board/card game or a video game) meant spending quality time with their kids.
FOCUS GROUPS
I conducted a focus group with parents and their child/children. They were introduced to a new card game called “Exploding Kittens” and were then introduced to Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch system. I allowed the groups to familiarize the games themselves, and did not interject with the game play. During the card game, the adults/parents were in charge of reading the rules and figuring out the game play, and generally facilitating the game. But when it came to the video games, the roles were flipped. Children were the ones explaining the rules and helping the adults understand how the console worked. However, often times, the child was more absorbed in the game than the interactions between the group.
SURVEYS
I sent out an anonymous survey to family and friends, gamers and non-gamers, on discord servers, Facebook groups and group chats. I had a total of 29 responses. The survey acted as a more general questionnaire where I looked for people’s motives and interests towards gaming. What were they seeking to gain from the experience? What are they interested in? What is their comfort level when it comes to intergenerational game play? 62.1% of gamers preferred playing with in-person company (couch co-op) and 92.9% of respondents would like to have a shared gaming experience for intergenerational communities.
Key Findings
The following are the key findings concluded from the research methods.
Older generation participants prefer playing a more tangible tabletop game
Younger generation participants prefer playing video games
Tabletop games allow for more
face-to-face interactions
Video games are more familiar to the younger generation, making the game more important than the interactions between players
Older generation participants generally pick up games that are familiar to them quicker
Prototype
Focus Group
Due to the current situation of COVID-19, I was unable to meet up with participants to prototype the design solution in person. Instead, I created an instructional kit and sent it to various different groups
Survey & Interviews
I had also sent out anonymous surveys to each group to get feedback regarding the prototype. I also had the opportunity to talk to a couple participants and get feedback.
The results from the prototyping phase helped lead to the final design outcome.
FRANKLY,
GAMES AREN'T JUST FOR KIDS.
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Families don’t spend enough intentional quality time with each other because we are often too absorbed in the screens in our hands. The device that was meant to bring us closer to each other now causes us to be distant from each other. We need a way to connect older and younger generations while building relationships and community.
Cupid is a card game that incorporates augmented reality (AR).
Cupid is a quick, light-hearted game that’s meant for 2-4 players, but it also has challenge cards that facilitate conversations at the table. While Cupid is a relatively fast-paced game, it aims to bring families together for some quality time while breaking away from the technologies that absorb us constantly.
Each of Cupid’s 27 different cards represents a character at the royal residence as you try to get your love letter to the Princess to win her hand. During this game, you hold one secret card in your hand — this is who currently carries your love letter for the Princess. The goal: make sure that the person closest to the Princess holds your love letter at the end of the day so it reaches her first!
If you think that Cupid is just a quick-paced number comparing card game, you might be mistaken at the sight of challenge cards. These challenge cards allow you to challenge another player for a spot in the game, as the loser is automatically kicked out of the round. The hope for these challenge cards is to open up conversations around the table, allowing for family members to share their stories and experiences.
AR is not required to play this game, but it acts as a guide to help players set up and understand the roles of each card. Players can scan each card’s face to see its play and effect. Scan the setup card to clearly see how to setup the game. These short informational videos are meant to be fun and light-hearted just like Cupid is, allowing for those that are unfamiliar with the game to quickly pick it up and for younger audiences to introduce a new technology to older audiences.
The following videos show how the AR component would work:
When creating Cupid, I realized that I was targeting a pretty large audience. Hence, I had given myself 3 different design restraints that reads as following:
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The design solution should not be a video game - bringing back the idea of having in-realtime face-to-face conversations between participants as well as helping people bond with each other.
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The design solution needed to be simple to understand and play to accommodate a broad audience.
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The design solution needed to be appealing to the wide range of audience that I am targeting.
The goal of Cupid is to create a space where both young and old are able to come together to spend some quality time with each other. The illustrations are simplified and colorful. This illustration style is designed to appeal to a broad audience, but also focusing on targeting a younger audience as they are the ones that usually pick out what games families would play together. According to the interview data collected, majority of parents care less about the game that they are playing but instead, are happy to be able to spend focused time together with their kids.
You can read the full rules of the game below:
PRINCESS ISABELLE
COUNTESS
Naomi
KING OZZIE
THE WIZARD
BARON MARINA
Jester cobb
Guard mira
HANDMAID KIRBY
Pirate rocket
CONCLUSION
Working on this semester long project made me realize that design has the power to change lives and to help make our world a better place. Designing a game made me slow down in my tracks and really consider every component of the project. It was interesting to me that sometimes, the best solution is not heavily reliant on technology, and that sometimes, we need to take a step back to the basics.
Through Cupid, I hope to generate more conversations, more quality time for families. The impact that I hope to make is to help families realize the need for quality time with each other and to take a step forward in the direction of fostering relationships between a child and a parent, a child and a grandparent etc. Families only have so much time together before children spread their wings and leave their nest and hence, we need to grasp every fleeting moment we can to build a solid relationship with trust and openness.
