Playful Improvisation
Open Scripts
One of the most successful ways of designing we discovered was utilizing techniques of improvisation within a narrative script. The basic idea of this was to use non-player characters, cult members within the narrative, to lay some ground rules for play and in such a way that the player's could make up absurd and comedic or serious and thoughtful responses. In a largely social game these acts were often their own reward because a good improvisation made other player's job of responding easier. These scripts differed in an important respect from other role-playing modes in that the players had little or no time to prepare by getting into character. While we initially worried that this might be a weakness, it changed the dynamic and character of the play by lowering the stakes and investment in a correct answer. Finally, these open scripts have many advantages from a design perspective because they allow quite chaotic play to be bracketed by intervention from the game's puppet-masters. With regard to augmented reality, the nodal points in the script allow the designer to plan out a tool set of dynamic responses to specific cues (in our case auditory, but we see no difficulty applying this to other mediums).
Manipulative Sound
When we were designing the soundscape for our game we were also considering it in an abstract way as a gameplay mechanic. We use sound in both a direct way to communicate information to players, and an indirect way to convey the state of play (who is winning, when a key event has been triggered by a player, etc). One of our most innovative gameplay uses was to think about sound as a way of organizing and directing groups of players in the soundwalk. By using GPS to determine when players are together, moving apart, or making certain patterns, we hoped to encourage a much more social use of outdoor space. Not only could the sounds suggest indoor environments and activities, but they could guide players in movements that are proper for indoor spaces.
Chores, Habits, and Gestures
The expansive scale that we decided to take on gave us a significant amount of room for experimentation. One of the techniques we decided on to produce a uniform feel to the play throughout was to tie the game puzzles to the kinds of chores that would take place in that room of the house. Along with the furniture that we intended to install in each space, this would create a clear sense of interiority. One of the design offshoots was that many of the things that we would normally have to design specifically as rules were produced through the habitual actions that people do to furniture. If there is a dresser we can count on the players opening, and probably closing each drawer. If there was a puzzle with socks and underwear the player should know that the top drawer is the relevant one. By thinking of habits as implicit rules we found a wider range of game possibilities and avoided the problems of enforcing rules or breaking the magic circle.
