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TreasureHunter/HeartBeat
Nowadays, children are hooked to digital games. XBox, PS3, Wii, children love them. But for their development playing 'traditional' games, such as tag and hide and seek are very important. This made me think: Isn't it possible to combine traditional outdoor play with a digital game experience?
The designed concept is a new games and game device. The game is called HeartBeat (formerly TreasureHunter) and combines elements of traditional outdoor games and digital games. The players are randomly divided in two teams; either the attacking team (attackers) or the defending team (defenders). One player in the defending team will be randomly assigned a virtual treasure. The fact that players are randomly assigned to a team adds an extra dimension to the game. They are unaware of who is in their team and who is an enemy. If the game starts the players get 30 seconds to hide. After this period of time, their role will be displayed to them through their gaming device.
During the game the attackers can eliminate defenders by tagging them. Once an attacker tags a defender, the defender becomes part of the attacking team. By physically connecting two of the gaming devices, player roles can be passed on from one player to another.
The game will be played for a short amount of time. If the player with the treasure is not caught within this time, the defending team wins the game. If the attacking team has captured the treasure, they win the game.
This project won the second prize in the Nokia Ubimedia Design Awards 2008. The project was praised for the way it embedded digital media in traditional play patterns. Results of this project are published at CHI '09.