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International Conference on Computer Supported Education

CSEDU 2019: Computer Supported Education pp 557–581Cite as

Potential Benefits of Playing Location-Based Games: An Analysis of Game Mechanics

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Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1220))

Abstract

Previous studies have reported various potential benefits from playing location-based games (LBGs). These include being outdoors, exercise, decreased sedentary behavior, increased knowledge of surroundings, improved cartographic, geographical and navigation skills, increased social interaction, meeting new people, forming acquaintances and activating people. One of the benefits of LBGs is that compared to other self-help applications and games, they are able to reach demographics who have trouble or are not interested in seeking improvement in their lives. This study focuses on the currently available LBGs (N = 60) and identifies how their gameplay supports the observed benefits of playing the games. The found LBGs were sorted into five sub-genres. At the core of the popular LBGs Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite were three main game mechanics all supporting each other: (1) moving around to find points of interest (PoIs), (2) travelling to PoIs and (3) walking to trigger game-events. Most gameplay were tied to these, as were also the potential benefits of playing the games. These findings highlight the importance of PoIs, their location and their quality, for maximizing the benefits gained from playing LBGs .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Samuli Laato, Tarja Pietarinen, Sampsa Rauti & Erkki Sutinen

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  1. Samuli Laato
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  2. Tarja Pietarinen
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  4. Erkki Sutinen
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Correspondence to Samuli Laato .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    H. Chad Lane

  2. Anderson Academic Commons, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Susan Zvacek

  3. School of Engineering, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, UK

    James Uhomoibhi

A Appendix

A Appendix

(See Appendix Tables 4 and 5)

Table 4. The games included in the study and their genres part 1.
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Table 5. The games included in the study and their genres part 2.
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Laato, S., Pietarinen, T., Rauti, S., Sutinen, E. (2020). Potential Benefits of Playing Location-Based Games: An Analysis of Game Mechanics. In: Lane, H.C., Zvacek, S., Uhomoibhi, J. (eds) Computer Supported Education. CSEDU 2019. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1220. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58459-7_27

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