Mobile and Social Video Games: Prototype, Concepts, and Evaluation

Abstract

The main goal of this project was to create new game concepts for mobile and social games. The project was a continuation of the depth study performed by the project in the course TDT 4570, Game Technology, at NTNU. The focus of this project was slightly more shifted toward the social side of mobile multiplayer games compared to the depth study. Additionally the project group were to create a prototype game using one of the concepts implemented in Java ME. The project group performed a prestudy of the technologies required to create the prototype(such as Java ME and features specific to mobile phones, such as location), as well as looking at games from a general viewpoint, but also by looking more closely at mobile and social games, current game genres, and multiplayer games available on mobile platforms and looking at how these games implement social game mechanisms. Several concepts were conceived and described during the project, with concepts from both the depth study and concepts created specifically in this project. The textit{Platform-puzzler} concept was chosen to be implemented as the prototype game. The prototype game is a 2D side scrolling platform multiplayer platform game with puzzle elements. The game was implemented in a development process, and at the end of the process the game was tested by two testers not from the project group. The test allowed the project group to assess how it performed in a simulated setting using emulators, as well as testing to see how the cooperative elements of the game performed, and additionally the test was performed in two sessions were in the first session the two testers were located in the same room, whereas in the second test the were located in the same room. The test session performed on the prototype indicated to the project group that there for the prototype game there were quite clear differences between playing the game in the same versus playing the game in different rooms. This indicates further that special care must be taken when designing and creating cooperative games for mobile platforms. The additional research performed by the project group also indicate to the project group that creating mobile and social games for mobile platforms is highly viable, and that social gameplay mechanisms can strengthen the experience of playing games.