1. real world gaming

3. Real World Social Gaming
hot topic!

4. Popular Mobile Games

5. Typical Mobile Game Experience
Something people do in downtime
-Smash some pigs in Angry Birds
Or a form of escapism
-Build up another life in the Sims / Small Worlds
Generally not particularly active or demanding
-The ‘mobile’ aspect of the game simply that its always in your pocket.
-The social aspect may be completely virtual

6. Real World Social Game Experience
The game space is the real world
The other players are real people
(as opposed to real people represented by avatars)
Your smart phone is the console
(not the only window into the game)
Generally a game layer is built on top of something we already do.
(for now at least)

7. Case Study

8. Case Point

9. It requires effort :(
Some product issues
-Plz use twitter handles not phone numbers for sign up!
When do I play this?
Set up a game on saturday night?
Play exclusively with people who lunch in my area?
Allow killing in the office?

10. Case Study

11. How Important is the Game Layer?
Think we all agree that Foursquare is successful
The ‘whats the point’ factor is still a common sentiment
Why would I want a virtual badge?
Who cares if you are the mayor?
What else is going on then?

12. Its a utility too!

13. How the Game Layer Serves Foursquare
‘Checking In’ is not a natural behavior
Aside from cold hard data its hard to think why people would do it
The game layer has been enough to bring Foursquare to the point
where their utility works..
Now they have a social graph + a geographical history for their users.. they can build the
best social city guide.
It is something they are still excited about!
Denis Crowley’s baby! A virtual game element w/real life activities.
But they face the same barriers.. Its new, not everyone gets it

14. Capture the Flag

15. Things we did to expand on the Foursquare model
Group Based gameplay
More potential for people to be part of winning the venue..
Points also help to identify trending places with different groups
We use a weighted version of the score to calcualte venue wins,
It also helps bring recently popular spots to the top of the list
Built location social off something people already do
(taking photos)

16. Its a utility too!

17. Cool huh?
Still hasn’t totally taken off
Small user base, but some people are really into it.
Some issues we are working on
What connection do people have with their teams?
Do we need to more clearly define some game outcomes?
Tried to put too much into the first version, need to strip back the premise.
Is the game layer actually making it harder to explain to people?
Go download it bearches!

18. How to hook people en-masse?
Play this - get free stuff!
Brands are sponsoring teams.. happy to give away prizes, create their own teams.
Improve the Utility
Make it an even better way to find cool places around you.
Simplify the Game Mechanic
Maybe it does need to be something that works for the individual - i.e. best photo at this
venue.

19. Why are we all so excited about ‘Real world social gaming’?
Its social (real world social)!
Instead of gaming pulling us away from our real lives into a virtual world it can be something
that adds another layer to our interactions with each other.
We web meets world!
Take advantage of the connectivity the internet creates for us, have it enrich our non virtual
lives.
It can make mundane things less mundane
If a game layer can make something we ordinariliy do more ‘gamey’ then why not :)

20. What are we going to do to make it awesome?
Make it useful, make it fun..
(duh)
Can real world gaming help us overcome other problems of social
interaction?
Games as an icebreaker..
Games as a way to create random connections
Games as a way to encourage new kinds of activities in spaces