Handheld augmented reality devices could enhance board game experiences like Settlers of Catan and Power Grid. For Settlers of Catan, the devices could automate board setup scanning and resource distribution based on dice rolls. They could also enable remote multiplayer across locations. For Power Grid, auctioning plants, buying resources, and tracking player information could be automated. Playtesting identified opportunities to streamline tasks like bookkeeping and multi-turn planning using the handheld devices.

1. Handheld Augmented
Board Games
Game Interaction Storyboards

2. Settlers of Catan

3. Task Overview
• T1: Board setup at start of game
• During every player turn:
• T2: Roll dice and collect resources
• T3: Trade resources among players
• T4: Take actions and spend resources
• T5: Special case of T2 in case a 7 is rolled

4. TI - Setup
• Board setup is performed once at start of
game
• Two alternatives:
• Player-chosen lay-out (needs to be input
into the device)
• Auto-generated lay-out (needs to be
rebuilt using the physical tiles)

5. T1 - Setup (a)
First, Freddy comes up with a board lay-
out and constructs the isle of Catan using
the hexagonal tiles.

6. T1 - Setup (a)
He then places the numbered tokens on
each land tile, within the hollow frame
marker.

7. T1 - Setup (a)
Finally, he scans the marker on each tile
as well as the numbered token, to input
the board lay-out into the game engine.

8. T1 - Setup (a)
He scans the tiles according to a fixed
pattern, to map the physical board lay-out
to the digital one.

9. T1 - Setup (b)
Alternatively, Freddy can have the
handheld generate a board lay-out
(=> no scanning required).

10. T1 - Setup (b)
He then lays out the board according to
the lay-out shown on the handheld

11. T2 - Collect resources
• Performed by each player at the start of his
turn
• Depending on the result of the dice roll,
resources are distributed among all players
automatically

12. T2 - Collect resources
It’s Freddy’s turn now. To begin, he rolls
the dice.

13. T2 - Collect resources
He rolls a 3. To inform the game engine
hereof, he scans the result of his roll.

14. T2 - Collect resources
Freddy has a settlement adjacent to a
‘hills’ tile with a number 3 token on it, so
he receives 1 ‘bricks’ resource card.

15. T3 - Trade resources
• During his turn, a player may trade
resources with other players
• Another option is to trade resources with
the bank (not shown here, requires only
interaction with handheld)

16. T3 - Trade resources
Freddy is in need of ‘wool’ and has got
some ‘ore’ to spare, so he verbally
proposes a trade to the other players.

17. T3 - Trade resources
Jeffrey has agreed to trade wool for ore
with Freddy. They use their handhelds to
perform the transaction.

18. T4 - Perform actions
• Now, the player can perform actions with
his resource and development cards:
• Build a road or settlement
• Upgrade a settlement to a village
• Buy a development card
• Play a development card bought in an
earlier turn

19. T4 - Perform actions
Freddy has some resources to spend! He
starts by building a settlement.

20. T4 - Perform actions
Settlements are built at intersections of 3 hexes. He
scans the desired position to inform the handheld
(which can also tell him if he is allowed to build
there), by scanning the 3 hexes at the same time.

21. T4 - Perform actions
He then places one of his settlement playing
pieces on the chosen position. The required
resources have been paid automatically.

22. T4 - Perform actions
He remembers he bought a development
card earlier, that allows him to build a
road for free, so he plays this card.

23. T4 - Perform actions
As roads are built on edges between
hexes, he scans the two hexes adjacent to
the road position.

24. T4 - Perform actions
He then updates the game board by
placing one of his road pieces on the
chosen position.

25. T4 - Perform actions
Finally, he decides to buy another
development card.
After this, he ends his turn.

26. T5 - Move robber
• If a player rolls 7, no resources are collected,
but the robber piece is moved:
• The tile upon which the robber is placed
does not provide any resources
• Players with more than 7 cards are forced
to discard half of them
• The player that moved the robber steals 1
reosource from a player with a settlement
adjacent to the new robber position

27. T5 - Move robber
On his next turn, Freddy rolled a 7. He
moves the robber piece to a tile next to
Jeffrey.

28. T5 - Move robber
He informs the game engine of the new
robber position by scanning the robber
and its tile.

29. T5 - Move robber
Finally, he receives one of Jeffrey’s
resource cards.

30. Power Grid

31. Task Overview
• Power Grid is played in rounds, each of which
consists of 5 phases:
• Phase 1: Determine player order => automated
• Phase 2: Auction power plants => T1
• Phase 3: Buying resources => T2
• Phase 4: Building => T3
• Phase 5: Bureaucracy => T4
• Ongoing: Check player info => T5

32. T1 - Auctioning Plants
• Players buy power plants through auctions
• One can have up to 3 plants (new plants replace
older ones)
• One does not have to buy a plant each turn
• Each player can start an auction or pass
• During an auction, each player that did not
already buy a plant or pass up on the chance to
select one, can bid or pass
• Auctioned plants are automatically replaced
with new ones

33. T1 - Auctioning Plants
Freddy selects a power plant to auction,
using his handheld.

34. T1 - Auctioning Plants
He enters his starting bid.

35. T1 - Auctioning Plants
Now the other players get a chance to
bid on the plant, or pass. Bidding
continues until one player remains.

36. T2 - Buying Resources
• Players then buy resources, starting with
the weakest player
• As resources are bought, prices go up
• Players then assign the resources bought to
their power plants
• A plant can store up the twice the amount
of resources required for power
production

37. T2 - Buying Resources
Freddy buys the resources for the new
power plant he won during one of the
auctions in the previous phase.

38. T2 - Buying Resources
And he assigns them to the new power
plant.

39. T3 - Building
• Players need to connect cities to their grid
to power them
• They place buildings on the map, this
represents their grid
• The cost of a building is the base cost to
build in a city plus the cost to connect it to
the player’s grid
• The map is graph with nodes and weighted
edges

40. T3 - Building
Freddy scans the city he wants to
connect to his grid. His handheld
indicates the building costs.

41. T3 - Building
Freddy confirms the build. The costs are
paid automatically. He then places one of
his house pieces on the chosen city.

42. T4 - Bureaucracy
• Players declare how much cities they will
power and which power plants they will
use
• Income is automatically distributed among
the players
• Resources are automatically removed from
the plants and the resource market is
automatically resupplied

43. T4 - Bureaucracy
Freddy selects the plants he is going to
use to power the cities connected to his
grid.

44. T4 - Bureaucracy
Freddy automatically receives the income
generated by the powering of the cities.

45. T5 - Player info
• All information is public in Power Grid
• Players may inspect eachothers power
plants, resources and cash at any time
• This functionality can be proved as info
screens in the app
• Or one could try to show it using
augmented reality, using the handheld as
‘magic lens’

46. T5 - Player info
A possible game setup for the augmented
reality case: every player has a handheld,
player marker and house pieces.

47. T5 - Player info
By scanning another player’s marker,
Freddy can get AR information on that
player’s plants, cities, money, ...

48. Settlers of Catan: misc
• Empires of Catan:
• Settlers of Catan combining several
boardgame play instances
• Foreign trade between board gaming
groups over Internet
• Alliances of playing sides over internet
competing locally on boardgame islands
Idea source: http://www.cse.chalmers.se/research/group/
idc/ituniv/kurser/06/uc/ppt/pervasive_games.pdf

49. Settlers of Catan: Misc
• Thesis “Joining Bits and Pieces”: proposes
computer enhanced interactions in games
• Some that could be applied in Catan:
• Espionage: get (some) info on player’s
hand
• Anonymous trading: players indicate what
they want and what they’ll give =>
computer tries to match up these
offerings

50. Power Grid: Playtest
• First time is hard, since you don’t know any
tactics/strategy yet
• Bidding is an important part
• Quite some information available and
required when devising strategy => way
this will be presented to the player is a vital
aspect

51. Power Grid: Playtest
• One player needs to play bank:
• Return change to players
• Make sure the correct amount is
received
• Tedious => automation desirable

52. Power Grid: Playtest
• When a power plant is bought, a new one
has to be added to the game
• At various points, power plant cards need
to be put back in the deck; thrown out of
the game; reordered according to price
• Automating this would relieve the players
of this task

53. Power Grid: Playtest
• Players tend to connect multiple cities in
one go:
• Keeping track of current cost while
adding cities makes things easier
• Can prevent not having enough money
• Cities that can still be connected could
be shown to players

54. Power Grid: Playtest
• Players tend to plan ahead which cities they
are going to connect:
• Actions of other players can interfere
with this
• Planning function: already enter which
cities you would like to connect => if this
is still possible when it is your turn, this
plan could be executed immediately;
otherwise, the player needs to adapt it