Issues in the Development of Location-Based Games

As new and more powerful mobile devices arrive, such as smartphones, tablets and PDAs, so do new ways of interaction emerge for the users and developers to explore. These devices allow for the creation of never-before-seen applications, using the broad range of inputs and sensors these devices integrate (such as accelerometers, light sensors, electronic compasses, GPS sensor among others), that allow for more ubiquous and personalized experiences. This paper explores issues that arise during the development and design phases of such games, as well as posible solutions for them. Finally we present, a framework for the development of location-based games that is sensible to these issues. This framework was created and tested thanks to a proof-of-concept location-based game (Geo-Wars). 1. Introduction All software applications are bound to being limited or to introduce some issues to the users, which may render them, under certain conditions, nearly useless. Games are not all that different, often becoming a frustrating experience rather than a joyful one. Location-based games are often unpredictable, as they often use the player’s real location as a means of input, and so, they frequently provide very discrepant gaming experiences. Since they rely upon location-based services for working, or more simply and usually, a GPS module, these games are almost solely found on mobile platforms, as only these platforms provide the computational requirements for the game and the necessary connectivity modules. Alas, certain issues are sure to arise due to the usage of such unpredictable data (the location-based data). These games are known to become unplayable or to provide a limited gaming experience is several circumstances, such as when the player is inside of buildings, as the position is hardly determinable by the GPS module, or when the location-based data is unavailable or poor for the given player’s coordinates (such as when there is no information for the specific player’s location, or the information available does not provide a good expectable gaming experience). Also, since there is no absolute control on level design, because it depends on the player’s location, it is very difficult for the developers to guarantee an even game experience. Additionally, the player’s physical aptitude must be considered if the location-based-game requires the player to move around the real world. As an example, a location-based game that requires the player to move from two places may be considered as difficult, boring or tiresome for some of the more lazy players,