An Approach to Game Prototyping with a Tangible Interface

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the use of tangible user interfaces in the context of prototyping digital game design. Traditional approaches to game design use a combination of digital and non-digital prototyping techniques to identify core game mechanics and object placements when designing levels followed by a labourious process where the non-digital prototypes are translated into digital counterparts in a game engine. The presented system aims at reducing the need for non-digital prototypes by providing an easy to use interface that doesn’t require technical expertise and results in a playable digital prototype in a modern game engine. The presented system uses Augmented Reality markers as the tangible interface to facilitate specific functionality in a modern game engine. A preliminary user study is presented to understand the current strengths/weaknesses of this approach. Our hypothesis is that our system would improve the game design experience for users with respect to usability, performance, creativity support and enjoyment as we firmly believe that the process of designing games should also be an enjoyable process.