Game Log 2 – Play

Process and Refinements – From Experience to Play

After brainstorming several ideas during the Experience phase, we explored different directions around topics like medias, truths, freedom and knowledge.

In the Play phase, we focused on refining and combining our ideas into a (shared) concept. The three ideas, evolved from the Experience phase, are:

• Brain Overload: A fast-paced AR experience where the user is tormented by numerous endless popups, simultating digital and media overstimulation.
• Don't Get Disinformed!: The user interacts with different articles trying to distinguish the truth from fake news.
• Censored Truth: A simulation game about censorship of a government against democracy, where the user tries to restore press freedom by revealing the censored truths.

PLAY Methods Used and Outcomes

Concept Convergence

Based on our previous ideas and through group discussion, we focused on incorporating gameplay elements of the other two ideas: fast-paced interaction and recognition of disinformation. This helped us find a balance between narrative depths, focusing on a single concept.

During the group discussion, we thought of the possible gameplay mechanisms and game situations: stamping articles, dragging parts to uncover redacted info, time pressure simulations, government and population reactions. This helped us imagine how documents could be overlaid with AR elements and objects to use for AR interactions.

Future Culture Worlds (light version):

We discussed how the AR space would feel, but we are not sure we can achieve it: a small desk, scattered documents, virtual newspapers, and an immersive ambient soundscape (e.g. ticking clocks, muffled protests outside). We imagined that some elements can slowly change based on their decisions and the mood level of both governments and population.

Refined Game Concept – “Censored Truths”

An AR simulation where the player works inside a dystopian press censorship office. They must review incoming articles sent by the regime and decide whether to publish them as-is or risk modifying them to reveal the truth, making the citizens aware of the current country situations and the government not happy about it.

Gameplay Loop:

• Receive article (either physical paper or virtual popup, yet to decide)
• Use virtual tools (e.g. AR marker, stamp, drag) to "decensor" hidden facts and truths
• Decide whether to send or discard the article (maybe some propaganda articles can be included)
• Face consequences: the public may become more informed, but the regime will try to increase their non-democratic measures

Values & Cultural Integration:

• Freedom: Freedom of press, speech, and expression.
• Rule of Law: The player breaks the law for a higher moral duty. Is it the best approach? Is it morally correct?
• Cultural Heritage: Encourages reflection on how truth is recorded and preserved.
The goal is to highglight the importance on freedom and the impact truth has on society, showing what an act of resistance and revolution can cause.

Expert Council Feedback 

The feedback from the expert council was generally positive. They found the concept promising, both in terms of its empowering gameplay and its potential to deliver a powerful narrative.

One concern raised was that players might not feel fully immersed or connected to the game world without some initial context. This led us to explore ways to better introduce players to the story, such as a short in-game introduction clarifying the player’s identity and role, or through physical objects and media available at the stand.

There were also suggestions regarding the game’s connection to cultural heritage and artworks. These started a discussion about how to strengthen that link—whether by adding such elements directly into the gameplay media, or by taking a more radical approach, like making the player a painter instead of a press officer, or setting the story in the past rather than a dystopian future.