Pervasive Games

Pervasive games are games that are played as an extension of life or as an alternate reality where players physically interact with each other during day-to-day life. There are two categories of pervasive games; established genres and emerging genres.

Established Genres

Treasure Hunts – As the name suggests, this where players have to search for hidden treasures around a location. This may be a small scale Easter egg hunt in a local community or it may be on a much larger scale such as the service Geocaching. Geocaching allows players to use their GPS enable devices to find small items that other people have left all across the world, update their profile, and then replace the item with something of their own for another player to find.

Assassination Games – Inspired by many movies, these games  involve players to hunt other players whilst also being hunted themselves. These games will involve a way of assigning each player a target who is also participating and then they would need some way of “Killing them”, often with the use of a toy or verbal communication.

Pervasive LARPs – Evolving from table-top RPGs, Live Action Role Play games are when a group of players will improvise a performance and act to fill a specific role.

ARGs – Alternative Reality Games are collaborative games where players must work together to achieve a goal instead of working against each other. These games will often involve players working together to try solve some form of puzzle or mystery.

Emerging Games

Smart Street Sports – These games depend on using GPS enabled mobile devices, players will then often use a real space to enact the game and the player controlling the game will be able to contact the other players and monitor them using the GPS devices and a live digital map.

Playful Public Performances – These are similar to street sports but are less focussed on sports and are more visual.

Urban Adventure Games – These games use narrative and puzzle elements in urban locations at a more relaxed pace than the smart street sports.

Reality Games – Are more like events as opposed to games and may be more like a performance aimed at bystanders as opposed to giving a specific group of people a specific goal.