Mobile game design, scavenger hunt edition

September 1, 2013 3:35 PM

Got any suggestions for good articles on game design, especially as it might relate to scavenger hunts (mobile or analog)?

I'm going to be working with college students to create a mobile scavenger hunt game using the mobile app SCVNGR. They'll be creating a game in which players have to find places, answer questions, take photos, scan QR codes, or whatever, in order to complete challenges.

I'm brand spankin' new to game design, though, and would love to be able to give my students (and myself) some good, heady readings on basic principles of game design that would lend themselves well to this particular kind of game (which may mean that it comes out of old-school game design rather than mobile, I suppose). I'm thinking about ways to design good challenges, why we like games, how to engage a player, etc. Bonus points for any readings specifically on designing scavenger hunts.

Does anybody have any suggestions? I'm looking mainly for articles or chapters rather than entire books. Thanks in advance!

posted by Ms. Toad to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

It's pretty simple, not heady, but the original slideshow version of A Theory of Fun might be helpful. You might also enjoy the idea of an ethnographic scavenger hunt.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 5:07 PM on September 1, 2013