Enchanting Reality: A Vision of Big Experiences on Small Platforms

Martin Ericsson's paper argues that mobile gaming has so far largely cloned or ported existing console and desktop titles, leaving the distinctive capabilities of handheld devices (mobility, GPS, and communications) underused. Drawing on critiques from industry commentators who lament a risk-averse publishing culture, the work positions location-based and pervasive games as the most promising route to innovation. Its central thesis is that the most compelling physical-world games create depth of immersion through "diegetic consistency," in which the fictional world aligns with the player's sensory reality, and that this principle can be realized in a new category termed "enchanted reality" games. These games blend physical environments with digital gameplay so that real-world actions meaningfully alter the virtual world rather than merely triggering isolated events.

The paper's principal empirical grounding is a case study of Visby Under, a mobile location-based game built on a story-building engine and GPS-style tracking. Small focus-group testing found that players wanted a more deeply immersive experience and that LARP-like player attitudes substantially enhanced engagement. The authors are candid that this testing was preliminary and that the first proof-of-concept lacked advanced alternate reality functions. Beyond this, the work is largely speculative and creative, illustrating its vision through fictional scenarios such as a time-traveller's urban exploration and a subway-station pursuit rather than through quantitative market or technical data. Its only concrete hardware reference is a 240x320 iPAQ screen.

The scope is conceptual and design-oriented, concentrating on handheld mobile platforms and the intersection of location-based gaming, LARP design, and mixed-reality practice, with references to projects such as Botfighters and Blast Theory's work. The paper is best understood as a design manifesto and early prototype report rather than an empirical market analysis, with its significance lying in articulating principles for games that integrate physical place with virtual consequence.