Games in Cultural Venues Using Public VR: Designing Motion-Tracked and Story-Driven Experiences

Designing VR games for public cultural venues presents a distinct challenge: experiences must be immersive yet accessible, socially shared rather than solitary, and culturally sensitive. This work addresses that challenge through the MobiCave, a room-sized, three-wall, 15-screen CAVE-style environment that relies on full-body motion tracking instead of handheld controllers. Its central thesis is that combining the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics) and FIVE frameworks yields more engaging, inclusive, and heritage-appropriate experiences than either framework alone. MDA provides structure for gameplay mechanics and player motivation, while FIVE captures embodied interaction and presence.

The design argument is grounded in three case studies. "Prometheus Unbound" is a body-tracked escape room set at Methoni Castle that emphasizes exploration and puzzle-solving. "Turtle Heroes" is a cooperative serious game on sea turtle conservation that supports multi-player engagement and learning. "Sacred Places" is a minimal-interaction, 360° narrative experience built around cinematic viewing. Comparison across usability, educational value, social interaction, and cultural sensitivity suggests that collective, room-scale VR can deepen engagement with heritage, a notable contrast to the predominantly single-player VR cultural heritage literature, where only 5 of 265 reviewed publications involved multiple players.

The evidence base is qualitative and largely formative. Participants reported high levels of immersion and enjoyment, but no quantitative measures substantiate these claims, and evaluation of the newer use cases was observational rather than structured empirical validation. The authors also identify limitations, including inconsistent motion-tracking accuracy and the spatial constraints of room-scale installations. Planned future work includes assessing learning outcomes, adding multisensory elements, and conducting rigorous testing across diverse demographics. The paper's scope is therefore best understood as a design framework with preliminary validation in public cultural venue contexts.