Tactile Texts: A Multisensory Storybook Game for Reimagining Reading through Material and Collaborative Play

"Tactile Texts" presents Shadow Castle, a hybrid two-player storybook game that pairs a conductive fabric book with a companion tablet to address aliteracy, the capacity to read without the motivation to do so. The authors locate the problem in affective and motivational barriers rather than skill deficits, and they draw on Self-Determination Theory and Material Engagement Theory to argue that arts-based, game-based, and multisensory approaches can cultivate intrinsic motivation. The paper frames its contribution against a notable gap: only about 3 percent of 2024 educational gamification articles retrieved through an OpenAlex search addressed reading or literacy, and only eight included art.

The design was developed through iterative paper prototyping and a 75-minute co-design study with roughly 40 interdisciplinary university students. Participants given the same prompt consistently linked particular fabric textures and colors to concepts such as playfulness, magic, danger, and calm, and these shared associations became the book's material vocabulary. In the resulting game, one player manipulates sensor-embedded fabric pages while the other uses a tablet with keyword-absorbing abilities, a division intended to prompt verbal collaboration. The Makey Makey-based conductive circuitry was refined after early problems, including players' hesitance to handle the fragile book and cumbersome wristband wiring, which was resolved by embedding ground wires within the book.

Informal playtests with about 16 participants suggested that splitting the interface increased communication and shared curiosity, that narrative text woven into the fabric environment drew greater engagement, and that co-designers felt strong authorship over the outcome. The authors attribute these effects to hidden elements, collaborative interpretation, and a form of guided curiosity supporting autonomy. However, the evidence is limited to small, informal sessions without a formal assessment protocol, so claims about educational impact and effectiveness for aliterate learners remain untested. The final section of the document consists only of a truncated reference list, containing no further findings.