Wearpg: movement-based tabletop role-playing game with arm-worn devices and an augmented die

Abstract

Augmenting tabletop role-playing games (TTRPG) with computers took much attention of researchers recently. Nevertheless, these efforts mostly remained as functional augmentations. We believe that integrating new gameplay styles to this genre is still an underexplored area. Drawing upon the previous studies, we believe that wearables which support movement-based gameplay can be a good step taken in this direction as previous studies claim that wearables can strengthen the link to the imaginary worlds which is critical for TTRPG experience while the movement-based play can increase the player engagement. However, previous studies did not investigate these concepts with an implemented technology. Therefore, to get a better understanding of how wearables can alter the TTRPG experience, we designed a new RPG game system and developed the Elemental Gauntlet and the Luck Stone which enable movement-based game play in TTRPG context. Our preliminary results showed that, movement-based play and wearable props strengthen the identification feeling with the fictional character and resulted in a better immersion to the imaginary world of the game.