Gaming tourism: Lessons from evaluating REXplorer, a pervasive game for tourists

Abstract

REXplorer is a mobile, pervasive spell-casting game designed for tourists of Regensburg, Germany. The game creates player encounters with spirits (historical figures) that are associated with significant buildings in an urban setting. A novel mobile interaction mechanism of "casting a spell" (making a gesture by waving a mobile phone through the air) allows the player to awaken and communicate with a spirit to continue playing the game. The game is designed to inform visitors about history in a fun manner. The results of a formative evaluation are explored to inform the design of future serious pervasive games. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.