Playing Cool - Winter Weather's Influence on Location-Based Gaming

Location-based games are highly dependent on the physical environment. One important but often overlooked factor is weather. In this paper we focus on winter weather, as this is a common weather that is often not designed for specifically. By performing a qualitative observation, interview, and questionnaire study of families during and after playing a GPS-based mobile game in a winter setting, this paper studies how winter conditions affected the gaming experience. Three main factors were observed to have a big impact on the gaming experience: snow, ice and cold. We outline ways these weather conditions were found to be both obstacles, and adding value to the game. Finally, we suggest design implications for winter weather, mainly; the need for short games due to cold, adaption of gameplay for movement in snow, to avoid interactions based on handling the phone, and to adapt maps to the effects of snow and ice. By explaining how winter conditions affect the gaming experience, location-based games can be better adapted for these weather conditions, and thereby help in making better design decisions.