A transreality game, sometimes written as trans-reality game, describes a type of

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

or a mode of

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game. The term applies to both video games and Tabletop game, tabletop games. Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges, and t ...

that combines playing a game in a

virtual environment A virtual environment is a networked application that allows a user to interact with both the computing environment and the work of other users. Email, chat, and web-based document sharing applications are all examples of virtual environments. Sim ...

with game-related, physical experiences in the real world and vice versa. In this approach a player evolves and moves seamlessly through various physical and virtual stages, brought together in one unified game space. Alongside the rising trend of

gamification Gamification is the process of enhancing systems, services, organisations and activities through the integration of game design elements and principles in non-game contexts. The goal is to increase user engagement, motivation, competition and ...

, the application of game mechanics to tasks that are not traditionally associated with play, a transreality approach to gaming incorporates mechanics that extend over time and space, effectively playing through a players day-to-day interactions. The essential part of transreality gaming is considered to be the fluidity between physical and virtual stages of gameplay, making it more and more difficult to see the distinction between what is allegedly 'virtual' and what is allegedly 'real' while playing. Looking at a transreality game from that perspective it may also integrate (big) data feeds into the storylines of games as a means to make the gameplay more immersive, like in the setup of Liping Xie's experimental scientific simulations in which a population of sample individuals search a real-world optimum in a virtual problem space, driven by real world forces in that space. Further on it could benefit from new layers of reality mining, connected intelligence and

ubiquitous computing Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear seamlessly anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing imp ...

that incorporate machines into our lives like the

Internet of things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...

and

wearable computing A wearable computer, also known as a body-borne computer, is a computing device worn on the body. The definition of 'wearable computer' may be narrow or broad, extending to smartphones or even ordinary wristwatches. Wearables may be for general ...

(both using

sensors A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

that are able to immediately re-create the actual world on and around a player on his or her device),

cryptocurrencies A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership records ...

micropayments A micropayment is a financial transaction involving a very small sum of money and usually one that occurs online. A number of micropayment systems were proposed and developed in the mid-to-late 1990s, all of which were ultimately unsuccessful. A s ...

and nanopayments (for handling transmedial game credits), deployment of cleverbots, mind files and

intelligent agent In artificial intelligence, an intelligent agent is an entity that Machine perception, perceives its environment, takes actions autonomously to achieve goals, and may improve its performance through machine learning or by acquiring knowledge r ...

systems (to enhance the natural feel and learning skills of game characters) and games using

kinetics Kinetics (, ''movement'' or ''to move'') may refer to: Science and medicine * Kinetics (physics), the study of motion and its causes ** Rigid body kinetics, the study of the motion of rigid bodies * Chemical kinetics, the study of chemical ...

(through motion controllers or through haptics). Different authors have used the adjective 'transreal' as a starting point for the design of location-based games (like

pervasive game A pervasive game is one where the gaming experience is extended out into the real world, or where the fictional world in which the game takes place blends with the physical world. The "It's Alive" mobile games company described pervasive games a ...

mixed reality games A mixed reality game (or hybrid reality game) blends elements of both the real and virtual worlds, allowing players to interact with both reality and virtual reality simultaneously. According to Souza de Silva and Sutko, the defining characteristic ...

and

augmented reality game Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted display. This experie ...

s) and cross media games (like

simulation games Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...

LARP A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique featur ...

and

alternate reality games An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by int ...

). All of these genres offer game experiences integrated with everyday routines and social networks. Its applications are to be found in

serious game A serious game or applied game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to video games used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, he ...

s (education, awareness, skill training), gamification (like in production centers, marketing, research and testing) as well as in mobile multiplayer trans-reality games, MMTRG (including gamification of

Foursquare Four square is a ball game. Four square may also refer to: Internet and entertainment * Foursquare City Guide, a local search and discovery app * 4 Square (game show), ''4 Square'' (game show), a British game show * 4 Square (TV series), ''4 Squ ...

), using the actual geolocation of the player in the gameplay, like in games such as Ingress, ''

Pokémon Go ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game originally developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It uses mobile devic ...

'', ''

Shadow Cities ''Shadow Cities'' was an early location-based mobile game, created by the Finnish company Grey Area. The game took place in a "parallel world", using the player's physical GPS location on an in-game map, battling other nearby players. The game w ...

'', '' Zombies, Run!'', ''YouCatch'', ''Roads of San Francisco'', ''City Race Munich'' and '' Parallel Kingdom''. From a broader perspective it is argued that different location aware and

transmedia Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of adapting a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. From a product ...

l game formats may also be considered to merely provide a facilitating infrastructure for transreality gaming in a broader sense, positioned as a new way of looking at the design of game spaces, meant to be played across different realities rather than across different media.Sakamoto, Mizuki; Nakajima, Tatsuo; Alexandrova Todorka
Digital-physical hybrid design: Harmonizing the real world and the virtual world
Desform (2012).

References

Further reading