The longest walk: a retrospective of biographical game design

Alexander Tarvet

doi:10.1145/3505270.3558386

The longest walk: a retrospective of biographical game design

Alexander Tarvet

SDI

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

36 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper discusses the design of an original biographical game that is of deep, personal relevance to the designer. The Longest Walk was designed and developed using documentary process and interrogated through Narrative Portraits to authentically convey my father’s experience of living with depression and suicidal intent in an interactive experience with documentary quality. The game takes place on a walk over the Tay Road Bridge (Dundee, UK) – an infamous local landmark for those seeking to take their own life – and makes use of interview audio and point cloud data to strive for indexicality and as a method of expressive framing. This paper reflects on the interweaving of documentary practice with game design practice and serves as a demonstration of how a documentary-like quality can be achieved in games based on lived experiences.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI PLAY '22
Subtitle of host publication	Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
Editors	Kathrin Gerling, Jo Iacovides, Rainer Malaka, Beth Bonsignore, Julian Frommel
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Pages	351-356
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Print)	9781450392112
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3505270.3558386
Publication status	Published - 7 Nov 2022
Event	CHI PLAY 2022 - Bremen, Germany Duration: 2 Nov 2022 → 5 Nov 2022 https://chiplay.acm.org/2022/

Conference

Conference	CHI PLAY 2022
Country/Territory	Germany
City	Bremen
Period	2/11/22 → 5/11/22
Internet address	https://chiplay.acm.org/2022/

Keywords

Documentary game
Lived experience
Biography
Mental health
Walking-simulator

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1145/3505270.3558386

Tarvet_TheLongestWalk_Accepted_2022Accepted author manuscript, 834 KB

Cite this

@inproceedings{48f0607ef2244e508c9b0c63a73072c0,

title = "The longest walk: a retrospective of biographical game design",

abstract = "This paper discusses the design of an original biographical game that is of deep, personal relevance to the designer. The Longest Walk was designed and developed using documentary process and interrogated through Narrative Portraits to authentically convey my father{\textquoteright}s experience of living with depression and suicidal intent in an interactive experience with documentary quality. The game takes place on a walk over the Tay Road Bridge (Dundee, UK) – an infamous local landmark for those seeking to take their own life – and makes use of interview audio and point cloud data to strive for indexicality and as a method of expressive framing. This paper reflects on the interweaving of documentary practice with game design practice and serves as a demonstration of how a documentary-like quality can be achieved in games based on lived experiences.",

author = "Alexander Tarvet",

note = "Funding information: Northwood Charitable Trust; CHI PLAY 2022 ; Conference date: 02-11-2022 Through 05-11-2022",

year = "2022",

month = nov,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1145/3505270.3558386",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781450392112",

pages = "351--356",

editor = "Kathrin Gerling and Jo Iacovides and Rainer Malaka and Beth Bonsignore and Julian Frommel",

booktitle = "CHI PLAY '22",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)",

address = "United States",

url = "https://chiplay.acm.org/2022/",

}

Tarvet, A 2022, The longest walk: a retrospective of biographical game design. in K Gerling, J Iacovides, R Malaka, B Bonsignore & J Frommel (eds), CHI PLAY '22: Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York, pp. 351-356, CHI PLAY 2022, Bremen, Germany, 2/11/22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3505270.3558386

The longest walk : a retrospective of biographical game design. / Tarvet, Alexander.

CHI PLAY '22: Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. ed. / Kathrin Gerling; Jo Iacovides; Rainer Malaka; Beth Bonsignore; Julian Frommel. New York : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2022. p. 351-356.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

TY - GEN

T1 - The longest walk

T2 - CHI PLAY 2022

AU - Tarvet, Alexander

N1 - Funding information: Northwood Charitable Trust

PY - 2022/11/7

Y1 - 2022/11/7

N2 - This paper discusses the design of an original biographical game that is of deep, personal relevance to the designer. The Longest Walk was designed and developed using documentary process and interrogated through Narrative Portraits to authentically convey my father’s experience of living with depression and suicidal intent in an interactive experience with documentary quality. The game takes place on a walk over the Tay Road Bridge (Dundee, UK) – an infamous local landmark for those seeking to take their own life – and makes use of interview audio and point cloud data to strive for indexicality and as a method of expressive framing. This paper reflects on the interweaving of documentary practice with game design practice and serves as a demonstration of how a documentary-like quality can be achieved in games based on lived experiences.

AB - This paper discusses the design of an original biographical game that is of deep, personal relevance to the designer. The Longest Walk was designed and developed using documentary process and interrogated through Narrative Portraits to authentically convey my father’s experience of living with depression and suicidal intent in an interactive experience with documentary quality. The game takes place on a walk over the Tay Road Bridge (Dundee, UK) – an infamous local landmark for those seeking to take their own life – and makes use of interview audio and point cloud data to strive for indexicality and as a method of expressive framing. This paper reflects on the interweaving of documentary practice with game design practice and serves as a demonstration of how a documentary-like quality can be achieved in games based on lived experiences.

U2 - 10.1145/3505270.3558386

DO - 10.1145/3505270.3558386

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781450392112

SP - 351

EP - 356

BT - CHI PLAY '22

A2 - Gerling, Kathrin

A2 - Iacovides, Jo

A2 - Malaka, Rainer

A2 - Bonsignore, Beth

A2 - Frommel, Julian

PB - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

CY - New York

Y2 - 2 November 2022 through 5 November 2022

ER -

The longest walk: a retrospective of biographical game design

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this