Pervasive games

Pervasive games are bridging the physical and digital worlds through the use of mobile devices, positioning technology, and mobile networks. They received an uptake since the Global Positioning System (GPS) became available for public use in May 2000. Since then, pervasive games have been studied in a number of research projects and have reached the mass market by now. Furthermore, their concepts have been applied to mobile augmented learning experiences which makes them very relevant also for the design of serious games. This chapter provides a historical introduction and highlights aspects of pervasive games illustrated by examples. It continues with a discussion of what pervasive games are made of, how they are built, and which recurring issues have to be considered when building and deploying them. The chapter concludes with considerations about how pervasive games went from research to application and how that relates to budget and marketing efforts. Finally, it provides recommendations for further reading and some research questions towards using pervasive games in mobile educational research.