Distributed Letter Jam: Designing Distributed Board Game Play for Social Connection

Abstract

Playing board games together is a fun way for people to connect with friends and family, but social board game play can be challenging when people can't get together in-person. Using a Research through Design approach, we explored possibilities for enabling social distributed board game play amongst friends and family. We developed a video prototype of game play for a distributed version of Letter Jam. Through reflecting on this prototype, we discuss challenges for the design of distributed board games, including incorporating tangible inputs and accommodating a variety of household configurations. We also identify a set of design qualities, including spatiality, tangibility, and presence, that can inform the design of systems for social distributed board game play.