NFC Mobile Parlor Games Enabling Direct Player to Player Interaction

Whilst there has been considerable research focus on the user experience of using NFC enabled mobile phones interacting with tags or objects, the ability to perform peer to peer contact has been given little consideration and is often dismissed as being only useful for setting up a connection or transferring business cards. In this research, we present two games that show how the intimate nature of this interaction can successfully be used as a game mechanic for social mobile games, where it is specifically designed to create a shared social experience and generating a near physical interaction between players. In particular, the two games presented use NFC within designs inspired by 19th century parlor games to illustrate how mobile games can benefit from the success console games such as Guitar Hero which move the focus of the player group from screen space to player space and allow a more intimate interaction and approach.