The Intersection of Place and Game Design: The Case of Two Classic African Board Games

Abstract

The concept of game design is often associated with a computational creative task or a creation with technology. Automatically linking game design to computational activity or technology may have contributed to the scarce research on the interaction between place and game design. The focus on technology may have excluded indigenous games from game design conversation in the game design literature. This article explores design in the context of two classic African board games. We examine the influence of place on the design of these games. Building on game design and place literature, the article shows the situatedness of game design and it integrates the design of classic African board games into the larger conversation about game design. The article discusses the implications for game-based learning.