Our project asks players to apply well-defined puzzle gameplay rules to signifiers outside of the game window. We investigate: How far can puzzle logic be extended outside the game window before the magic circle breaks? Huizinga’s magic circle is the main theoretical lens of our project, since our prototype aims to distort and expand the magic circle across mediums. Juul’s dual signification also forms a basis for our idea as it provides a lens to view the magic circle as it relates to sign-reading by the player. We created a prototype with 10 puzzles, five of which are only within the game window and five of which lead the player outside of the game window.
Around 10 of our peers will playtest the prototype. We will repeat this procedure with each of our participants:
We expect that players will have the most difficulty extending the gameplay logic into the real world, then the download folder, then the browser. We also expect that the first puzzle that leaves the game window will be the hardest. We predict that players will be able to follow the gameplay logic all the way into the real world, showing that the magic circle can be expanded if a puzzle logic is followed.
Our talk will have the following structure: