Situating Play: An Ethnography of Locative Play in Urban Environments

Abstract

This thesis develops the concept of situated play. Drawing from the fields of game studies, cultural studies and the social science paradigm of mobilities, this research presents an investigation into how play is produced within communities of location-based game players. Situated play offers a way to understand how play is produced within intersections of cultural, social and material conditions – and how the meaning of these conditions is further developed through the practice of play itself. This concept provides the framework for a digital ethnography into Sydney’s Ingress communities. Ingress, a location-based game developed by Niantic Labs Inc., which was were operating as a subsidiary of Google, features a stylised version of Google Maps where players must capture key landmarks for one of two teams. This thesis follows the months leading up to the release of Pokémon GO, documenting the moments before this cultural shift within a major Australian city. Situated play forms the basis of this digital ethnography, allowing for a rich and thick description of interactions and observations with and of communities. This thesis focuses on issues of place and construction of urban environments through architecture, software and landmarks, and deals with the construction of play in social worlds and the temporal rhythms of work and play. The thesis makes contributions to the study of mobile games and locative media, suggesting that such technologies are understood socially and culturally through a shared production of play.