H. Kosch, L. Böszörményi, H. Hellwagner (Eds.): Euro-Par 2003, LNCS 2790, pp. 1129–1136, 2003. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003 Designing Mobile Games for a Challenging Experience of the Urban Heritage Francesco Bellotti, Riccardo Berta, Alessandro De Gloria, Edmondo Ferretti, and Massimiliano Margarone 1 DIBE – Dep.t of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Genoa, Via dell’Opera Pia 11/a, 16145 Genova, Italy {franz, berta, adg, ed, marga}@dibe.unige.it http://www.elios.dibe.unige.it/ Abstract. Ubiquitous gaming is a new emerging research area, that is gaining focus from industry and academy as smart wireless devices are becoming ever more widespread. We have explored this field implementing a treasure hunt game aimed at enhancing the visitor’s experience of the heritage in a city area, such as Venice. The game relies on standard, commercially available hardware and middleware systems. The paper describes the pedagogical principles that in- spire the game and the corresponding structure of VeGame. We also discuss how combining mobile gaming and an educational focus may deliver to the player a challenging and engaging experience of the heritage, as shown by early user tests. Extensive qualitative and quantitative evaluation will start in June 2003. 1 Introduction Mobile computing can support the user in the exact moment of the requirement – during her/his normal daily-life activities –, without the need for relying on a wired desktop computer. Our research group has explored such issues in the fields of tourism and culture, designing and developing multimedia mobile guides on palmtop comput- ers for tourists [1, 2]. In this context, mobile services support visitors in the most im- portant moment of their education experience: when they are up close to the subject, whether they’re viewing a painting in a museum, a monument in a park, or an animal in the zoo. We are now interested in developing further this research field, exploring how mobile gaming can help tourists enhance their experience of art and history, favoring a pleas- ant and challenging interaction with documents and artifacts in a real urban context. 1.1 Designing Games to Support Acquisition of Knowledge In this article we describe VeGame (Venice Game, Fig. 1) – a team-game played along the Venice’s narrow streets to discover the art and the history of the city – and