What's "The Internet of Things Board Game"?
The Internet of Things (IoT) Game is a collaborative strategy board game designed to reveal the hidden complexities of IoT-enabled systems, particularly around security and privacy. The game is built around an idea called procedural rhetoric, which aims to make the complicated relationships between people and smart systems easier to understand.
Who's it for?
This project is for both technology experts and novices alike, and can help both groups better understand how the connected devices around us work. It is also useful for designers and researchers who are interested in explore the concept of more-than-human-centred viewpoints and for educators who want ways to simplify complex technology systems for their students. The project is also of relevance to the wider games research community because it helps to show and understand how creating board games can be used as a research method.
Approach
The team developed the game over 14 iterations and 10 play tests. The players had a wide range of Internet of Things (IoT) knowledge. A key part of the games inspiration came from an idea called procedural rhetoric, which says that arguments and logic can be captured through processes and rules, rather than words just words. In addition the game took inspiration from an idea called Object-Oriented Ontology, which is a theory of More-Than-Human Design. In the game these ideas come together so that players move through their homes while building and observing connections between physical objects, computer systems, and data. Vulnerabilities spread through these links, revealing the hidden interdependencies of the IoT.
Contribution
This project shows how board games can reflect complex systems through their rules and use play to better understand those rules. The work identifies three kinds of rules: formal, which are the written instructions; constitutive, which are the game’s basic logic; and social, which are the cultural norms around playing. These rule types are similar to how people interact with digital systems through instructions, embedded code, and social habits. The study finds that collaborative gameplay represents IoT interdependencies better than competitive play. It also shows how stories help players relate game scenarios to real privacy issues.
Why is it in the Observatory?
At a time when design research is expanding beyond traditional methods, it reveals the potential of games to engage participants and explore complexity in accessible ways. The work is significant for showing how tangible, playful formats can produce meaningful insights.
The project demonstrates a framing for how games might be utilised to fully explore emerging socio-digital technologies and systems.