PinguTouch is a casual cooperative game created to make full use of both the social and the interactive possibilities of a computer-supported tabletop system. It uses multi-touch technology to allow simultaneous interaction by multiple users.
The game involves players performing hand gestures on the table surface to aid penguin-like creatures, called pingus, through an obstacle course. Three gestures are implemented: flicking of pingus, pulling of levers, and making bridges or blockades.
To fully utilize the co-located scenario, PinguTouch encourages close spatial cooperation by employing quasi-modes. Since the number of actions one player can perform at any one point of time are restricted, players must work closely together in a common workspace to succeed in rescuing a large number of pingus. This enables a game environment impossible to recreate in a non co-located scenario.
To further support interpersonal interaction similar to a typical board game, the visual layout of the game is fashioned in an octagonal form. The ``down
-direction of the game world leads towards the radius of the octagon, while the ``up-direction leads towards its center, thus allowing all users standing around the table easy access to their part of the game world.
Internal Area
