A paper tells you what was done, but never why a decision was made. For that you have to ask — and what usually comes back is that the person who built the thing cannot fully account for how it works either.
That gap is the research. Semi-structured interviews with people making gameful interactive installations, across different countries and practices, all circling one question:
Do they recognise game mechanics in their own language for what they do — or is it happening without a name?
Status
Done: Sion Cao (UK), May 2026.
Planned: Playfool (UK/JP), Tomo Kihara (JP), Crystal Jow (US).
Contact has not been made with the remaining three. This has run past its original August deadline and needs rescoping to a number I can actually finish — probably one or two more, not three.