Civic games with 'local fit': embedding with real‐world neighborhoods and place‐based networks

This study offers a new way to understand how game‐based activities can deepen local communities tied to place, including how to evaluate some of the unusual risks. Real‐world games go beyond training by attempting to get something done, like raising funds or deepening trust across race and class divides. By playing games tied to human networks, participants can build social ties. But can the community deepen its collective capacity? Real‐world games require new frameworks to align with regional models for economic development and social justice. This study introduces ""Locally Situated Games"" as a new category to distinguish and compare games that strengthen place‐based communities. Several game‐based activities are analyzed in depth, including Macon Money, Reality Ends Here, and ParTour South LA. Success for these designs is hypothesized to depend on fitting deeply to an existing community, including to critique or change the community. To investigate, this dissertation proposes 'local fit' as a conceptual framework to unite the ""how of games"" with the ""how of communities"" in three dimensions. Each dimension brings a distinct cognitive perspective, including: network mechanics, group identity, and the local ecology of communication. 'Local fit' is used to analyze the case study games, and to explain one case of replication failure. The analysis integrates multiple methods and data sources, including participant observation, network analysis of player relationships, interviews with game designers, and surveys of participating businesses. Findings include a model to localize place‐based games, a process for articulating game mechanics in socio‐cultural terms, several ethical considerations, and consideration of Situated Games as a kind of socio‐economic policy.