From Board to Screen and Back: Exploring Continuous Transmedial Play

Hybrid games typically combine physical and digital mediums within a single play session, aiming to leverage the strengths of each. Yet, this often causes one medium to assume a more supportive and mandatory role, which can disrupt the experience rather than enrich it. In this work, we present a novel hybrid approach in which players can engage in medium-specific play sessions (i.e., physical and digital play sessions), while preserving a sense of continuity between them. To explore medium hybridity beyond a single play session, we designed and developed a transmedial game prototype that extends the mechanics and progression of an existing board game into digital play sessions. We conducted a user study with 16 participants, in groups of two or three, each engaging in an initial in-person session, followed by in-the-field digital sessions and a final in-person session with interviews. This structure allowed us to examine how gameplay, social dynamics, and progression unfolded across mediums and over time. Our findings highlight how continuity shapes transmedial play, for example by tightly linking narrative and mechanics, supporting flexible progression, and balancing individual and group agency to maintain player engagement.