Field research

Interviews within our target group

Grandmother (63) with her grandson (9), Eidhoven

They were from Eidhoven and they decided to visit Utrecht for one day/afternoon. They have been here before, but the main purpose of their visit today was visiting the Dom tower and some of the museums. When presenting the game and the concept behind it she was very pleased with the idea of discovering the town in this way.

She would definitely like to participate in Lost in time game with her grandson and discover and learn some new things as well.

Regarding the location of the game, she thinks that it is not about the location itself – urban or rural – but more about the stories location has to offer. She would like to visit some landmarks, maybe castles or other places and as well some city centres, but decision will be definitely connected with the background story of the location.

She prefers whole day activity, not only part of the day activity. Perfect option would if it would be organised and that they will get more things in the »package«, meaning that the game and maybe lunch and some other activities will be included in this day trip. On the other hand she would not like online pre-registration. She prefers being spontaneous and sometimes it depends on the schedules that her grandson has.

She is owner of a smartphone and she prefers to use her own smartphone, which will be shared or used by her grandson as well. Maximum price for downloading the game on the smartphone would be 10 €.

Grandson (9) was also interested in the game, since he likes history and games as well. They both prefer more explaining in the game, meaning visual explanation of tasks and instructions. They will be prepared to play the game for approximately 2 hours and it would definitely depend on the weather (should not be too hot or too cold, no rain etc.).

Father with three daughters  (3, 5, 8 years), Dutch

First word of impression was: perhaps.

They were Dutch and he and his wife are seperated and this was his afternoon with their children and they decided to have a walk in Utrecht. He does not have time to play this game with the children, because he is too busy with work. When mentioning the possibility of supervisor, he said that he should discuss it with their mother as well.

He likes the idea that the game is connected to history, but he is not in favour in iPads, iPhones and other technical equipments, because he thinks that children should play real games with real things. In terms of story in the game, stories should not be too scary for the children or should be adjusted for different age groups. He would not let all of his daughter play the same game, in case it would be too scary or too complicated. And the content of the games and stories the children will learn depends on the child and his/hers points of interest. 

He prefers having the possibility of the game in the city centres, but not in big cities like Amsterdam, but smaller and nicer, where history has something to offer. It depends on the stories the location has to offer.

Since their children do not own an iPad or an iPhone, they will probably rent it and the maximum price paying for that would be 20 €, for maximum of 50 minutes (because the kids should not spend too much time with the iPads).

Mother with three sons (4, 7, 13)

They are Dutch tourists from Hiluersum, who came to Utrecht, because of some museums and Dom tower. They are all really interested in history and historic parts of the city centres all over the world.

She will definitely allow their children to play the game, but she would prefer to have a supervisor and that she would have time to relax and sit somewhere. The best option will be playing the game somewhere outside the city centres, some rural area, where is a lot of space, nature and nice landmarks, however it should be somehow connected to history or some legends.

She will lend her children her own iPad and for the downloading the game they are prepared to pay 5 €, for renting an iPad, including the game they are willing to pay maximum 10 €. As a family they prefer this game as a whole day activity, because they will probably attend it during the vacations in spring or summer. That contributes to the fact that the weather is really important for this game.

They also considered celebrating son's birthday and inviting some of his friends to play the game, however there should be a reliable supervisor who would take care of the children and help them with instructions and tasks.

Mother and a father with son (11)

Family from Utrecht which lives here their whole life. Idea of discovering Utrecht through the game is nice, but they would prefer if the child could do it by himself, however they are not sure if they would live him alone, they prefer a supervisor or a group of children he could join. They would like him to learn more about the history, although ne probably knows something already from the school. The stories should be based around the game and some legends to be attractive for their son and should not be connected just to history.

They prefer the game to be a part-of-the-day game, where they can leave thier son at some point in the centre and pick him up in one or two hours and that they would know that he is somewhere safe and controlled.

For renting an iPad and the game they are prepared to pay maximum 8 € for maximum 2 hours.  Their son would prefer that the game and the instructions will be visual or explaind by someone, no reading involved. They probably would not download trial game in advance, but they will decided for this game according to some recommendations.

Mother and grandmother with two daughter (11, 13)

This interviewees are from Groningen and they decided to visit Utrecht for one day and in the upcoming days they are going to some other Dutch cities in this part of Netherlands. Mother and a grandmother decided to spend time with their grand/children and have a nice girls trip in the parts of Netherlands, where the kids have not been before.

They prefer this game as an one hour game, where they can also participate with the children and play it togehter. Being togehter is very important for them. However, they would not use their own equipment but they would rent the iPads and they will pay maximum 15 € for the game and probably they will use one iPad all of them – or maybe they will play in pairs and compete with each other.

They think that the location depend on the stories that the location has to offer. Since they are travelling in this area, they would like to see some landmarks and playing Lost in time game somewhere around castles would be nice and they would like an option of having a meal afterwards. They would like to learn more about the location or the area and it should definitely be fun for the parents and the children as well.

They are not really in favour of children playing with iPads, but if it would be educationary they will support it. They think that playing this game should be spontaneous decision, so they do not really like pre-registration online, because they like to be free on their travel, however they would probably plan it in advance to visit the location with the game and they should definitely get enough informations in advance.

All of the interviewees would like to have a game in Dutch.