To thoroughly explore the design strategies of immersive blocks, this paper investigates Guitanglou (簋唐楼) as a case study. Located in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China, Guitanglou spans nearly 20,000 square meters. This site functions as a commercial travel destination and was officially opened in October 2021. The design approach of Guitanglou incorporates elements of Live Action Role Playing (LARP), providing participants with substantial autonomy. Visitors at Guitanglou can engage in typical activities such as sightseeing, photography, and shopping. Additionally, they have the opportunity to assume specific roles, don costumes, and immerse themselves in various narratives, thereby experiencing life from alternative perspectives (refer to Figure 1).

Xi'an, known as one of the cradles of ancient Chinese culture, served as the capital city for thirteen dynasties in China. Renowned for its numerous historic sites like the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin (秦始皇陵), the Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑), and the Dayan Pagoda (大雁塔), Xi'an attracts a large number of tourists annually. A vital source of cultural tourism design in Xi'an is the rich history and culture of the Tang Dynasty. Xi'an's significance stems from its long-standing status as the capital of the Tang Dynasty, an era highly revered by Chinese people. The Tang Dynasty boasted a flourishing economy, social stability, active diplomacy, diverse culture, and art, embodying a high degree of international influence. It symbolizes the illustrious history and cultural achievements of Chinese civilization on the world stage (Ng et al., 2016; Zhu and Yang, 2017; Lin et al., 2020), and the Chinese often refer to themselves as “Tang People.”

Recent official data released by the Xi'an government revealed a 64% increase in tourism orders during the Spring Festival in 2024 compared to the previous year. Xi'an emerged as the top destination for domestic inbound tourism, with the most frequented site being the “Datang City that Never Nights (大唐不夜城)” area.⁴ It is within this context that the Guitanglou block was launched, aligned with the Tang Dynasty theme and harmonizing closely with the city's historical and cultural heritage.

Presently, China features several blocks similar to Guitanglou, such as “Twelve Hours of Chang'an” (长安十二时辰) in Xi'an and “Xifan Li” (嘻番里) in Beijing. These blocks, set in renowned historic cities, adopt comparable designs and incorporate familiar modes of live-action game interactions found in traditional public cultural spaces like theme parks, museums, and commercial streets from earlier years. The interactions involve storytelling, open-air theatrical performances, tour guide role-playing, and task-based challenges (Fu et al., 2023; Tseng, 2022; Hansen and Mossberg, 2017; Prentice, 2001; Jafari et al., 2013), albeit with unique innovation.

Guitanglou stands out as a popular choice among such block cases, as indicated by comprehensive rankings on various social media platforms. It is, therefore, selected as the focal case for this study based on its exceptional popularity and intriguing features.

Designers should actively observe and analyze consumers' behaviors and feedback to gain insights into the concept of “immersion”. Subjective evaluation and expression are key in determining the success of a project and objectively measuring its effects, especially considering the various psychological elements involved. When consumers experience a sense of immersive presence, they often enter a state of deep concentration. A common approach to measuring this state is through subjects' self-reports (Lombard and Ditton, 1997). In this study, interviews were employed to collect firsthand data.

The selection of research participants was done through snowball sampling to ensure diverse perspectives. In this study, snowball sampling was used to reach the target participants. Snowballing is a common sampling method for qualitative research, mainly used to recruit consumer groups that are not easy to reach directly (Marcus et al., 2017; Reagan et al., 2019). Since the customers participating in Guitanglou are engaged in the experience, it is difficult for researchers to speak with them directly without disruption. Therefore, the researchers initially contacted the groups who had participated in Guitanglou outside the block, and then contacted additional relevant consumers through the groups they had already interacted with. Semi-structured interviews were conducted based on Mochocki et al.'s framework, covering aspects such as consumers' environmental perceptions, content assessment, emotional states, overall feedback on the experience, and likelihood of being repeat customers (see Appendix A). Twenty-five consumers who had engaged with the Guitanglou Block experience were randomly selected. Considering the clarity of these responses, detailed records of 13 interviews are included in the paper's Appendix B.

To protect the privacy of interviewees, coding was done using the interview date and serial number (e.g., 230403V1 for the first interviewee on April 3, 2023). Each interview lasted between 45 and 60 min and was conducted online (see Table 1). Further information is available in the attached documents.

In the context of designing tourist blocks with a focus on gamification, a critical priority is the meticulous construction of the overall environment. This aspect serves as the initial point of contact for tourists upon entering the block, shaping their first impressions significantly. Effective spatial design exerts a profound visual influence on tourists, leaving a lasting impact. For example, an interviewee suggested that the scene is very well arranged, and it often feels like a winding path leading to a secluded place. For example, when walking on a busy street, you might find a shady side path lined with bamboo that leads directly to a Taoist temple. This place is very rich in both audio and video [230411V1, female]. Other than that, according to respondents, the essence of the Guitanglou block extends beyond its stark contrast with the “real world” exterior; it is also rooted in the interior's sense of comfort and authenticity. For example, one visitor mentioned that there was a special atmosphere in the block, just like jumping into ancient times [230409V1, female]. These environmental atmospheres, which are different from those of conventional tourist blocks, have brought a strong sense of impact to many interviewees.

In developing immersive blocks within the gamification framework, the design process encompasses both the “hardware” components, such as the physical scenery and environmental setup, and the essential “software” elements that revolve around the involvement of service providers (i.e., the official block performers) and other participants (i.e., fellow visitors). While performers possess a degree of autonomy, their actions, behavioral patterns, and overall flow of interaction primarily align with the predetermined design blueprint.

One of the most frequently mentioned topics is interacting with NPCS. For example, an interviewee expressed: “What I like about it very much is that it provides a sense of immersion through the construction of real-life houses and streets, everything is real but new. I think this is a particularly interesting thing. It opens in the morning and closes at night, and all the NPCs in it seem to be living in real life” [230511V1, female]. This professional performance can make great contributions for tourists to gradually adapting to the life and social mode in the immersive block. In addition, a variety of collective rituals of different scales also bring reasonable context to these social interactions. For example, “There will be a show in the block every half hour. I remember one performance of witchcraft that was visually stunning [230410V1, female]”. The intensive activities not only build the social circle of the block, but also promote the engagement and participation of tourists.

The narrative content serves as the vital core of the creative blocks, forming the foundational basis for consumers to deeply engage with the immersive game experience during their visit. The continuous innovation and enhancement of the story text play a pivotal role in captivating consumers' attention, ensuring the block remains dynamic in breaking stereotypes. Designers adeptly intertwine fresh stories with both “software” and “hardware” elements to sustain the project's appeal. Upon entry into the immersive block, each consumer is provided with a unique storyline comprising character backgrounds and core clues integrated into the pre-established setting (refer to Figure 2). This narrative further unfolds through the consumer's active participation, engagement, and firsthand experience. In Guitanglou block, although the stories are based on certain text settings, they are not all inevitable, but with strong randomness and flexibility. For example, one interviewee told an interesting story he encountered in the block: “The NPC's dialogue in Guitanglou would not be a long reading script like the Secret of Murder Game, but would give an immersive interaction. For example, in order to earn token money, tourists may steal the token on the table while the NPC was not paying attention—but once caught, he would be taken to the court by an officer from Dali Temple—the policeman in ancient China [230414V1, female]”. In the collection of stories made up of such interesting “small events”, visitors can more fully integrate and trust the stories they experience and participate in.

An immersive site that offers a worthwhile experience necessitates effective gamification strategies to encourage visitor engagement. By strategically implementing diverse tasks and goals, participants are provided with a clear behavioral direction within the block, fostering heightened levels of involvement. While interviewees in this study expressed both positive and negative impressions of Guitanglou, there was a notable consensus on the importance of physical and psychological encouragement in enhancing their experiences.

For example, more than one respondent [230406V1, male; 230411V1, female; 230410V2, female] mentioned that the game tasks in the block were too easy and could be appropriately increased in difficulty to enhance playability. At the same time, some respondents also mentioned: “We can earn silver tickets inside, and the motivation to do so is to buy fake flowers from NPCs to vote in the contest. We used real Chinese Yuan to buy food and souvenirs, while we used the fake silver tickets to buy flowers and vote for our friends.” [230416V1, female] Getting emotional feedback from peers and even strangers through cooperation and competition are also an effective incentive model. Therefore, through a rich variety of tasks and rewards, visitors can be further mobilized to participate in the enthusiasm.

Immersive blocks comprise a diverse array of tangible scenes, acting as the central focus for designers. Scenes serve as the convergence points of cultural phenomena, providing coherence (Straw, 2015) and embodying a new way of life characterized by value exchange and emotional connections. In the context of immersion construction, space, environment, and scenes form the essential foundations. This underscores the notion that objects must first be perceived before they can be truly understood, as emphasized by Mochocki (2021, p. 958–960). Additionally, the concept stresses the necessity of delineating reality from the surrounding environment, a process known as defamiliarization, as articulated by Balzer (2011, p. 82).

However, Mochocki and Balzer's previous theoretical discussion of spatiality basically focused on the description of physical space. In fact, the reason why this paper changed the name of this dimension to “scene” is that it is not only a simple spatial element, but also includes the functions of different buildings and various elements within it—these together constitute the stage for people to carry out activities. Meanwhile, the word “stage” itself also emphasizes that everyone has the opportunity to show themselves on it, and this possibility for everyone to show themselves is particularly important in today's personalized society.

The development of environmental scenes is geared toward facilitating authentic consumer experiences. A superior authentic encounter not only fosters tourists' willingness to engage but also bolsters trust levels, influencing overall satisfaction levels (Park et al., 2019; Domínguez-Quintero et al., 2020). Wang (1999) distinguished between objective, constructive, and existential authenticity, whereby tourists gravitate toward existential and postmodern authenticity during positive consumption experiences (Xu et al., 2022). Consequently, authenticity holds paramount significance in cultural tourism scene design, particularly among participants.

The comfort and artistic merit embedded within scene design are irreplaceable components. Physical space design encompasses visual elements along with multi-sensory factors like light, temperature, and odors (Spence, 2020), which, when meticulously curated, create a harmonious and inviting environment for consumers to immerse themselves. Moreover, the aesthetic dimension of urban spaces plays a pivotal role in enhancing tourist experiences, influencing their perception of existence authenticity (Carù and Cova, 2013). The aesthetic design of urban spaces has been shown to have a positive impact (Silver and Clark, 2016), and designers can leverage a good aesthetic experience to enhance tourists' perception of the authenticity of their surroundings (Genc and Gulertekin Genc, 2023). Respondents' favorable remarks on the aesthetics of Guitanglou, highlighting elements like “beautiful scenery” and a “sense of time travel,” [230414V1, female; 230409V1, female] underscore the significance of artistic sensibilities in satisfying contemporary consumers.

In the realm of scene design, it is essential to establish a clear demarcation between tourism spaces and their external surroundings, fostering a psychological transition zone. Moreover, attention to the comfort and intricacy of the spatial landscape is crucial to instill trust and appreciation among tourists. Continuous efforts to reinforce the internal world's coherence are instrumental in ensuring tourists derive authentic and fulfilling experiences. Designing with a focus on these four dimensions facilitates a deeper consumer perception of the scenes (refer to Figure 4).

In the realm of “socialization,” the concept involves the swift adaptation to new contexts and social norms through social interactions. This enables individuals to momentarily detach from real-life constraints and engage in a virtual alternative. Establishing and fostering social connections is paramount in the creation of immersive experiences. Wang (1999, p. 364–365) highlighted the importance of interpersonal authenticity, stressing the distinct status individuals assume when they embark on travels, transitioning into a unique mental state separate from their daily routines.

Social mechanisms play a pivotal role in the design of immersive blocks. The underlying principle underscores that individuals can fully embrace their roles only when they embrace and nurture new interpersonal ties within participatory community immersion (Mochocki, p. 960). This facilitates complete immersion in the roles designated by designers, enabling participants to distinguish this fabricated role from their real-world persona (Balzer, p. 82).

While Mochocki called this social interaction shared involvement, Balzer stopped at the social level. In the actual interaction process, tourists can not directly enter the shared state of experience and cognition, but need a gradual socialization process. Therefore, “socialization” becomes the name for the current theoretical model. Just as people need to gradually become familiar with the environment in the game, the social design under the gamification mechanism also includes such a gradual and in-depth process.

In order to ensure the realization of this goal, several different subject relationships should be taken into account in design procedure:

Firstly, the interaction between individual participants and performers plays a crucial role in creating immersive experiences. Rather than passively observing performances, empowering tourists with the autonomy to make decisions and take initiative in performances holds more significance (Smith, 2013). This dynamic necessitates performers, functioning as staff members, to exhibit heightened professionalism and actively involve participants in the narrative they weave (Bagnall, 2003). For instance, performers at Guitanglou, portraying ancient figures, display genuine curiosity about participants' interactions with mobile devices, fostering a more authentic engagement [230511V1, female]. This approach enables visitors to fully inhabit their roles and enhances their overall experience. As respondent 230410V1 [female] said: “The NPCs there are very involved in the play and very immersed in their roles, it will bring up the feeling of every tourist.” Therefore, during the design phase, meticulous consideration must be given to factors such as performer allocation, role guidance, and communication strategies to cater to the diverse needs of tourists effectively.

Secondly, it is the interaction among participants that forms a community of shared interests. Within the context of burgeoning social media platforms, tourists are increasingly building connections based on ideas, resources, and mutual interests (Dickinson et al., 2017). Many core connections among consumers at Guitanglou revolve around shared fandom interests like “Hanfu” (traditional Chinese costume) and “murder role-play games,” fostering a sense of camaraderie [230407V1, female; 230416V1, female; 230511V1, female]. These shared interest relationships present an ideal community model that transcends social hierarchies, enabling open communication and immersive enjoyment (Wang, 1999). In designing these interactions, it is imperative to create spaces and opportunities that facilitate communal communication among consumers.

Thirdly, the ritual of collective interaction between performers and participants serves as a crucial design element. By consolidating dispersed groups during collective ceremonies, like the talent competition at Guitanglou, a distinct cultural facet is unveiled, fostering a robust sense of identity and community among participants (Turner et al., 2017). In addition to individual interaction design, designers should also prioritize aspects like frequency, objectives, and thematic alignment of collective rituals within the block. This holistic approach aims to bolster participant connection and enrich the overall immersive experience.

In the realm of interaction design, special consideration should be given to diverse and transient forms of relationships and network connections across several dimensions: firstly, elevating the professionalism of non-player characters (NPCs) is crucial to facilitate tourists' immersion in the context; secondly, tourists engaging with the block should be encouraged to engage in interactive and communicative activities to overcome feelings of isolation; and lastly, as a temporary “community,” designers ought to enhance consumers' overall sense of belonging to the block through meticulously planned cultural celebration ceremonies (refer to Figure 5).

The narrative presentation and portrayal are collaborative processes, where compelling stories and themes can effectively engage consumers, instill belief, enhance emotional resonance, and elevate their overall travel experience (Doyle and Kelliher, 2023; Moscardo, 2010; Jolliffe and Piboonrungroj, 2020).

Story design encompasses the crafting of character backstories and the development of a player avatar's new biography (Mochocki, p. 960). This involves exploring event-specific or mundane topics that deviate from real-life scenarios within the immersive setting (Balzer, 2011).

In this dimension, Mochocki and Balzer's models name narrative model and topical model respectively. The former focuses on narrative techniques, while the latter lacks discussion on the integrity of the story. However, the actual analysis of this research found that only emphasizing narrative skills or showing fragmented content could not improve tourists' attention and recognition. Only complete, systematic and content-rich stories could arouse people's interest and stand out in the competition of similar tourism projects. Therefore, the third S proposed in this article is the Story, which contains a more complete plot and persuasive cultural content, and will be used for the purpose of evoking emotions, rather than just as a technique to promote immersion.

In Guitanglou, participants are assigned unique identities upon entering the block, each entailing distinct storyline requirements, such as the obligation for a successor from a wealthy family to rejuvenate their lineage. Participant actions are met with corresponding consequences based on their worldview within the immersive narrative framework. For instance, as mentioned by the 230414V1 [female] interviewer, participants engaged in activities like “stealing” in the streets are subjected to “ruling” and “punishment” in adherence to the story's regulations. The “Dali Temple,” serving as an ancient Chinese legal entity, oversees the execution of such measures within the narrative.

In the story design of the block, there is a strong relationship between the quality of the story and its theme as well as structure. Moscardo (2020) divides the story features in the tourism system model into three sections: pre-experience, emerging experience and post-experience stories. In the design of the immersive block, the three aspects are slightly different:

In the pre-experience story design phase, visitors' attention revolves around the depth and coherence of the narrative background within the block. This pre-established storyline serves as a crucial information source influencing their planning and decision-making processes (Moscardo, 2017). As the experience unfolds, the story design stage becomes pivotal, with consumers seeking twists and originality in the plot. Unlike the conventional linear storylines, modern tourists are inclined toward co-creating their narratives during on-site tourism experiences, leading to dynamic content influenced by various factors (Moscardo, 2021). Post-experience storytelling shifts focus toward constructing lasting impressions and evaluations. Travel memories merge into personal narratives shared with others, shaping visitors' perceived destination memories and intentions for future visits (McCabe and Foster, 2006; Kim and Youn, 2017).

Overall, consumers' perception of the immersive block's story experience hinges on its richness, novelty, openness, and freedom. As respondent 230511V2 [female] put it, “Guitanglou's story is more comprehensive, and I am willing to experience different roles again.” Good stories help to promote tourists' secondary consumption of the tourist block. In today's tech-driven landscape, narrative possibilities continually evolve, embracing characteristics like analog, user-generated, participatory, and synchronous elements (Ryan, 2006). This innovation in narrative potential also impacts the design trends of story modules within physical scenic locations. Therefore, successful story design within blocks should prioritize coherent background narratives, foster novelty and diversity in narrative progression, and seamlessly integrate initial settings with mid-stage developments to ensure a logically structured and engaging narrative journey for consumers (refer to Figure 6).

Visitor engagement in tasks and challenges represents the most gamified aspect of immersive block design, offering a pathway to spur innovative travel experiences. Such engagements have the power to evoke strong emotional responses, foster positive intrinsic motivation, and ignite a desire for sustained participation (la Cuadra et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2013; Cupchik, 2001). As the respondent 230508V1 [male] said, “I think it will be more fun once it has the design of solving problems.” Appropriate challenges in tourist blocks can make tourists feel more significance of traveling. While Mochocki and Balzer's research primarily focuses on the gaming realm, transitioning to non-game domains necessitates leveraging game awards to imbue motivational stimuli.

In Mochocki's theoretical model, activity-immersion is an effective way to enhance immersion experience. Nevertheless, the activity is just a pure external behavior, in order for visitors to participate in a truly immersive experience, it is still necessary to add feedback and personalized content to the block. As found in the empirical research in this paper, ordinary group activities tend to make people lack the willingness to participate. On the contrary, people prefer those special activities with enough freedom, strong customization and autonomy, which enables them to master the rhythm and have higher leadership, and therefore they are more willing to enhance communication with the environment and enhance immersion. Therefore, this model innovatively proposes a dimension of Stimulus to enhance tourist experience in tourist neighborhoods.

Currently, gamification serves as a vital tool for cultivating engagement across diverse industries. Games effectively capture participants' attention through elements such as control and physical movement (kinesthetic engagement), collaboration and competition with peers (co-engagement), emotional responses during gameplay (emotional engagement), and pursuit of objectives (fun engagement) (Calleja, 2011). Implementing game components in non-game contexts involves weaving together compelling narratives, establishing clear rules and objectives, presenting well-balanced challenges with prompt feedback, facilitating social interactions and relationships, among other elements (Stadler and Bilgram, 2016, p. 363–364).

Instant feedback and challenging mechanics play a pivotal role in transitioning into non-game activities (Berger et al., 2018; Xu et al., 2016). This motivational mechanism is characterized by the persistence and accumulation of tasks, often manifested through systems such as token rewards, upgrades, badge achievements, and more (Manzano-León et al., 2021). External rewards typically yield positive psychological effects on game participants, with their influence extending to tourist attractions (Kim et al., 2021; Kawanaka et al., 2020; Jang and Kim, 2022); self-earned rewards notably enhance participants' willingness to engage (Nofal et al., 2020). Within immersive blocks, the intrinsic value of rewards transcends mere commodity significance, often embodying emotional benefits that resonate deeply with consumers. Moreover, in the realm of group activities, fostering cooperation and competition effectively heightens individual emotional investment in the gamification process, fostering robust value co-creation (Leclercq et al., 2017). The collaborative spirit within the block serves as an additional motivational force, propelling participants to actively pursue task goals, thus showcasing their value effectively.

In conclusion, the gamification incentive design significantly influences consumers' immersive experiences within immersive blocks. Therefore, emphasizing the design of tasks and activities in which tourists partake is essential. Designers should firstly prioritize appropriate task difficulty adjustments; secondly, provide rich sub-level variations, bolster diverse material and intangible incentives; thirdly, promote team-based competitive and cooperative dynamics, and finally elevate participant attention, emotional engagement, and sense of accomplishment throughout the process (refer to Figure 7).

Based on the above discussion, it can be found that in the design of immersive blocks, the external environment (the first S) is only a basic condition in attracting tourists. In fact, this is also the most important link in the current research on the development of tourist blocks. However, there are many other factors that are still overlooked—namely the other three “S”—which also play an important role in the development of tourist blocks at this stage. Among them, through the establishment of interpersonal connection, social interaction enables participants to better meet the needs of belonging and increase playability; The quality of the story text is easy to be ignored, but it is the key to retaining people and giving the deep cultural value; Motivation can help people increase their attention, while strengthening the memory of the play with positive feedback.