Kinspire: Exploring Game-Mediated Prompts to Foster Communication in Distant Families

Maintaining communication in distant family relationships is challenging due to barriers such as time zone differences, scheduling conflicts, or a lack of shared daily experiences. While existing computer-mediated communication tools support remote interaction, many struggle to sustain meaningful exchanges. In this study, we explore how prompt-based interventions can enhance distant family communication. We introduce Kinspire, a prompt-based digital card-drawing game incorporating relationship maintenance strategies such as positivity, openness, and joint activities. Through a mixed-methods study with 34 participants from 14 families (14 international students aged 20–31 and 20 parents aged 49–60), we examine how different family communication patterns shape communication needs and how structured game prompts facilitate interaction. Our findings reveal that the mechanisms in Kinspire support bridging the mental distance and fostering communication quality from different aspects. We categorize distant communication challenges across family types and provide design insights for the CSCW community on balancing structured prompts with flexible participation. This research highlights the potential of gamified communication to strengthen long-distance family relationships and informs future family-oriented game design.