Computer Driven Social Games. Are there any?

[Sp4m]

Does anyone know if this frontier has been hit yet? Can you give me some examples? I'm not talking about computerized board games.

Here's my thoughts...
Computer games are fantastic at making complex systems approachable by players. A good interface can enable a player to sit down and play with no prior instructions. Unfortunately, the screen becomes the players' primary focus and source of input. Even in multi player games, other players' input is reduced to pictures, text or audio. The nuance of communication and human interaction is severely reduced.

Board Games, Card Games and RPGs are intensely social, and generally rely intrinsically on human communication. Not just the passing of cards, but the reading of intent through body language and tone. These challenges and engagements are deeply satisfying, but often require a lot of work up front to learn how the game is played, to share it with players, and may require several time-intensive play-throughs before players really *get* the strategy involved.

I'd like to create a hybrid, mobile device/computer driven game that can capitalize on the strengths of the platform, while still relying on player interaction to complete game play. Not just board games converted into a digital format... games that rely on players having their own screen and interface. Under these circumstances, players can receive private information from the game, complex systems can interact in ways that are completely unobtrusive to play, and players can take actions in secret. Players are face to face, and depending on the design of the game, the primary game play could be focused around real communication and group decisions.

This idea is in the planning stages. I'd like to see if anyone else is tackling this opportunity, but I've already started stretching out my old programming muscles.