This paper presents a novel approach for designing bodily engaging games based on fundamental skills and gaming characteristics specific to interactive sports. The concept of kinesthetic empathy interaction is used to articulate the space of interaction where the motivation for action is developed in collaboration between the participants. General open skills of interactive sports are distilled into design parameters, and three gaming characteristics are derived. Together, these contribute to the theoretical foundation for the design of new games that encourage the use of both cognitive and physical abilities. The approach is based on two experimental design cases, and illustrates how the developed design parameters are a determining factor in the physical design or digital qualities embedded in the product.