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Six Degrees of Videogame Narrative

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Games and Narrative: Theory and Practice

Abstract

In this study, I propose a six-tiered classification system on how narrative and gameplay sequences interact and intersect in the videogames medium. Since previous studies offer gameplay and storytelling as discordant processes, such a classification can facilitate an understanding of the different ways they can work together. I perform formal and temporal analyses on a sample set of games discovered by mobilizing community input. Through a close reading process, I categorize the medium into six distinct groups depending on and sorted by the theoretical distance between the gameplay and narrative sequences and discuss and define the strategies employed in each category with examples.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    These games are Celeste, Epistory, Florence, Gone Home, Hades, Half-Life: Alyx, Journey, Kentucky Route Zero, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Neo Cab, Oxenfree, Pendragon, Portal 2, Resident Evil 2, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

  2. 2.

    https://www.youtube.com/c/gLPLayground/featured

  3. 3.

    I want to underline two instances that can present alternatives to this issue. First, Nintendo has devised a feature in their 2009 release New Super Mario Bros Wii, called the Super Guide. In this feature, if a player loses eight lives in a level, they can choose to have the computer play and finish the level for them. Second, emergent videogame genres such as walking simulators can construct experiences wherein gameplay aspects are very minimal, and storytelling is on the focus. See Şengün 2017, for a detailed discussion of this genre.

  4. 4.

    In Microsoft’s 2010 game Alan Wake, among other discoverable items in the game world, there were also TV sets that broadcast a fictional show called Night Springs, and radios that broadcast local talk shows that the player can choose to stop and listen or watch.

  5. 5.

    Such as Guild Wars 2’s pop-up events. These are scripted events that begin and end randomly around the game world. The players can only experience them, if they are there at that specific time or if they camp (waiting at the place where the event is supposed to randomly pop) for it. This creates an even more chaotic narrative autonomy as a result since a player who experiences an event in a certain place may visit that place with another character and may not be able to find that event happening there and then.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wonsook Kim School of Art, Creative Technologies Program, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA

    Sercan Sengun

Authors
  1. Sercan Sengun
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Correspondence to Sercan Sengun .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fac of Communication, Mueyyedzade Mah, Bahcesehir University, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey

    Barbaros Bostan

Ludography

Ludography

Alan Wake (Microsoft, 2010)

Blade Runner (Westwood Studios, 1997)

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (Revolution Software, 1996)

Celeste (Matt Makes Games, 2018)

Donkey Kong (Nintendo, 1981)

Epistory (Fishing Cactus, 2016)

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (Tecmo, 2003)

Florence (Annapurna Interactive, 2020)

God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment, 2005)

Gone Home (Fullbright, 2013)

Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet, 2012)

Hades (Supergiant Games, 2020)

Half-Life: Alyx (Valve, 2020)

Journey (Annapurna Interactive, 2020)

Kentucky Route Zero (Cardboard Computer, 2013)

Lily’s Garden (Tactile Games, 2020)

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (Rockstar Games, 2003)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Konami, 2001)

Neo Cab (Fellow Traveller, 2019)

New Super Mario Bros Wii (Nintendo, 2009)

Oxenfree (Night School Studio, 2016)

Pendragon (Inkle, 2020)

Portal 2 (Valve, 2011)

Prince of Persia 2 (Brøderbund, 1993)

Resident Evil 2 (Capcom, 2019)

Silent Hill 2 (Konami, 2001)

Small Town Murders (Rovio, 2020)

StarCraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 1998)

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projeckt Red, 2015)

Tomb Raider (Square Enix, 2003)

World of Wacraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004)

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Sengun, S. (2022). Six Degrees of Videogame Narrative. In: Bostan, B. (eds) Games and Narrative: Theory and Practice. International Series on Computer Entertainment and Media Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81538-7_1

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