What Makes a Successful Emergent Narrative: The Case of Crusader Kings II

Abstract

Though sometimes placed in opposition to digital games with authored narratives, simulation games and their primarily emergent narratives do not necessarily lack emotional depth and complexity, and can engage players in intellectually and emotionally engaging narratives. Through the close analysis of Paradox Development Studio’s highly successful grand strategy game Crusader Kings II, we examine how the various layers that constitute that game’s narrative as well as specific game mechanics assist in the creation of highly individualized narratives of play. By deploying hybrid narrative techniques that rely as much on the systems of the simulation as they do upon the actions of ambitious autonomous agents and scripted vignettes, Crusader Kings II provides a striking example of how a game can strive to accurately depict a historical period as well as the complexities of its social, cultural, and familial structures, and succeed in crafting engaging interactive stories out of this simulation.