Lesson 2: Narrative Games

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Lesson 2

Narrative Games

Narrative Games & Interactive Fiction Exploration
Blog Post #7: Game Journal
Discussion #8: What are the qualities of a good Interactive text?

Blog Post #7: Game Journal

The following works speak to “the power and potential to use video games, online technology, and game culture to give voice” (Gray & Leonard, 2018, p. 4) to the marginalized and disrupt stereotypical representations and hegemonic norms.

The Independent Games below were made on a number of different platforms. Some are visual, others are text-based. As we explore what makes a good interactive narrative game/text, it’s important to explore a number of different kinds of narrative games, the play experience, the narratives, the characters, the setting, and more. Note that the list below is a small sample of interactive fiction and narrative games. If you have other games you would like to add to the list to include in your game journal, please let me know.

  • The Twine texts will take 10-30 minutes to read and the visual platformer games can take a few hours.
  • As you read, take notes for your blog – these can be written in point form, audio recordings, or even video – the point is to capture your play and reactions to support future analyses and connections.
  • Your notes can focus on:
    • Your emotional reactions
    • The characters and characterization
    • The interactivity and role of the player, the choices
    • The multimodal aspects: sound, music, visuals
    • The plot(s)
    • The theme(s)
    • The writing: literary elements such as symbolism, metaphor, dialogue
  • Your game journal can be in any form, but needs to be clear and easy to follow for your audience:
    • Twitch-style video playthrough with commentary
    • Podcast-style audio of your thoughts
    • Written notes in point form or paragraphs
    • Another form you can think of (talk to me about your idea)
  • Please let me know if you need help accessing any of the e-lit texts and/or games.

Play at least 3 of the following:

Discussion #8: Qualities of good Narrative Games

Now that you’ve explored a few e-lit texts, we can discuss what we think makes a good narrative game / interactive fiction. Use the following questions to guide your response in the web discussion below. Be sure to support your ideas with examples. You can add more lines in the discussion board by clicking on the “+” sign.

  • What do you think makes a good narrative game?
  • What qualities does an interactive fiction need to have?
  • What differentiates interactive fiction and narrative games from other kinds of games and texts?
  • What makes you say that?

References

Gray, K. & Leonard, J. (2018). Not a post-racism and post-misogyny promised land: Video games as instruments of (in)justice. In Woke gaming: Digital challenges to oppression and social injustice. University of Washington Press.