The document discusses how video games combine rules and fiction. It notes that video games are both "ruled and make-believe", consisting of real rules that govern gameplay as well as fictional worlds that provide context and meaning to player actions. While the rules are objective, the fictional world is subjective and ambiguous. The rules function independently of the fiction, yet the fiction relies on and is implemented through the rules. The document explores how different elements of a game's fiction indicate and are shaped by the underlying rules. It also discusses two basic structures of games - emergence, where simple rules combine in interesting ways, and progression, where challenges are presented serially. Finally, it examines how video games are able to effectively project immersive fictional worlds

1. RULES & FICTION
STORYTELLING IN GAMES

2. JESPER JUUL

3. JESPER JUUL
VIDEO GAMES ARE TWO THINGS AT SAME TIME
▸ Video games are “ruled and make-
believe”
▸ Consist of real rules and fictional
worlds
▸ To play a video game is to interact
with real rules while imagining a
fictional world
▸ But only small parts of fictional
world are implemented in rules of
the game

4. JESPER JUUL
IMPORTANT OPENING POINTS
▸ Difference between rules and fiction
▸ Rules are objective, obligatory, unambiguous
▸ Fiction is subjective, ambiguous, evocative, open to discussion
▸ In games, rules function independently of fiction; fiction relies on rules
▸ What’s the difference between abstract game and representational games?
▸ Tetris vs. Counter-Strike
▸ What about Chess?
▸ Example of what Juul calls “incoherent world” - many events in
the fictional/representational world cannot be explained without
discussion of rules
▸ Can you describe a play session of “Red Dead Redemption”
without resorting to the rules?

5. FIGURE / GROUND
RULES / FICTION (WHICH IS
FIGURE, WHICH IS GROUND?)

6. M.C. Escher

7. M.C. Escher, Day and Night

8. What elements of the fictional representation are
marked as having information about rules?
What’s the function of tags, markers, and pointers
in games?
Can you think of examples where video games
mark off portions of the fictional world, thereby
indicating the presence of game rules?

10. JESPER JUUL
RULES & FICTION PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR ACTIONS
▸ The rules of a game add meaning and context, enabling
actions
▸ Players interact with the rules
▸ The fiction of a game adds meaning and context, adding
significance to actions
▸ Players imagine and interpret a fictional world

11. JESPER JUUL
EMERGENCE VS. PROGRESSION
▸ Two basic ways that games are structured
▸ Emergence: a number of simple rules combine to form interesting variations
▸ Examples?
▸ Tetris, Pac-Man, Chess, Poker, card games, sports, etc.
▸ Progression: separate challenges presented serially
▸ Popular with adventure games
▸ Strong control yielded to game designer
▸ Games with storytelling ambitions
▸ Examples

12. JESPER JUUL
CHAPTER ON “FICTION”
▸ Why are video games so good at projecting fictional worlds?
▸ Rules are automated - allows for more complex rules
and more detailed worlds
▸ Rules are hidden - allows player to focus on the
appearance of the game as fictional world, rather than
set of rules
▸ Video games are immaterial (software) - allowing for
visualization of fictional worlds

13. GRAPHICS, SOUND, TEXT, CUT SCENES
Johnny Appleseed
WAYS OF CREATING FICTIONAL WORLDS IN GAMES

14. ‣GRAPHICS
‣SOUND
‣TEXT
‣CUT SCENES
‣GAME TITLE, BOX,
MANUAL, ADS
‣HAPTICS
‣RULES
‣PLAYER ACTIONS
‣TIME
‣RUMORS
‣OTHERS?
WAYS OF CREATING “FICTIONAL WORLDS” IN GAMES

15. TIME IN GAMES
REMEMBER THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
STORY (CONTENT PLANE) AND DISCOURSE
(HOW THE STORY IS NARRATED)