This document provides an overview of narratives in contemporary games. It discusses frameworks for understanding game narratives, including ludonarrative and the relationship between interactivity and storytelling. Different narrative elements are explored, such as setting, character, and challenge. Examples are given of embedded and emergent narratives. Techniques for delivering narratives, like cutscenes and instructional text, are covered. The document examines established narrative structures including the hero's journey. A brief history of narratives in games is provided with examples like Zork, Sierra games, and Elder Scrolls. Contemporary challenges in multi-player narratives are also discussed. Finally, the document promotes creating simple text adventures to experiment with narratives.

1. Narratives in
Contemporary Games
Dr. Christian Bokhove
Southampton Education School
University of Southampton
@cbokhove
Disclaimer: I’ve tried to make sure all the content is referenced and accounted for. If
you feel there is content that should not be there pleas elet me know.

2. Contents
• Background and rationale
• Frameworks and narrative elements
• Exploring different games and their narrative elements
• Creating a narrative: text adventures

3. This is me
• Educational researcher
• Maths education academic
• Use of technology
• Game enthusiast: shamelessly talk about my love for games
• In perspective
• Week 2 on narratives
• Location based games and narratives: know Ingress?

4. The role of narratives
• Contemporary discussions
• Gamification!
• Point
• Leaderboards
• Badges
• Surely there is more to games than that
• Looking back shortly at the games in 2014 I liked…

5. http://bokhove.net/2014/12/30/my-five-best-games-for-2014/

6. Example of interactive fiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtG6yw2IrlI

7. In fashion
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2014/feb/21/writing-video-games-can-narrative-
be-as-important-as-gameplay

8. Frameworks (a lot of different entry points)
• Setting, character, challenge
• Ludonarrative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludonarrative
• Clash game and narrative:
http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/clash_between_game_and_narrative.
html
• Very nice blog on narrative:
http://hitboxteam.com/designing-game-narrative
• http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/narrativity-computer-games
• This

9. Games and Narrative: a continuum..
InteractivityStorytelling
source

10. Or two opposing aspects?
There's a conflict between
interactivity and storytelling: Most
people imagine there's a spectrum
between conventional written stories on
one side and total interactivity on the
other. But I believe that what you really
have are two safe havens separated by
a pit of hell that can absorb endless
amounts of time, skill, and resources.
-Walter Freitag, game designer.
... the fundamental qualities that make a
good game have remained unchanged and
elusive. Consumers still flock to buy
original, addictive, and fun games, leaving
many flashy products with million-dollar
budgets languishing in the $9.99 bin.
These costly failures demonstrate that the
consumer does not desire a cinematic
experience, but rather a quality gaming
experience.
-Sid Meier, game designer.
“Where gameplay is all about
interactivity, narrative is about
predestination. There is a pervasive
feeling in the game design community
that narrative and interactivity are
antithetical.”
- Mateas and Stern, “Interaction and
Narrative”
http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/clash_between_game_and_narrative.html

11. Previous attempts
source

12. Recent successful attempts
source

13. Theory: Ludology vs. Narratologism
• Narratologist / Narrativist
• scholar who uses “narrative and literary theory as the foundation upon which
to build a theory of interactive media.” –M. Mateas
• Ludology
• most often defined as the study of game structure (or gameplay) as opposed
to the study of games as narratives or games as a visual medium.” –Game-
research.com
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~michaelm/publications/CMU-CS-02-206.pdf
source

14. Plot vs. Narrative
• Plot and narrative are often used interchangeably, but
they don't necessarily operate as such.
• Plot refers to the pattern of events in a narrative; the
sequence of events: the causal chain of “what
happened and why.”
• Princess was kidnapped.-> Hero finds out. -> Hero must
rescue the princess by completing these tasks. -> If hero
completes task, princess is saved.
• Narrative is the larger narrated story. This can exist
without a plot or as a larger system in which plot
exists.
• Narrative does not necessarily require a causal chain. Could
be a history of events or sequence, technically the level
progression in Tetris could be a narrative.
http://www.slideserve.com/julius/games-and-narrative source

15. Winter: Games tell stories
• A game’s narrative is the aspects of a game that contributes to it telling a
story
• Questions concerning whether games are narratives, or whether narrative provides
just one way to look at games are still actively debated.
• Narrative is also used to describe the story itself
• Computer games stretch the notion of narrative
• The interactivity of computer games, like the interactivity of hypertext, pushes hard
against existing theories of linear narrative
• No longer just one privileged story being told; many possible ways to experience a
non-linear narrative (computer game, hypertext fiction)
http://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/cmps080k/Winter07/lectures/narrative.pdf source

16. Embedded vs Emergent Narratives
• Embedded narrative
• Pre-generated narrative content that exists prior to a player’s
interaction with the game
• Cut scenes, back story
• Are often used to provide the fictional background for the game,
motivation for actions in the game, and development of story arc
• Emergent narrative
• Arises from the player’s interaction with the gameworld, designed
levels, rule structure
• Moment-by-moment play in the game creates this emergent narrative
• Varies from play session to play session, depending on user’s actions
• Game design involves employing and balancing the use of
these two elements
source

17. Narrative descriptors
• A narrative descriptor is an element of a game that
communicates aspects of its story to the player
• Broad concept, which encompasses most visual elements
of a game and its surrounding context
• Instructional text
• Cut scenes (I would also add music)
• Interface elements (joystick, buttons, controller, and how they’re
used)
• Visual elements comprising the field of view of the player
• Narrative through mechanics (moral choices)

18. Instructional text

19. Cutscenes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-cxtS51n8k(Music!)

20. Interface elements

21. Visual elements
‣ So do the visual elements of the game places you in space
‣ Wrap-around space also contributes to this feeling
‣ UFO ties into cultural understandings

22. Narrative through mechanics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQJA5YjvHDU(Moral choices)
Great channel:
Extra Credits

23. Ip, B. (2011). Narrative Structures in Computer
and Video Games: Part 1: Context, Definitions,
and Initial Findings . Games and Culture, 6,
103-134.
There is a second part:
Ip, B. (2011), ‘Narrative structures in computer
and video games. Part 2: Emotions, structures,
and archetypes’, Games and Culture, 6 (3),
SAGE, 203-244. (DOI:
10.1177/1555412010364984)

24. Techniques for narrative delivery
• Interactive narratives
• Back stories
• Cut scenes (incl. interactive)
• Structures

25. • Emotions

26. Established narrative
structures
• The Hero’s Journey
• 12 key stages
• Classical three-act (Aristotle)
• Begin, middle, end (denouement)
http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/pruter/film/threeact.htm
• Archplot, miniplot, antiplot
• Kernels, satellites

27. TASK
http://padlet.com/cbokhove/gamenarratives
• In pairs
• Explain to your neighbour what your favourite game is and what
techniques for narrative delivery made an impression on you.
• Add the game and these descriptors to the padlet

28. Embedded Narratives
Barry Ip: Narrative interventions
1. narrative presented as passive game screen;
2. narrative presented as on-screen text;
3. narrative presented as cut scene;
4. narrative presented as cut scene combined with on-screen text;
5. narrative presented as combination of gameplay, cut scene, and on-screen text;
6. narrative presented as combination of gameplay, sound, and textual cues;
7. short game prompts (mission hints or pointers) presented as on-screen text;
8. short game prompts (mission hints or pointers) presented as a cut scene;
9. short game prompts (mission hints or pointers) presented simultaneously as cut
scene and on-screen text;
10. short game prompts (mission hints or pointers) presented as an integral part of
gameplay;
11. short game prompts (mission hints or pointers) presented as gameplay, sound,
and textual cues;
12. credit roll and/or ending sequence.
Narrative Structures in Computer and Video Games: Part 1: Context, Definition and initial findings -Barry Ip

29. Embedded Narratives: analysis (1)
Narrative Structures in Computer and Video Games: Part 1: Context, Definitiona and initial findings -Barry Ip

30. Embedded Narratives: analysis (2)
Narrative Structures in Computer and Video Games: Part 1: Context, Definitiona and initial findings -Barry Ip

31. Story Graphs
Narrative Structures in Computer and Video Games: Part 1: Context, Definition and initial findings -Barry Ip
This shows that
research on this
becomes dated
very quickly

32. The Amnesia problem
http://www.giantbomb.com/amnesia/92-286/games/

33. “Emotional rollercoaster”
http://www.musik-therapie.at/PederHill/Structure&Plot.htm

34. Pacing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LScL4CWe5E

35. Now for my
history of narratives in
gaming
(while making this I realized there is far too much choice.
Also, I can never do justice to all these games in a few buzz words.
Finally, I think I do not reveal anything ‘secret’ but maybe spoilers.)

36. http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/gbrading/lists/a-brief-history-of-adventure-games/28894/

37. Zork I
• Chronologically played this one after a lot of the other games
• "It is pitch black, you are likely to be eaten by a grue."
• Frotz on tablet

38. Sierra games
• First game: Leisure Suit Larry in The Land of the Lounge Lizards
• King’s Quest series
• Police Quest series
• Film Noir elements
• Later: LA noire
• Space Quest series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCgFYW1--JI

39. Lucasarts
• SCUMM
• Maniac Mansion
• Day of the Tentacle
• Secret of Monkey Island
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySmLlHTV5rU

40. The Elder Scrolls
• Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
• Lore
• Music
• Last version online:
big challenge balancing
multiplayer and narrative
gameplay

41. L.A. Noire
• Film Noir
(another top game in
this genre: Max Payne 1 + 2,
3 is good but not so much
Film Noir any more)
• Detective work
• Facial features
• Narrative and investigation
central (recent: Velvet Sunset,
but
http://www.giantbomb.com/la-noire/3030-21500/

42. The Witcher
• Medieval fantasy
• Part Three coming up
(I would hope it is
sort of the next Skyrim
that never came)

43. Fallout (3)
• Clearly interface from Oblivion
• Post-nuclear theme
• Many games with these elements
• (Sometimes with zombies)

44. Mass Effect 1-3
• My favourite game series
(certainly in space, though
Dead Space excellent as well)
• Space adventures
• Different modes (action, story, RPG)
• Moral decisions influence game progression
• Lots of anger about ending
(which shows the series was
immersive, imo)

45. Bioshock
• 1, 2 and Infinite
• Under water & in skye
• Lots of historical similarities
• Movies of discussions
story plot

46. Completely different: Ingress
• Niantic
• Strange powers
• ‘Aliens’
https://www.ingress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss-Z-QjFUio

48. Zelda

49. Breaking free from traditional
• Dear Esther
• http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/27/1250832/-Narrative-in-video-
games#
• Originally Academic project
• Mixed reception: story
v interaction
• Kentucky Route Zero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlGdbziSwEY

50. The Stanley Parable
• Wreden
• Break normal narratives

51. Last of us
• Only PS4
• Post-apocalyptic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkLPKd-Vs8g

52. Telltale
• The Walking Dead
• Post-apocalyptic, zombies
• Game of Thrones
• The Wolf Among Us
• Tales from the Borderlands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swYQEGmPm0k

53. Moral choices (Walking Dead series 2 example)

54. Contemporary challenges
• And I could have done Mafia 1 and 2,
Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed
• A lot of principles stayed the same
• Although graphics, audio etc. have vastly
improved
• Multiplayer and narrative
• Some use co-op for this e.g. Watch Dogs
• How do you supply a good narrative
and still integrate multiplayer

55. Now you are going to make a narrative
• Would be a bit too involved to add graphics etc.
• Text adventure makers: just as expressive for narratives
• Adrift
• QUEST: http://textadventures.co.uk/ (also has version of Zork!)
• Platform independent (browser version)
• TASK
• Explore the site and register
• Try out the tutorial and make a simple adventure
http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/tutorial/
• Pay particular attention to the NARRATIVE

56. Thank You