Whenever there is a talk about narrative design, it tends to end up being a laundry list of examples of how the environment can be used to communicate the backstory of the game world without cutscenes. This talk is different: rather than just focusing on the backstory, we are going to explore how environmental design creates opportunities for gameplay. The focus will be on leaving traces and indications in the space, both by the designers and the players. This is called “indexical storytelling,” because interpreting and engaging with these traces is the core of narrative gameplay. These traces are systematically classified depending on their type: they can turn the player into a detective, help create an identity, teach the player what to do (or not) and how, give a sense of progress or mess up with other players. Although there will be a couple of requisite mentions of Portal and Bioshock, some of the core examples come from games as diverse as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Myst, Super Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid, Demon’s Souls and Colossal Cave Adventure.

1. Indexical
Storytelling:
All that You Can
Leave Behind
Clara Fernández Vara, PhD
Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab

2. Who am I?

3. Games and narrative

4. Environmental storytelling

5. Environmental storytelling

6. Avoiding Cutscenes

7. A bit short-sighted

8. Environments packed with
opportunities for interaction

9. Indexical storytelling
The practice of using indices in order
to construct a story.

10. Index? Wha’?

11. Index?

12. Index?

13. Index?

14. Academese section

15. Peirce’s three types of
signs
Icon
Symbol
Index
The concept of indexical storytelling derives from Charles Peirce’s
philosophy of language. According to Peirce, a sign is a mediation, a
representation that conveys to a mind an idea about a thing. Thus the
nature of the sign involves the idea, the object that represents it (the
sign), and the interpretant who establishes the relationship between
the idea and the object. In Peircean philosophy, there are three types
of signs:

16. Peirce’s
three types
of signs
Icon
icons / likenesses: signs that convey ideas by imitating them, such as a
photograph, a drawing, gestures or onomatopoeias (words that imitate
the sound they refer to, such as crack or roar).

17. Peirce’s
three types
of signs
Symbol
-! symbols / general signs: signs that are associated with meaning
through usage; the relationship between the sign and its meaning is
arbitrary (Saussure, 1983) and part of a tacit social agreement. Most
words are symbols, the sign denoting biohazard is a symbol where the
association between the object and the idea it represents means is
purportedly arbitrary.

18. Peirce’s
three types
of signs
Index
-! indices / indications: the idea is physically connected with the
sign. Peirce provides a sign post as an example (the direction of the
signpost is where one should go).

19. Peirce’s
three types
of signs
Index

20. Peirce’s
three types
of signs
Index

21. Indices in
“[S]ome indices are more or less
detailed directions for what the
hearer is to do in order to place
himself in direct experiential or other
connection with the thing meant.”
Peirce, C. Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings. Vol. 2. Indiana University
Press, Bloomington, 1998.

22. End of Academese
(it didn’t hurt, right?)

23. Indexical storytelling

24. It’s not storytelling,
it’s storybuilding

25. Indexical Storytelling
in Practice

26. Indexical storytelling
History of the world
Detective Work
Interpretation of Remains
Signposts and Tutorials
History of the player
Player’s trace

27. History of
the world
Detective work

28. History of
the world
Detective work

29. History of the World
Detective work
What has happened in the
environment before?
How has it left a trace in the space?
How can the player read those traces
to reconstruct the events?

30. History of
the world
Interpretation of
remains

31. Interpretation of Remains:
Ghosts

32. History of the World
Who has been in the space before the
player?
How does the player relate to the
people who left the traces?

33. History of
the world
Signposts and
tutorials

34. History of the World
What is the role of signposts in the
game?
Navigation
In-game directions
How does the tutorial integrate with
the story, if it points to the world of the
player?

35. History of
the player
Player’s trace:
Persistence of the
world

36. History of
the player
Player’s trace

37. History of the Player

38. History of
the player
Player’s trace

39. History of the Player
How can the player leave traces in the
world of the game?
Who can read those traces?
Other players
NPCs
How does leaving traces create
opportunities for gameplay?

40. Indexical Storytelling
can be applied to
non-AAA games too.

41. Player’s Trace

42. Player’s Trace

43. *work in in progress*
Hidden Object Games

44. Takeaways
Indexical storytelling is using traces
and indications to construct a story.
Indices are not only a way to save in
cut-scenes, but also a way to
involve player in gameplay.
Designers can leave traces for the
player as indications, as well as
creating systems to let players leave
a trace.

45. Thanks for Listening!
http://gambit.mit.edu
http://vagrantcursor.wordpress.com
@clarafv
clara@alum.mit.edu