The Play is the Thing

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The Play is the Thing

• Storytelling in Gaming
• Kim Pearson

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Chris Crawford

• Think, pair, share exercise
• What does he say about storytelling in gaming?
• What assumptions is he making
• About gaming?
• About storytelling?
• Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

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Your take Crawford on storytelling

• Storytelling in games is not truly interactive
• Sometimes you are forced, text-based adventures
  offer more choice
• Often extraneous
• Disagreement storytelling-games symbiotic
• Some of the greatest games dont have a story
  SIMS, PacMan, Tetris
• Disagreement Not unimportant, just not well done
  currently because people doing it come from comp
  sci -- Shrek v. Final Fantasy
• Problem is that its treated as just another
  element
• Life is an interactive story, storytelling should
  be a vehicle for entertaining, not achieving a
  goal
• Backstory is unimportant
• Slight disagreement -- strong one might enhance,
  but weak one will not help
• Hard to implement verbs
• Makes assumptions that stories are static and
  games are dynamic, but this is mistaken -- some
  games have fairly static elements

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What is interactive storytelling?

• Storytelling that is affected by user/audience
  action/reaction
• Example Sheherazade 1,001 Arabian nights
• Butwhat do we mean by storytelling?

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Storytelling redux
Rising action
CLIMAX
Falling action
CONFLICT
Resolution

• Self v. Self
• Self v. Other
• Self v. Nature (God)
• Self v.Society

Protagonist
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But when is life ever simple?

• Narratives are constructed via scene and sequel,
  which can contain their own narratives
• Narratives depend on meta-narratives for meaning
• Reconsider Sheherazade

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The meta-narrative of Sheherazade

• Islamic morality tale
• Religious, cultural context establishes her
  character, explains her power
• Decontextualized, 1001 nights is just a fairytale
  collection

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Reading Sheherazade
2. Stars - Divinity, supremacy (Islamic)
attributes of the Queen of Heaven, primarily
symbol of Ishtar or Venus.
1. Crescent moon - Female symbol, feminine power
the crescent moon is a symbol of Islam.
3. Jewels -Amethyst - Gem of healing.Ruby -
Royalty, dignity, love, passion, beauty.Pearls -
The feminine principle -- moon, waters, chastity,
purity.Diamonds - Light, life, incorruptibility,
constancy, sincerity, innocence.
5. Hands -Right-palm out - Blessing, divine grace
and favor also, Islamic The Hand of Fatima
represents the Hand of God. Left hand - Hands are
one of the most symbolic members of the body --
the hands are said to speak.
4. Third Eye - Spiritual consciousness,
transcendent wisdom.
6. Feet - Freedom the sole is the measurement
of time
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Storytelling redux

• Defies father
• Plots with sister
• Entices King with first story
• Lessons imparted

Virgins freed Sheherazade as queen
Kings epiphany
Sheherazade and virgins v. King
Resolution
Protagonist foreshadowing
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Storytelling elements

• Plot Linear, closed
• Character defined by evocative imagery, actions
• Supporting characters
• Pacing, tension
• Masterplots

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What does this have to do with gaming?

• While not all games use the kind of narratives
  Crawford alludes to, many evoke existing
  culturally-based narratives
• However, game players dont have universal points
  of reference, so game has to work on more than
  one level
• The following games are basically the same score
  points by lining up objects. What distinguishes
  them? Is this storytelling?

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Sample Yahoo! games

• Jewel Quest
• Alchemy
• Avalanche
• Cubis
• Any storytelling here? Ho about this one
• Alabama Literacy Test

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Gaming sometimes

• Uses culturally resonant narratives as an aid to
  game play
• Uses narrative as a pretext for game play rather
  than an prominent element
• Still, even a skeletal storyline sets parameters
  for character development, rules of play,
  esthetics, structure, etc
• But the kind of game were building doesnt use
  such a simple structure

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Multilinear narratives
Rising action
CLIMAX
Falling action
CONFLICT
Resolution

• Self v. Self
• Self v. Other
• Self v. Nature (God)
• Self v.Society

Protagonist
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Crash

• Popular film using multilinear, open-ended
  narratives
• Plot carried forward by a series of crashes
• Opening dialogue establishes theme and its
  multiple meanings
• Lets watch the trailer

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Story elements

• Plot and twists
• Setting sound, interior-exterior, hazy lighting
• Character delineation how do we come to
  understand who the man and woman in the car are?
• Evocative scenes in film and in game

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Debriefing

• What are the levels of storytelling in the game?
• Whatis the purpose of the game?
• How effective is it?

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Some concluding observations

• Games often use implicit, rather than explicit
  narrative devices
• The extent to which the user recognizes and
  embraces the narrative aspects of the game can
  depend on the cultural understanding of the
  player(s)
• Multilinear narratives need to have the certain
  elements of the plot spelled out early.
• Your thoughts?