Tim and Joel look at the way systemic games allow players to create stories. After a brief digression into the mechanics of character creation, we look once again at Dwarf Fortress, and it’s unique ability to generate story through its systems. Games mentioned: The Witcher 3 Mass Effect ADOM: Ancient Domains of Mystery Disco Elysium…

Following from last week’s episode, Tim and Joel begin by looking at Kentucky Route Zero, which does interesting things with narrative interactivity – positioning the player as stage director rather than performer. We talk about the ways games suggest ways of playing through creative constraint, with reference to the stress system in Crusader Kings 3….

Tim and Joel begin by discussing Kentucky Route Zero, a “postmodern capitalist horror story”, before looking deeper at the relationship between game mechanics and narrative. We examine cinematic storytelling, environmental storytelling, and environment as art. Finally we look at dialogue and dialectic in games. Games mentioned: Middle Earth Shadow of War Kentucky Route Zero Disco…

Tim and Joel begin with a discussion of ludonarrative dissonance — when the act of playing a game is in conflict with the story or theme it is trying to portray. We look at specific examples of dissonance like the achievement system in Red Dead Redemption 2 and the crafting system in The Walking Dead:…

This is the first look at aspects of narrative for Season Two, building on our examination of narrative in episodes 4-7 of Season One. Joel and Tim begin with a brief discussion of the inherent tensions between seriousness and play, with reference to The Last of Us 2 and Death Stranding. We talk about playing…

In this first episode, Joel and Tim discuss the games they played over the break, on Xbox, PC and the newly released Oculus Quest 2. They talk about the revelations of VR, and the initial strangeness of adjusting from regular gaming, and potential the directions for the medium in gaming and beyond. Tim breaks down…