Narrative Mechanics
Strategies and Meanings in Games and Real Life
What do stories in games have in common with political narratives?
This book identifies narrative strategies as mechanisms for meaning and manipulation in games and real life. It shows that the narrative mechanics so clearly identifiable in games are increasingly used (and abused) in politics and social life. They have »many faces«, displays and interfaces. They occur as texts, recipes, stories, dramas in three acts, movies, videos, tweets, journeys of heroes, but also as rewarding stories in games and as narratives in society – such as a career from rags to riches, the concept of modernity or market economy. Below their surface, however, narrative mechanics are a particular type of motivational design – of game mechanics.
Overview Chapters
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Frontmatter
Seiten 1 - 4 -
Contents
Seiten 5 - 8 -
Introduction
Seiten 9 - 16 -
Playing with Narratives
Narrative Mechanics
Seiten 19 - 50 -
Narrative Patterns in Video Games
Seiten 51 - 78 -
Teaching Narrative Design
Seiten 79 - 90 -
The Narrative Role of Sound in Games
Seiten 91 - 110 -
Expanding the Narrative
Mukokuseki and the Narrative Mechanics in Japanese Games
Seiten 113 - 150 -
Characterization and Emergent Narrative in Dwarf Fortress
Seiten 151 - 160 -
On the Evolution of Narrative Mechanics in Open-World Games
Seiten 161 - 176 -
Open-End Storytelling in Pinball Machines
Seiten 177 - 196 -
Mechanics of Inspiration
Seiten 197 - 210 -
Narrative Approaches in Contemporary Video Game Reviews
Seiten 211 - 228 -
Games, Politics and Society
"We're not murderers. We just survive."
Seiten 231 - 246 -
QUIZ
Seiten 247 - 256 -
Ludic Meanders through Defictionalization: The Narrative Mechanics of Art
Seiten 257 - 278 -
If You Play It, Do You Believe It?
Seiten 279 - 290 -
Ball Games and Language Games
Seiten 291 - 298 -
Case Studies
Florence
Seiten 301 - 308 -
The Last Guardian
Seiten 309 - 314 -
Murder at the Museum
Seiten 315 - 322 -
Even Missile Command Tells a Story
Seiten 323 - 328 -
Shave
Seiten 329 - 336 -
The Twitter Game
Seiten 337 - 350 -
Commander Kurz
Seiten 351 - 354 -
Authors
Seiten 355 - 362
10 June 2021, 362 pages
ISBN: 978-3-8376-5345-8
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