Category: Gameful Experiences

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Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 1)

Jason

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo) with Taryn Rollins (Host), Patrick Dolan, Alex Hurezaneau and Chelsea Russell Broadcast date: September 12, 2023 Writer: Taryn Rollins Producer: Patrick Dolan In Nintendo’s 2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the player controls an amnesia-inflicted Link in an expansive and beautifully designed open-world conceptualization of Hyrule. The Zelda universe’s narrative power resides in its world-design and exploration-driven story. As with other Zelda games, Breath of the Wild utilises flashbacks to tell the story of the past. However, unlike the other games, in Breath of the Wild the player … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 1)

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Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 3)

Jason

Elden Ring (FromSoftware) with Noah Pedinelli (host), Jeremy Andriano, and Alexander Hurezeanu Broadcast date: April 11th, 2023 Writer: Noah Pedinelli Producer: Jeremy Andriano 2022’s Elden Ring is the latest release from legendary Japanese game development studio From Software and the auteur game designer Hidetaka Miyazaki. His creations, from 2009’s Demon Souls through the Dark Souls Trilogy and beyond, are often defined by what is considered to be their punishing difficulty. However, in this episode we discuss whether Elden Ring’s stands out not for its difficult gameplay, but for its unique narrative delivery.  The player enters the game’s world at a … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 3)

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Hades

Kevin Ghouchandra

http://www.supergiantgames.com/games/hades/ Entry by Kevin Ghouchandra A. BASIC INFORMATION Creators: Creation technology: Microsoft XNA Publisher: Supergiant Games Date of original release: September, 17th 2020 (Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, Steam) Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5 Version used for entry: Nintendo Switch Ver 1.0.38233 Peripherals required: Speakers/Headphones Rating: ESRB T (Teen) Awards/Distinctions: B. LITERARY INFORMATION Related Literary Genre(s): Epic, Quest narratives, Classical Mythology and Literature Story/Plot Summary: Hades centers around Zagreus, son of Hades, the lord of the Underworld. (In classical mythology, Zagreus is said to be the son of Zeus by Persephone.) … Continue reading Hades

Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Playable Stories Archive, Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

DEVICE 6

Jason

https://simogo.com/work/device-6/ Entry by Jason Boyd A. BASIC INFORMATION Creator: Simogo (https://simogo.com/) Creation technology: Unity Publisher: Simogo Date (of original release): 2013 (October 17) Platform(s): iOS Peripherals required/recommended: head/earphones (recommended) Rating: 12+ (Apple Store) Awards/Distinctions: Version used for entry: iOS (Air Pad 2) B. GAME INFORMATION Game/eLit Genre(s): Puzzle, Exploration, Digital Narrative (Simogo says DEVICE 6 belongs to the genre of ‘Textual Thriller’). Time to complete: Approximately 3 hours, depending on one’s puzzle-solving skills. Replay required/useful?: As a linear story, a player will encounter all elements of the work in a single playthrough. Gameplay: Using the iPhone/iPad’s touch screen, the player … Continue reading DEVICE 6

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories Archive, Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

Return of the Obra Dinn

Jason

https://obradinn.com/ Entry by Jason Boyd (revised 10 August 2024) A. Basic Information Creator: Lucas Pope (https://dukope.com/) Creation technology: Unity Publisher: 3909 LLC (Lucas Pope) Date (of original release): October 18, 2018 (PC: MacOS/Windows) Platform(s): PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox Peripherals required/recommended: Keyboard and mouse; speakers/headphones Rating: ESRB M (Mature 17+) Awards & Distinctions: Version used for entry: MacOS (High Sierra 10.13.6) B. Game Information Game/eLit Genre(s): First Person Detective/Mystery; Environmental Narrative Game (Walking Simulator). Lucas Pope describes the game as “an insurance adventure with minimal colour.” Time to complete: 8-9 hours. Replay required/useful? If one plays with the goal of discovering … Continue reading Return of the Obra Dinn

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Tacoma

Jason

https://tacoma.game/ Entry composed by Jason Boyd A. Basic Information Creator(s): Fullbright (https://fullbrig.ht/) Creation technology: Unity Publisher: Fullbright Date (of original release): 2017 (August 2) Platform(s): Windows, MacOS, Linux, XBox One; PlayStation 4 (May 8, 2018) Peripherals required/recommended: Keyboard and mouse; head/earphones Rating: ESRB M (Mature, 17+) Awards/Distinctions: Eurogamer, Top 50 Games of 2017 (#22); Best Graphics, Game Informer, 2017 Adventure Game of the Year Awards Version used for entry: MacOS (High Sierra 10.13.6) B. Game Information Game/eLit Genre(s): First Person Exploration; Environmental Narrative Game (Walking Simulator) Gameplay: Environmental exploration (including moving, reading, watching, listening, examining). The player uses the WASD … Continue reading Tacoma

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“What’s Making Them Run Away?”: The Nintendo DS and the Casual Revolution

ashmorenicholas

Jesper Juul argues in A Casual Revolution that “The stereotype of a casual player is the inverted image of the hardcore player: this player has a preference for positive and pleasant fictions, has played few video games, is willing to commit little time and few resources toward playing video games, and dislikes difficult games” (8). Juul goes on to relate modern casual video games to arcade games from the 1980s, such as Pac-Man, and ultimately posits that the Nintendo Wii played the biggest role in ushering in this casual ‘reinvention’ of gaming that exists today (2). Steven E. Jones and … Continue reading “What’s Making Them Run Away?”: The Nintendo DS and the Casual Revolution

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BEDTIME

paularazuri

BEDTIME is an interactive video experience that seeks to imitate bedtime rituals and our experiences with digital tools and media at large during restful periods. Taking up concepts from the digital humanities, the project asks its participants to consider the relationship between digital activities, distraction, and the necessity of sleep that is so often delayed by our engagements with the digital. The relationship between screen time and bedtime is constantly examined by scientists, but extended engagement with the digital is unavoidable for many professionals, students, and the population in general. By taking a light-heartened and aesthetic approach to the activities undertaken before falling asleep, the viewer of BEDTIME … Continue reading BEDTIME

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Malandia – An Exploration of Permanence, Consequence and Player Agency in Interactive Narrative Games

Ryan Kidd

Malandia is a text-based interactive narrative that aims to explore ideas related to contemporary game theory. Before you read on, please play the game and then return to read more. (Disclaimer: This game requires an active internet connection. This game is best played with sound turned on.)   Malandia was conceived as a hands on exploration of contemporary issues related to game theory. In How to Do Things with Videogames, Ian Bogost writes “we can understand the relevance of a medium by looking at the variety of things it does” (3). In this case, he is making reference to exploring specific productions of a medium before passing judgement … Continue reading Malandia – An Exploration of Permanence, Consequence and Player Agency in Interactive Narrative Games