Tag: storytelling

Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Unarchived podcastLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 3, Episode 1)

Jason

with Jason Boyd (Host), Patrick R. Dolan, and Tanya Pobuda (special surprise cameo by Elio the Cat) Broadcast date: September 23, 2024 Writer: Jason Boyd Producer: Jeremy Andriano Myst is a first-person, point-and-click graphic exploration/adventure game with mystery and puzzle-solving elements designed by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller. It was originally released for the Macintosh in 1993, and was distributed on CD-ROM. Myst was marketed with the tagline, “The surrealistic adventure that will become your world.” It created a sensation when it was released in 1993, and went on to become the best selling PC game until surpassed by The … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 3, Episode 1)

Diversity & Inclusion, Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Gone Home

Jason

https://gonehome.com/ Entry by Kevin Ghouchandra A. BASIC INFORMATION Creators: The Fullbright Company (https://fullbrig.ht/) Creation technology: Unity Publisher: The Fullbright Company and Majesco Entertainment (PlayStation 4/Xbox One), Annapurna Interactive (Nintendo Switch/iOS) Date of original release: 15 August 2013 (Linux, Windows, OS X) Platforms: Linux, Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Google Play Version used for entry: Nintendo Switch Ver 1.0.4 Peripherals required: Speakers/ Headphones Rating: ESRB Mature 17+ Awards/Distinctions: B. GAME INFORMATION Game/eLit Genres: Adventure, Mystery, Walking Simulator Time to complete: Main Story, 2 Hours; Completionist, 3 Hours (from How Long to Beat) Replay required/useful? A single attentive … Continue reading Gone Home

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 7)

Jason

with Jason Boyd (Host), Jeremy Andriano, Patrick R. Dolan, Kevin Ghouchandra, and Chelsea Russell Broadcast date: July 15, 2024 Writer: Jason Boyd Producer: Patrick R. Dolan Time Index Might and Delight’s Book of Travels (2021-) deliberately challenges the expectations that players bring to the CRPG (Computer Role-Playing Game). It does not have the obvious and well-signposted quests or achievements that most open exploration-style games are structured by, and the larger stories about the world of the game have to be painstakingly assembled piecemeal. Book of Travels also has a number of features that complicate it as an object of study … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 7)

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 6)

Jason

with Kevin Ghouchandra (Host), Patrick R. Dolan, and Alex Hurezeanu Broadcast date: March 19, 2024 Writer: Kevin Ghouchandra Producer: Jeremy Andriano Shadow of the Colossus (2005; remade in 2018) is often cited as a seminal game that has gone on to influence many, many others. The quiet, picturesque landscape of the Forbidden Lands is the backdrop for the cruelty, loneliness, and death that pervades Wander’s journey as they locate and destroy the colossi, sixteen massive beings spread across the land. Join members of the Unarchived podcast team as they explore how a simple game premise provides so much depth.  All … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 6)

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 3)

Jason

Death Stranding (Kojima Productions) with Patrick R. Dolan (Host), Jeremy Andriano, Jason Boyd, and Alexander Hurezeanu Broadcast date: November 21, 2023 Writer: Patrick R. Dolan Producer: Patrick R. Dolan As the weather gets colder, join Patrick, Alexander, Jeremy, and Jason as they trudge through the windy mountains of Hideo Kojima’s latest title, Death Stranding, its unique gameplay, perplexing story, and the aesthetics of its auteur developer. All audio clips in the podcast quoted from Death Stranding. Sources and Resources: Continue reading Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 3)

Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 2)

Jason

Revisiting Resident Evil: Resident Evil (2002) (Capcom) with Noah Pedinelli (Host), Julia Froio, and Alex Hurezeanu Broadcast date: October 24, 2023 Writer: Noah Pedinelli Producer: Jeremy Andriano Capcom’s Resident Evil series is one of the most popular and beloved horror franchises in contemporary popular culture. In the 2002 remake of the first game, players take control of Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield in order to uncover the terrifying mysteries of the Spencer Mansion. The original Resident Evil established the survival horror genre and the series’ subsequent remakes continue to shape and define the genre today. All audio clips in the … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 2, Episode 2)

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

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)

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

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, Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

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