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Play and Narrative of a Game : Keunseo Park, Jaehwan Park,

In the early days of the formation of academic discourse on the game, the debate of “Narratology vs. Ludology” became an important issue. The topic divided into the opinions of Murray who saw game as a narrative and Aarseth, who focused on the act of the player. But the game cannot simply be defined either by narrative or play. The game is another form of text that melted both elements in one framework. In this lecture, we looked at the complementary relationship between Ludology and Narratology and for an example, we looked at <Sally’s Law> by Nanali Studio, which received the best prize at the Google Indie Game Festival in 2016.

One of the important theoretical discussions about the nature of the game is whether it is a narrative or play. In the third session of the Art Game Lectures, the relationship between play and narrative of a game, or Ludology and Narratology was examined and the complementary relationship between “play” and “narrative” through <Sally’s Law> was explored.

What is the essence of the game? The discussion of the nature of the game is a wrong problem that comes from the tradition of literary research centered around text analysis. As the influence of films increased in popular culture and growth of research, the tendency to see cultural products as a branch of typical narrative text grew. Especially in the early days of the game industry, people compared the game industry to the “film industry” and thought they were fundamentally the same as a commercial industry. This led to the question, “What kind of game is the game?”This raised the discussion of “Narratology vs. Ludology,” and this became an important issue in the early days when an academic discourse on the game began to form.

In 1997, Janet Murray, one of the most important narrative scholars, wanted to explain the game from the perspective of narrative, and Espen J. Aarseth, who studied digital narrative, focused on the player’s actions.Fundamentally, Murray’s opinion was that the game was narrative, or Narratology. He found that the game has an interactive narrative that is different from the existing linear narrative. Also, he analyzed games by dividing it into two sections. First is where a certain action is done according to the rules of the game. Second is where the story progresses. In other words, the game is fundamentally where a story progresses, and the rules intervene to require further actions.

In contrast, there were researchers who saw the essence of the game in “play,” not narrative. They looked at the nature of the game in its form or system, and the basis of the game experience is in the interaction between these forms and players.Aarseth is a leading researcher in Ludology and mentioned the unique storytelling structure of the game that is not explained by the existing narrative theory in <Cyber Text>. He claimed that the storytelling of the game was achieved by playing games, not through the consumption of a given story.

The Duality Model of Play and Narrative

With the approaching game in its form, people began to be interested in “play.” Huizinga’s Homo Ludens, which defined play as human nature and thought of it as the driving force for human development, provided important insights in identifying the relationship between play and narrative.Most games in the game industry today, especially RPG, RTS, FPS, and Adventure, which are considered as some of the most important genres. And they have stories that are fairly realistic. But the story is not necessarily an essential element in the game. We still play games without a narrative, such as classic games like <Pong> and <Tetris>.The game cannot be defined by narrative or play. The game is a game, which is another form of text that melted both narrative and play elements in one framework.

<Sally’s Law> by Nanali Studio, The Recipient of Best Prize at the Google Indie Game Festival in 2016

<Sally’s Law>, an indie puzzle game is a game that depicts a daughter’s journey on the road to meet her critically ill father. And it is an example that shows a complementary relationship between the play and narrative in a game. After the previous lecture, we examined <Sally’s Law> as a real-life example how the relationship between the play and narrative interacts.

Sally’s law refers to the phenomenon that everything works out without a problem. This is the core mechanism of the game <Sally’s Law>.First, if we look at the narrative in the game, it can be said that this gameplay has a narrative itself. It delivers two narratives, one from the daughter and another from the father. And it showcases its overarching narrative by creating a gameplay method that players can empathize with characters. The player repeatedly plays the same stages, from Sally’s and father’s perspective, understanding the story of the daughter and the father from each point of view. Also, these stories are provided through in-screen text.

By doing this, game developers created a structure that allows the text to express perspectives of two characters and help players to be naturally connected with the story. Furthermore, the level design of the game is also closely related to the narrative.

As the story of a father and daughter progresses, the puzzle becomes more difficult as the player reaches the end of Sally’s journey for her father. Also, when there is a story progression happening in the game, the developer created the level design to be low to help players better understand the story.Then, what are some devices that highlight the Luddism of this game?First of all, there is a gimmick that provides entertainment other than the narrative. It is also possible to add gimmick elements to each level to reduce boredom, or look at detailed elements that can refresh the sequence in the game. As the story of Sally’s return home progresses and the characters begin to understand each other more, the character’s color changes to more vibrant colors and becomes rounder. The key used in the game was also a square shape at first, but it gradually changed into a circle.

<Sally’s Law> clearly shows that the way the game accepts the narrative is different from the existing art. By creating a proper implementation of interaction between Ludology and Narratology, it successfully created a new gameplay experience for players.Unlike the traditional linear narrative in these games, the role of the player is important, and the story (game) proceeds only when the action of “play” is guaranteed. Are games today a medium of storytelling, content, or a medium of action and performance? Games are not exclusive to any one of rules and stories, play and narrative, but provide us with endless fun with new content that encompasses all of them.

Keunseo Park (Professor at Daegu Catholic University in Journalism, Advertising)After graduating from the Department of Journalism and Broadcasting at Sogang University, he received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the same university. He recently explores the cultural and political process through spectacle and the cultural meaning of video games. He is the author of “Game and Cultural Studies” (2008, co-author), “Comedy, Texts of Laughter and Happiness” (2006), “Ethics of Ghosts or Ethical Intervention in Cyberspace” (2005), “Cultural Politics of Television Entertainment” (2003, co-author), and the translator of “Video Game” (2008, co-translated).
Jaehwan Park (CEO of Nanali Studio)Jaehwan Park, the CEO of Nanali Studio (Producer), was selected as the best developer for the mobile game “Sally’s Law” at the 2016 Google Indie Game Festival and emerged as a promising developer in the indie game industry. After <Sally’s Law>, an indie game developer founded in 2012, Nanali Studios recently released the VR game, “Fruit Attack VR” through the global PC game platform “Steam” and is expanding its business to virtual reality and console game consoles.
Moderator: Sangwoo Kim (Director of THE PLAY)Sangwoo Kim is the CEO and director of THE PLAY, a game culture critic group. And he is a permanent researcher at the Cultural Society Research Institute, an independent curator, and a member of the Game Rating Committee. He completed his Ph.D. in Aesthetics at Hongik University, and he is currently researching media art and media culture, especially virtual reality built by digital technology.

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