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Exploring how players create emergent narrative and character in strategy games
Abstract   Open access   Peer reviewed

Exploring how players create emergent narrative and character in strategy games

Jacqueline Burgess and Christian M Jones
Proceedings of DiGRA Australia 2020
Digital Games Research Association Australian National Conference (DiGRA), 2020 (Brisbane, Australia, 10-Feb-2020–11-Feb-2020)
2020
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Abstract

Human Geography Psychology emergent narrative strategy games qualitative research
Emergent narratives are created by players through their gameplay (Moser and Fang 2015). Research into emergent narratives has focused on simulation games, such as The Sims (Maxis 2000-2019) (Murray 2006; Perlin 2006), while other game genres with the capacity for players to create emergent narratives, such as strategy games, have remained underexplored. Strategy video games typically use few narrative elements (characterisation, cut-scenes, and linear plots) when compared to other video game genres such as action-adventure (King and Krzywinska 2002). Instead, the gameplay focuses on players selecting a faction, raising armies to conquer neighbouring factions, or engaging in diplomacy with them, and administrating cities (Ghitta & Andrikopoulos 2009). However, there is evidence that players still find narrative resources through this gameplay. Friedman's (1999) analysis of the strategy game, Civilisation II (MicroProse 1996), found that players exploration of the geography within the game and the changes they made to it provided them with a story. Furthermore, players of developer Paradox's 'grand strategy games' (Paradox Development Studio 2000-2019) are known to create 'After-Action Reports' (AARs), in which players using screenshots and text create long and detailed accounts of their gameplay that are more like stories, rather than factual reports (Mukherjee 2016; Poole 2018). These are similar to how authors of walkthroughs can present their instructions as a story, rather than a list of directions (Consalvo 2003). Narrative is a sense-making activity that may be undertaken simultaneously or retrospectively by players (Walsh 2011). Therefore, further exploration of emergent narratives in strategy games will lead to greater understanding of how players make sense of their gameplay sessions.

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