This course examines the recent history and development of videogame narrative. How have videogames changed in the last two decades as a medium for telling and organizing stories? In what ways have they played with narrative to change how we read, write, design, perform, and interpret stories? In this course, we’ll consider the evolution of “game narrative” across four historical genres and topics: the history and theory of interactive fiction; the contemporary resurgence of literary adventure games; the evolution of walking simulators and environmental storytelling; and the recent surge of metafictional metagames that toy with our assumptions about narrative, time, character, agency, perspective, and interpretation.
Literary texts likely will include stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, and Ted Chiang; canonical works of interactive fiction and electronic literature; scholarly essays in literary and game studies; and Susanna’s Clarke’s fantasy novel Piranesi. Videogames will likely include Dear Esther, Kentucky Route Zero, The Stanley Parable, The Beginner’s Guide, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Tacoma, Her Story, Disco Elysium, Genesis Noir, and Norco. Some games will be played in full, others sampled and discussed in class. No gaming experience required. Course requirements will include weekly discussion posts, an interactive story, a class project, and a critical essay.
Literary texts likely will include stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, and Ted Chiang; canonical works of interactive fiction and electronic literature; scholarly essays in literary and game studies; and Susanna’s Clarke’s fantasy novel Piranesi. Videogames will likely include Dear Esther, Kentucky Route Zero, The Stanley Parable, The Beginner’s Guide, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Tacoma, Her Story, Disco Elysium, Genesis Noir, and Norco. Some games will be played in full, others sampled and discussed in class. No gaming experience required. Course requirements will include weekly discussion posts, an interactive story, a class project, and a critical essay.
