In the second of three blogs, Tijmen takes a look at all the ways The Stanley Parable (2013) lets you mess up its story. But are you really free to do anything?
In Depth
Games as Literature, Part 1: Playing Your Part
In the first of three blogs, Tijmen looks at S. (2013) and Life Is Strange (2015) and the role they have you play in building a narrative. Without you, there is no story, after all.
How Games Tell Tales, Part 6: The Beginner’s Guide, Author, Audience, And Owning The Story
In this sixth edition of How Games Tell Tales, I will discuss how the Beginner’s Guide treats the tension between authors and their audience, through a story in which a developer’s games get interpreted.
How Games Tell Tales, Part 5: Bloodborne and Imagined Narratives
In this fifth instalment of How Games Tell Tales, I will discuss how games can tell stories without actually telling a story at all. I will explore how a game such as Bloodborne can create a narrative that players collectively imagine through exploration, vague hints, and atmosphere.
How Games Tell Tales, Part 4: Unreliable Narration, Militainment, and Spec Ops: The Line
In this fourth installment of How Games Tell Tales, I will discuss how games portray unreliable narration. Using Spec Ops: The Line as an example, I will show that the hyperreality of video games influences how an unreliable story can be experienced. I will also discuss the criticism this game has of military entertainment.
Detroit: Become Human and its Problematic Relation to History
This article is a continuation of the last article on Detroit: Become Human. In it I explore the game’s controversial relation with references to historical forms of oppression, as well as the lead developer’s (lack of) answers to this situation.