Narrative Goals in Games: A Novel Nexus of Story and Gameplay

Abstract

The intersection of gameplay and story has been widely debated in games scholarship (i.e. the ludology/narratology debate). It has also manifested in concepts used in game discourse (e.g. “ludonarrative dissonance”) and development (e.g. “what is narrative design?”). We propose that goals, as a constituent element of games, is a novel and fruitful nexus point between story and gameplay. We provide an analytical framework that articulates and bridges the relationship between the goal structures in games and their narrative counterparts. This framework is anchored upon what we define as a narrative goal: an interpretation of a ludological goal. We can thus formally account for a narrative goal (e.g. “Rescue the prince”) that requires players to act in a way that satisfies a corresponding game imperative (e.g. Reach-). Finally, we articulate our work’s foundational relevance to narrative design and associated issues.