Tenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

This paper is a case study into the narrative and cinematographic techniques influenced by the visual arts of television and cinema onto the digital games, Rime and Journey. Though both styles of gameplay feature structural components commonly found in open-world and puzzle games, the distinct lack of any verbal communication (whether spoken or written) is a very unusual trait in narrative-driven games. Puzzle games are often bereft of substantial plot, and adventure games use language to explain the intricacies of their narratives. Rime in particular circumvents both these traditions by telling a complex story of grief using cinematic cut scenes, suggestive camerawork and instrumental music. This paper therefore adopts the following structure: I begin by discussing Rime and Journey in relation to the generic conventions of adventure, puzzle and walking simulator games. They will then be examined in relation to Chekhov’s notion of “show, don’t tell” narratives, and I analyse the cinematic techniques the games adopt to convey narratives with characters and plots without using any verbal language. Overall, I aim to establish the technological ways contemporary games can replace language with alternative methods to successfully sell an immersive narrative experience to the players.