Ensemble Studios

Mythic Alternatives: Mythological Mechanics Beyond Violence

This paper examines how mythological video games can move beyond their dominant reliance on combat and violence to model other aspects of mythic narrative through gameplay mechanics.

• Violence is the default mechanic in mythological video games, a pattern the authors tie both to mainstream gaming trends and to the violent episodes found in many myths themselves.
• The paper argues that games can move beyond combat by translating mythic motifs into core mechanics, and it surveys five categories: metamorphosis, heroism, extraordinary movement, dying and rising, and interactions between gods and mortals.
• Heroism is modeled through systems such as the kleos meter in Warriors: Legends of Troy and the aristeiai in A Total War Saga: Troy, which represent the exceptional, exemplary hero.