Immersion Attribution and Design Suggestions for Script Murder: A Game Studies Perspective

This paper examines the immersion of script murder (剧本杀), a Chinese tabletop role-playing and deduction game that became popular from around 2016, through the lens of game studies. Its central argument is that players' avatar identification is multiple and fluid, shifting among real self, ideal self, virtual avatar, and hybrid avatar, and that immersion is driven by players' sense of agency, control, and connection. The authors position script murder as an interactive, socially embedded form whose immersive qualities can be explained by established theories of identification and flow.

The study adopts a grounded theory approach, coding semi-structured interviews with script murder players alongside analyses of specific game scripts and their interactive and audiovisual design. Its findings identify the factors that foster immersion, including guidance, props, music, room layout, performance, and well-crafted icebreaker sessions, evidence-gathering formats, and short scenes. The authors also note that poorly executed music, short scenes, performance, or icebreakers can instead make players feel detached from the experience. Sample size is not specified in the excerpt provided.

On this basis, the paper offers design recommendations for future script murder creation from a game-design perspective, with the aim of strengthening player immersion through deliberate control of these elements. The reference list draws on foundational work in identification theory, flow research, and immersion measurement, indicating a theoretical grounding that extends beyond the Chinese context of the genre. The work was presented at the CDiGRA 2024 proceedings and is intended for scholars and designers working on experiential and narrative-driven games.