Inducing and Non-Inducing Interpretations of the Sinograph in Word Game

This paper presents a close-reading analysis of Word Game (2021), a Taiwanese text-based RPG and puzzle game created by Team9, in which every in-game object, including the protagonist, is represented by Chinese sinographs. The author argues that the game's wordplay puzzles serve gameplay progression while simultaneously inviting poetic and aesthetic readings that coexist with its mechanics. Drawing on Karhulahti's Double Hermeneutic circles framework, the study distinguishes between inducing interpretations, which generate ludic understanding of functional game elements, and non-inducing interpretations, which generate aesthetic understanding of decorative ones.

The central finding is that the morphographic nature and standardized square form of sinographs, which contrast with the variable-length words of English, enable dual interpretations in both gameplay and aesthetic appreciation. Because Chinese relies on context rather than spacing to delineate words, players can read characters out of context and recombine them to form new words, producing an unstable, interactive reading environment. The analysis is grounded in a single recorded playthrough of the game, examined through close reading rather than broader survey or quantitative data.

The paper's stated contribution is a list of features of sinographs that could guide game designers in creating puzzles that work both as mechanics and as visual poetry. Its scope is limited to one game and one analytic method, and it situates the work within broader scholarly discussions of game hermeneutics and electronic literature, drawing on Aarseth's account of computer games as non-ephemeral artworks and on Van Looy and Baetens's defense of close reading for interactive texts.