Pony Island

Gameplay, Emotions and Narrative: Independent Games Experienced

"Gameplay, Emotions and Narrative: Independent Games Experienced" examines how independent digital games function as sophisticated artistic mediums, capable of evoking deep emotional and intellectual engagement through the complex interplay of narrative and mechanics.

• The report analyses independent (non-Triple-A) games, ranging from free or pay-what-you-want releases to products from small teams or small publishers with limited budgets, arguing these titles use game mechanics to explore emotion and narrative.
• Chapter One examines Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (2017), arguing it renders the mindscape of a person who is mentally ill through ludic mechanics, with particular focus on belief and imagination as central to its portrayal of mental and emotional states such as shame, guilt, despair and terror.
• In Hellblade, the 'darkness' is visualised as progressive decay that the Narrator calls 'rot'; although the game warns it will kill Senua, the rot only frightens her and the player rather than actually killing her, mirroring how Zynbel's abusive claims prove untrue within the narrative.