The Gameplay Gestalt, Narrative, and Interactive Storytelling

This paper discusses the relationship between concepts of narrative, patterns of interaction within computer games constituting gameplay gestalts, and the relationship between narrative and the gameplay gestalt. The repetitive patterning involved in gameplay gestalt formation is found to undermine deep narrative immersion. The creation of stronger forms of interactive narrative in games requires the resolution of this confl ict. The paper goes on to describe the Purgatory Engine, a game engine based upon more fundamentally dramatic forms of gameplay and interaction, supporting a new game genre referred to as the fi rst-person actor. The fi rst-person actor does not involve a repetitive gestalt mode of gameplay, but defi nes gameplay in terms of character development and dramatic interaction.