{"id":291,"date":"2021-12-07T11:44:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T16:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=291"},"modified":"2022-02-28T16:41:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T21:41:02","slug":"introduction-to-interactive-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/chapter\/introduction-to-interactive-storytelling\/","title":{"raw":"9.3 Introduction to Interactive Storytelling","rendered":"9.3 Introduction to Interactive Storytelling"},"content":{"raw":"As a brief introduction to Twine and interactive fiction, we invite you to spend a few minutes playing the two Twine games provided:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Zo<span lang=\"en\">\u00eb\u00a0<\/span>Quinn is an American video game developer. Her 2013 game, <em>Depression Quest,<\/em> is a choose-your-own-adventure game about living with depression. Quinn\u2019s thoughtful game illustrates the possibilities of using Twine as a medium for artistic, political, and self-expression, and explores empathy role play and the limits of choice. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/\">http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<ol start=\"2\">\r\n \t<li><em>Nonbinary: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure<\/em> is a game published by Adan Jerreat-Poole (2019) about being a nonbinary video game scholar. This game explores justice and inclusion in academia and gaming communities. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.firstpersonscholar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/nonbinary-twine.html\">http:\/\/www.firstpersonscholar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/nonbinary-twine.html<\/a>\r\nPlease note that the transcript of this game is available here: <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/DEH3-Y8YW\">http:\/\/www.firstpersonscholar.com\/nonbinary-text\/<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<img src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-300x101.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-90\" width=\"300\" height=\"101\" \/>\r\n\r\nAfter playing one or both games, take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts on the experience. Let the following questions guide your analysis:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>What choices were available to you? What choices do you wish had been available?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How was the story told?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What kinds of access were provided? In what ways were the games inaccessible?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What story was being told and how did you participate in its creation?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What emotions did the game evoke?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[h5p id=\"30\"]\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-300x100.png\" alt=\"Background\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-89\" style=\"font-size: 16px;font-weight: 400\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" \/>\r\n<h1>Interactivity and Choice<\/h1>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar\">If you would like to read more about the emotional impact and potential of games, <em>How Games Move Us: Emotion By Design<\/em>\u00a0 (Ibister, 2016) and Jane McGonigal\u2019s (2011) <em>Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World<\/em> are excellent resources.<\/div>\r\nIn <em>Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals<\/em>, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman (2003) explain the impact of making choices in a game. Salen and Zimmerman argue that meaningful play requires meaningful choices that impact the narrative (p. 64). This argument is something that is often echoed in game scholarship \u2013 that the active role players have, through decision making and the direct impact <span style=\"font-size: 1em\">these choices can have <\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">on narrative, is crucial to the meaningfulness of play.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">In her book <em>How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design<\/em>, Katherine Isbister (2016) frames meaningful play as emotional responses from players, writing,<\/span><\/span>\r\n<blockquote><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">\u201cActions with consequences \u2013 interesting choices \u2013 unlock a new set of emotional possibilities for game designers. Ultimately, these possibilities exist because our feelings in everyday life, as well as games, are integrally tied to our goals, our decisions, and their consequences.\u201d <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">(p. 2)<\/span><\/blockquote>\r\n<span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Isbister argues that making choices allows players to experience unique emotional responses in games, such as responsibility and guilt (both emotions we may not immediately think of when we think about playing videogames). Essentially, choice is how games carry their meaning.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-300x101.png\" alt=\"Reflection\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-90\" width=\"300\" height=\"101\" \/>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 1em\">Before moving on, think about your experience playing either\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em\">Depression Quest<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em\">Nonbinary: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">. <\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">What choices in the games led to the most meaningful emotional impact for you? <\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">Were they choices that felt like they had consequences to them? <\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">And were the emotions created by these choices ones you would normally associate with videogame play? <\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 1em\"><span>Feel free to write your reflections in the text box below:<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"30\"]\r\n<h2><img src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-300x100.png\" alt=\"Background\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-89\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" \/><\/h2>\r\n<h2>Limited Choices<\/h2>\r\nWe just learned about how creating in-game choices for players that affect the game\u2019s narrative opens a space for meaningful play and evokes powerful emotions. However, there is also value in limiting choices. In <em>Depression Quest<\/em>, for example, players lack choice in their decisions; this limited playstyle allows players to 'play' the experience of living with depression as conveyed by Zo\u00eb Quinn. An example of this limited choice from the game is in Figure 1 below:\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1095\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"817\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1.png\" alt=\"A list of four options for players to choose following the prompt \u201cDo you\u2026\u201d Option 1 is in red strikethrough text and cannot be chosen by the player. Options 2 to 4 are in blue text and can be clicked on. Option 1 reads \u201cOrder some food, grab a drink, and hunker down for a night of work\u201d. Option 2 reads: \u201cReluctantly sit down at your desk and try and make yourself do something.\u201d Option 3 reads: Turn on the TV, telling yourself you just need a quick half hour to unwind from work.\u201d Option 4 reads: \u201cCrawl into bed. You\u2019re so stressed and overwhelmed you couldn\u2019t possibly accomplish anything.\u201d\" class=\"wp-image-1095 size-full\" width=\"817\" height=\"203\" \/> Figure 1. <em>Depression Quest<\/em> screenshot showing four choices. One of the choices is crossed out. <span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;From: Depression Quest, Copyright @ Zoe Quinn 2013 http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/ Depression Quest Screenshot #1 This image is being used under fair dealing for education. &quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:771,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:65535},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0}\">From: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/\">Depression Quest<\/a>, Copyright @ Zoe Quinn 2013. This image is being used under fair dealing for education. <\/span>[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn this example, Quinn takes a choice away to cleverly evoke emotion in the player. In thinking about representation and disability, this playstyle also serves to educate and perhaps challenge preconceptions players may have about depression.\r\n<h2>Engaging Players with Interactivity<\/h2>\r\nInteractivity as a whole is what creates space for meaningful engagement with narratives and games, whether this interactivity is through agency afforded to players with choices or by the lack of choice. This interactivity and engagement with a narrative can be especially affecting because, as touched upon in previous modules, digital worlds are not separate or closed off from our lived experiences in the real or physical world. Players carry their beliefs, their experiences, and their values into game worlds. Through choice (or lack thereof) and interaction with narratives, game designers can directly engage with these values, experiences, and beliefs to challenge them or reaffirm them.\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaway<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">Consider what kinds of choices you have encountered in games and the emotions they elicited. How might a choice that does not affect the outcome of the situation \u2013 meaning that both option one and two arrive at the same conclusion \u2013 elicit a different response from a player than one which offers players more control over choosing the outcome? Similarly, how can a lack of choice, such as what Quinn uses in <em>Depression Quest<\/em>, function in a critical play design method which interrogates social issues or beliefs?<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Whose Choices?<\/h2>\r\nIt is crucial to keep in mind that choices in games are designed and framed by game creators, meaning these choices and emotions, as well as the narratives that house them, can reflect the values of those creators. In <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/chapter\/module-9-readings\/\">the first assigned reading for this module<\/a>, Kara Stone (2019) asks,\r\n<blockquote>\u201cWhat if we made games that activated melancholy, or self-reflection, or tenderness? [\u2026] I think games are emotionally powerful, and it\u2019s time we start channeling that power into a wider emotional landscape. We need to make reparative games, games that can help us heal.\u201d\r\n(n.p.)<\/blockquote>\r\nStone builds upon the idea that game designers can create unique and emotionally charged experiences through choice and interactivity, but calls into question the emotions designers choose to create. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/chapter\/maker-spotlight-kaitlin-tremblay\/\">in the maker spotlight for this week<\/a>, Kaitlin Tremblay reflects on how\r\n<blockquote>\u201csome people have very specific ideas of what games should be or who should make games, and these people don\u2019t always want to accommodate outside of their understanding of that.\u201d<\/blockquote>\r\nKaitlin says using horror and \u201cproductive discomfort\u201d is a way she communicates her experiences of trauma and mental illness to players.\r\n\r\nRemember how we discussed the importance of having disabled game creators. If the games we play are not rooted in disability experience, then the choices in those games, and subsequent emotional responses, cannot properly address the \"wider emotional landscape\" of human experience that Stone discusses. It is within these choices that disabled game creators have some of the most powerful tools to challenge ableism and educate players.","rendered":"<p>As a brief introduction to Twine and interactive fiction, we invite you to spend a few minutes playing the two Twine games provided:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Zo<span lang=\"en\">\u00eb\u00a0<\/span>Quinn is an American video game developer. Her 2013 game, <em>Depression Quest,<\/em> is a choose-your-own-adventure game about living with depression. Quinn\u2019s thoughtful game illustrates the possibilities of using Twine as a medium for artistic, political, and self-expression, and explores empathy role play and the limits of choice. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/\">http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><em>Nonbinary: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure<\/em> is a game published by Adan Jerreat-Poole (2019) about being a nonbinary video game scholar. This game explores justice and inclusion in academia and gaming communities. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.firstpersonscholar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/nonbinary-twine.html\">http:\/\/www.firstpersonscholar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/nonbinary-twine.html<\/a><br \/>\nPlease note that the transcript of this game is available here: <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/DEH3-Y8YW\">http:\/\/www.firstpersonscholar.com\/nonbinary-text\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-300x101.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-90\" width=\"300\" height=\"101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-300x101.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-65x22.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-225x76.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label.png 351w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After playing one or both games, take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts on the experience. Let the following questions guide your analysis:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What choices were available to you? What choices do you wish had been available?<\/li>\n<li>How was the story told?<\/li>\n<li>What kinds of access were provided? In what ways were the games inaccessible?<\/li>\n<li>What story was being told and how did you participate in its creation?<\/li>\n<li>What emotions did the game evoke?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"h5p-30\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-30\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"30\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Generic Reflection\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-300x100.png\" alt=\"Background\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-89\" style=\"font-size: 16px;font-weight: 400\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-65x22.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-225x75.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-350x117.png 350w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label.png 353w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>Interactivity and Choice<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar\">If you would like to read more about the emotional impact and potential of games, <em>How Games Move Us: Emotion By Design<\/em>\u00a0 (Ibister, 2016) and Jane McGonigal\u2019s (2011) <em>Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World<\/em> are excellent resources.<\/div>\n<p>In <em>Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals<\/em>, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman (2003) explain the impact of making choices in a game. Salen and Zimmerman argue that meaningful play requires meaningful choices that impact the narrative (p. 64). This argument is something that is often echoed in game scholarship \u2013 that the active role players have, through decision making and the direct impact <span style=\"font-size: 1em\">these choices can have <\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">on narrative, is crucial to the meaningfulness of play.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">In her book <em>How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design<\/em>, Katherine Isbister (2016) frames meaningful play as emotional responses from players, writing,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">\u201cActions with consequences \u2013 interesting choices \u2013 unlock a new set of emotional possibilities for game designers. Ultimately, these possibilities exist because our feelings in everyday life, as well as games, are integrally tied to our goals, our decisions, and their consequences.\u201d <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">(p. 2)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Isbister argues that making choices allows players to experience unique emotional responses in games, such as responsibility and guilt (both emotions we may not immediately think of when we think about playing videogames). Essentially, choice is how games carry their meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-300x101.png\" alt=\"Reflection\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-90\" width=\"300\" height=\"101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-300x101.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-65x22.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label-225x76.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Reflection-label.png 351w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">Before moving on, think about your experience playing either\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em\">Depression Quest<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em\">Nonbinary: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">What choices in the games led to the most meaningful emotional impact for you? <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">Were they choices that felt like they had consequences to them? <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">And were the emotions created by these choices ones you would normally associate with videogame play? <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1em\"><span>Feel free to write your reflections in the text box below:<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"h5p-30\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-30\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"30\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Generic Reflection\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-300x100.png\" alt=\"Background\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-89\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-65x22.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-225x75.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-350x117.png 350w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label.png 353w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2>Limited Choices<\/h2>\n<p>We just learned about how creating in-game choices for players that affect the game\u2019s narrative opens a space for meaningful play and evokes powerful emotions. However, there is also value in limiting choices. In <em>Depression Quest<\/em>, for example, players lack choice in their decisions; this limited playstyle allows players to &#8216;play&#8217; the experience of living with depression as conveyed by Zo\u00eb Quinn. An example of this limited choice from the game is in Figure 1 below:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1095\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1095\" style=\"width: 817px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1.png\" alt=\"A list of four options for players to choose following the prompt \u201cDo you\u2026\u201d Option 1 is in red strikethrough text and cannot be chosen by the player. Options 2 to 4 are in blue text and can be clicked on. Option 1 reads \u201cOrder some food, grab a drink, and hunker down for a night of work\u201d. Option 2 reads: \u201cReluctantly sit down at your desk and try and make yourself do something.\u201d Option 3 reads: Turn on the TV, telling yourself you just need a quick half hour to unwind from work.\u201d Option 4 reads: \u201cCrawl into bed. You\u2019re so stressed and overwhelmed you couldn\u2019t possibly accomplish anything.\u201d\" class=\"wp-image-1095 size-full\" width=\"817\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1.png 817w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1-768x191.png 768w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1-65x16.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1-225x56.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/12\/Depression-quest-screenshot-1-350x87.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 817px) 100vw, 817px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1. <em>Depression Quest<\/em> screenshot showing four choices. One of the choices is crossed out. <span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;From: Depression Quest, Copyright @ Zoe Quinn 2013 http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/ Depression Quest Screenshot #1 This image is being used under fair dealing for education. &quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:771,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:65535},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0}\">From: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.depressionquest.com\/\">Depression Quest<\/a>, Copyright @ Zoe Quinn 2013. This image is being used under fair dealing for education. <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In this example, Quinn takes a choice away to cleverly evoke emotion in the player. In thinking about representation and disability, this playstyle also serves to educate and perhaps challenge preconceptions players may have about depression.<\/p>\n<h2>Engaging Players with Interactivity<\/h2>\n<p>Interactivity as a whole is what creates space for meaningful engagement with narratives and games, whether this interactivity is through agency afforded to players with choices or by the lack of choice. This interactivity and engagement with a narrative can be especially affecting because, as touched upon in previous modules, digital worlds are not separate or closed off from our lived experiences in the real or physical world. Players carry their beliefs, their experiences, and their values into game worlds. Through choice (or lack thereof) and interaction with narratives, game designers can directly engage with these values, experiences, and beliefs to challenge them or reaffirm them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaway<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">Consider what kinds of choices you have encountered in games and the emotions they elicited. How might a choice that does not affect the outcome of the situation \u2013 meaning that both option one and two arrive at the same conclusion \u2013 elicit a different response from a player than one which offers players more control over choosing the outcome? Similarly, how can a lack of choice, such as what Quinn uses in <em>Depression Quest<\/em>, function in a critical play design method which interrogates social issues or beliefs?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Whose Choices?<\/h2>\n<p>It is crucial to keep in mind that choices in games are designed and framed by game creators, meaning these choices and emotions, as well as the narratives that house them, can reflect the values of those creators. In <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/chapter\/module-9-readings\/\">the first assigned reading for this module<\/a>, Kara Stone (2019) asks,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhat if we made games that activated melancholy, or self-reflection, or tenderness? [\u2026] I think games are emotionally powerful, and it\u2019s time we start channeling that power into a wider emotional landscape. We need to make reparative games, games that can help us heal.\u201d<br \/>\n(n.p.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Stone builds upon the idea that game designers can create unique and emotionally charged experiences through choice and interactivity, but calls into question the emotions designers choose to create. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/chapter\/maker-spotlight-kaitlin-tremblay\/\">in the maker spotlight for this week<\/a>, Kaitlin Tremblay reflects on how<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201csome people have very specific ideas of what games should be or who should make games, and these people don\u2019t always want to accommodate outside of their understanding of that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Kaitlin says using horror and \u201cproductive discomfort\u201d is a way she communicates her experiences of trauma and mental illness to players.<\/p>\n<p>Remember how we discussed the importance of having disabled game creators. If the games we play are not rooted in disability experience, then the choices in those games, and subsequent emotional responses, cannot properly address the &#8220;wider emotional landscape&#8221; of human experience that Stone discusses. It is within these choices that disabled game creators have some of the most powerful tools to challenge ableism and educate players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-291","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":153,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/363"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1745,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/291\/revisions\/1745"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/153"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/291\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}