Fiction in the Game World

Reading Summary

In this reading, Juul explains how players imagine the world a game projects and how these games cue the players into imagining these certain realities. There are two determinants in envisioning a game world: the game rules and its fiction. Rules are designed to be unambiguous, objective, obligatory, and generally above discuss. Whereas fiction in a game is ambiguous, highly subjective, optional, and subject to discussion. We can speak of rules without fiction however we can’t discuss fiction without the rules. All fictional worlds are incomplete within games which drives the player to fill in the blanks of the game’s story by using a combination of real world knowledge and knowledge of genre conventions. Many games present incoherent worlds where the world contradicts itself thus preventing the player from imagining a complete fictional world. When we find certain aspects of the game too difficult to imagine, we resort by explaining the events in the game by appealing to its rules. Depending on the level at which a game is played and the extent of the players’ imagination, we find how representational the game is.

Outside Example

When reading this excerpt, I was reminded of the interactive game Dungeons and Dragons. D&D is a fantastical tabletop role-playing game in which players are their own characters in an ongoing fantasy story. The game consists of one dungeon master who is the leader of creating this fantasy world and story-telling each game. The DM guides the characters through quests, battles, rescues, and basically anything the DM wishes to input into the world. The other players of the game work together to try and achieve the goals that the DM has set for the game. Prior to playing the game, all players get to create their own character. When a character decides to behave or act on a certain objective in the game, the player will roll a 20 sided die to determine if they follow through on this act (the higher the roll, the better your chances). In most games, how you play is limited by the options the game designers give you. However, in D&D your decisions create the story or the fiction of the game. The DM alters the story depending what the characters decide to do each session.

Reading Connection

This reading connects to my example because Juul explains 5 different types of games. Abstract games are those that do not in their entirety represent something else. The game is the rules (ex. Tetris). Iconic games are ones whose individual pieces have meanings. An example of this is a deck of cards. Incoherent world games are games in which the fictional world within contradicts itself thus preventing players from filling in blanks. Coherent world games do not prevent the players from imagining the world given in any detail. Lastly, staged games are abstract or somewhat representational games played in a more elaborate world. The puzzles and games to be solved are created by characters in a very curiously sketched larger world. With these descriptions in mind, I would categorize D&D as both a coherent world game and a staged game. Considering the characters create their own realities depending on their actions, they have no problem imagining this world in full detail. It also falls under a staged game because the world is elaborately formed by the characters within the game rather than the game designers.