The Visual Conveyance of Narrative: From a Cognitive Perspective
Abstract
This qualitative study aims to explore, from a cognitive perspective, the influence
visuals have on conveying the game’s narrative and how this engages the player. The
focus being to further the understanding of how both visuals and narrative affect the
overall experience. Motivated by the underrepresentation of visuals and narrative
studies within game research. At the centre of the study is a thematic analysis of
qualitative data collected from face to face interviews in a home and school
environment, where players shared memorable moments experienced while playing a
game. The interviews were complemented by data from popular forums, with the
same focus. Helping the analysis of the data were cognitive theories into how our
minds process and interpret information, an analysis which resulted in five main
themes with corresponding code, which represented what appeared central for the
creation of the memorable moment. There were, however, always more than one
element within the game which provided and engaged the player in the narrative
construction of the memorable moment, which served to highlight the importance of
considering all aspects of the design, as all affected our meaning making. Central to
engaging the player’s narrative construction was the intrinsic motivation of curiosity,
in tangent with our desire to learn. Exactly how different visuals elements affected
the player’s narrative construction did not become apparent during the analysis, as a
fine line existed between what element provided for different memorable moments.
Most notably was that all of the themes and codes could be tied back to engagement,
as all of them served to engage the player’s meaning making. A discovery that in turn,
lead to the creation of a framework for future studies, which, while supported by
cognitive theories, aims to enable the discovery of what and how different aspects
engage the player in the experience.
Ossian Borg Gyllenbäck 