Narrative and Games

Story: All the elements which end up being depicted, not every event which happens, many things can be implied but never shown properly.

Plot: The chain of causation, these are the things which actually happen within the story.

Narrative: The order in which events are revealed.

Events in a narrative can be revealed either first hand or second hand. When a story is revealed first hand it is shown to the viewer by the character from their perspective as the event unfolds to them. When an event is shared second it is by characters who were at the event and directly involved but not about themselves.

Narrative form, however, can be linear or non-linear. The sequence of events will inevitably include diversions and delays to help create dramatic tension or elongate the intended emotion evoked in a viewer.

Jenkins argues that this means that aspects of narratives tend to be  isolated from the computer gameness of games. They may be delivered in the form of cut scenes. However not all games tell a story e.g. Tetris or Minecraft.

I feel that Tetris and Minecraft do in fact have narratives although they are player driven narratives which are unique to each player. A story still unfolds around tetris, eg. "I was so close to losing and then that piece I'd been waiting for all game appeared! I cleared so much stuff and beat my previous high-score"