Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Organization and Exploration of Space as Narrative: Information Architecture in Video Games

2021; Springer Nature; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-030-63205-2_18

2524-4477

Andrea Resmini,

Data Visualization and Analytics

The chapter analyzes the organization of space and narrative in video games as an instance of the information architecture of digital environments and of the structural role it plays in shaping experience. It does so by adopting two different ways to analyze the space/narrative relationship: Lynch’s spatial primitives for cognitive mapping, and McGregor’s taxonomy of spatial patterns. These are then applied to read three different action/adventure video games: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Shadow of the Colossus, and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The reason is threefold: to illuminate the individual information architectures of games that might, on the surface, be regarded as providing very similar experiences; to contribute to the ongoing conversation on embodiment and spatiality in information architecture; and to provide an example of how contemporary information architecture can be employed to critique different types of information environments.