Games Within Games: The Two (or More) Fictional Levels of Video Games

Seiwald, Regina (2019) Games Within Games: The Two (or More) Fictional Levels of Video Games. In: Videogame Sciences and Art. Communications in Computer and Information Science (1164). Springer, Cham, pp. 18-31. ISBN 9783030379827

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Abstract

Video games that incorporate other games in their game-world create interlacing fictional levels. These can be used to engage with concepts of “gameness” from within the game itself without abandoning the aesthetic illusion created by the macrogame, in which the minigame is embedded. In my paper, I delve into the question why we are willing to immerse ourselves in video game worlds even if they contain elements that overtly emphasise the fictionality of these games. I explore concepts of illusion as well as interlacing fictional levels from a theoretical perspective before I research various modes of games within games with or without an impact on the gameplay of the macrogame as well as their relationship to illusion. The outcome of my paper will be a comprehensive study of the critical potential of minigames, which is accomplished by discussing a large corpus of different video games.

Item Type:	Book Section
Identification Number:	10.1007/978-3-030-37983-4
Dates:	Date Event 27 December 2019 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Minigames Narrative video games Illusion Make-believe Mise-en-abyme Chinese-box structures
Subjects:	CAH11 - computing > CAH11-01 - computing > CAH11-01-01 - computer science CAH19 - language and area studies > CAH19-01 - English studies > CAH19-01-01 - English studies (non-specific)
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of English and Media
Depositing User:	Regina Seiwald
Date Deposited:	21 Jan 2020 09:36
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2024 12:08
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8733

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