JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 250 Jonne Arjoranta Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 250 Jonne Arjoranta Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Athenaeum-rakennuksen salissa A103 huhtikuun 24. päivänä 2015 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Jyväskylä, in building Athenaeum, hall A103, on April 24, 2015 at 12 o’clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2015 Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 250 Jonne Arjoranta Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2015 Editors Raine Koskimaa The Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä Pekka Olsbo, Timo Hautala Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities Editorial Board Editor in Chief Heikki Hanka, Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä Petri Karonen, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä Paula Kalaja, Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä Petri Toiviainen, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä Tarja Nikula, Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä Raimo Salokangas, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä Cover picture by Jonne Arjoranta. Picture is based on public domain illustration by Jessica Westbrook (http://www.clker.com/clipart-bigps3controller.html) URN:ISBN:978-951-39-6164-0 ISBN 978-951-39-6164-0 (PDF) ISSN 1459-4331 ISBN 978-951-39-6163-3 (nid.) ISSN 1459-4323 Copyright © 2015, by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2015 ABSTRACT Arjoranta, Jonne Real-Time Hermeneutics: Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2015, 1 p. -\YlVN\Ol6WXGLHVLQ+XPDQLWLHV ISSN 1459-4323; 250 (nid); ISSN 1459-4331; 250 (PDF) ISBN 978-951-39-6163-3 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-6164-0 (PDF) Digital games are a relatively new medium. While they have been around for over half a century, they only became a major part of the culture relatively late. Like every other medium before, games also have struggled to find an expressive language of their own. Some of the expressive styles of other media are still relevant for games, but new ones have to be created specifically for videogames. This dissertation is a study of how ludonarrative videogames, videogames that combine game elements with narrative elements, express and convey meaning. This is done as part of game studies, a multidisciplinary approach to studying games. The purpose is twofold: to build a foundation for better under- standing of meaning-making in games, and to provide game designers with tools for analyzing issues related to meaning. This study uses philosophical tools to analyze meaning in games. The philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer is used to compare the meaning-making in games to the interpretation of works of art. The theory of the interpretive process is based on the idea of the hermeneutic circle. Wittgen- stein’s concept of language-games is used in examining how games should be defined and how their relations to each other should be understood. These philosophical methods are combined with the study of procedurality, narrativi- ty and players. This study shows that ludonarrative games are procedural systems that are interpreted both during gameplay and as a part of the surrounding cultural context. The result of this interpretation is neither predetermined by the game designer nor fixed during gameplay, but potentially open for endless reinter- pretation as players interact with the game in new ways and as the cultural con- text changes. In order to convey meaning, ludonarrative games can borrow ex- pressive tools from other media, for example by using perspective in the way it is used in cinema. Additionally, this study provides guidelines for designing meaning. It is shown how meaning can be used as a game mechanic, and how games contain unique ways of expressing things that would be hard to convey in other media. Keywords: computer games, definition, digital games, Gadamer, game studies, hermeneutics, language-games, ludonarrative, meaning, narratology, role- playing games, videogames, Wittgenstein Author’s address Jonne Arjoranta Department of Art and Culture Studies University of Jyväskylä, Finland [email protected] Supervisors Raine Koskimaa Department of Art and Culture Studies University of Jyväskylä, Finland J. Tuomas Harviainen School of Information Sciences University of Tampere, Finland Reviewers John Wrae Stanley, Jr. Espen Aarseth Opponents Espen Aarseth ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this dissertation required me to change departments and to learn a field of which I had very little previous knowledge. I wish to thank my original su- pervisors Jussi Kotkavirta and Raine Koskimaa for making that switch possible. Later, J. Tuomas Harviainen has provided invaluable advice as my supervisor. He is also to thank for pushing me to write my first paper on role-playing games. Without his advice the paper would not have been finished. My colleagues at the University of Jyväskylä, in my department and else- where, have provided me with a community in which studying games is both possible and a joy. Despite the fact that we are scattered around the university, you have ensured that there is always a place to go to where games are under- stood. Jukka Varsaluoma and Tanja Välisalo have worked tirelessly year after year to make sure that games are taught to new students and Tero Pasanen, Marko Siitonen and Sanna-Mari Äyrämö have both collaborated with me and challenged me to see things from new perspectives. The University of Jyväskylä has provided me with funding and the support I needed to finish my work. There have been others in game studies and outside of it who have pro- vided me with feedback, help and food for thought: Antti Heikinheimo, Veli- Matti Karhulahti, Markus Montola and many others have commented on my work in conferences, lectures and emails. The people who have informed and inspired me through playing are too numerous to name. I have been lucky in having been encouraged by my family to continue, despite working in a field they have not always entirely grasped. I am grateful for their support. Finally, I wish to thank Sanna for the support, the countless hours shared playing and the discussions those hours evoked. Jyväskylä 30.3.2015 Jonne Arjoranta LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES FIGURE 1 A simple geometric shape often interpreted as a religious symbol. .................................................................................................. 29 FIGURE 2 Schleiermacher’s hermeneutic circle ................................................ 31 FIGURE 3 The hermeneutic spiral of interpretation .......................................... 35 FIGURE 4 A continuum from abstract to narrative games .............................. 55 FIGURE 5 A narrative choice screen from King of Dragon Pass ........................ 78 FIGURE 6 Happy customers in McDonald’s Videogame ..................................... 80 FIGURE 7 The aftermath of a missile attack in September 12th......................... 81 TABLE 1 Forms of play according to Sutton-Smith (1997) ............................. 15 TABLE 2 Types of interpretation according to Schleiermacher. .................... 32 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS I Arjoranta, J. (2011a). Do We Need Real-Time Hermeneutics? Structures of Meaning in Games. In DiGRA 2011: Think Design Play. Utrecht: Utrecht School of the Arts. II Arjoranta, J. (2014). Game Definitions: A Wittgensteinian Approach. Game Studies, 14 (1). III Arjoranta, J. (2011b). Defining Role-Playing Games as Language- Games. International Journal of Role-Playing, (2). IV Arjoranta, J., & Karhulahti, V.-M. (2014). Ludology, Narratology and Philosophical Hermeneutics. In Nordic DiGRA 2014. Visby, Sweden: Digital Games Research Association. V Arjoranta, J. (submitted manuscript). Narrative Tools for Games: Focalization, Granularity and Mode of Narration in Games. Games and Culture. CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... 5 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ............................................................................... 6 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ............................................................................................ 7 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 11 1.1 A Brief History of Play Theory ............................................................... 12 1.2 A Brief History of Digital Games ........................................................... 16 1.3 A Brief Look at Game Studies ................................................................. 20 1.4 The Study of Meaning in Games ............................................................ 21 1.5 Objectives and Research Questions ....................................................... 23 1.6 Research Process and Structure .............................................................. 25 2 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ....................................................................