This article builds on Games of Empire by centering the experiences of diversity workers in Game Studies of Empire. Our data were gathered through qualitative mixed methods of in-depth surveys and semi-structured interviews. Participants self-identified to be included in the study, all thinking critically through the definitions of “diversity,” “diversity work(er),” and “game studies.” Thus, this study reports on a tapestry of knowledge and experiences from the various educators and advocates of diversity across academia and the games industry. Diversity workers in Game Studies of Empire are often exploited by their affective attachment to diversity and perform significant unrecognized and uncompensated affective labor. Empire uses diversity workers to produce a quantifiable and tokenizable product of bodies and lived experiences that can be used to further profits for companies, universities, and other institutions. Diversity work(ers) against Game Studies of Empire unite! We will have nothing to lose when we become unchained.

Serious games are understood as games that have a purpose beyond entertainment, and are designed for the educational or behavior-change benefit of those who play them. However, the creation of text-based, choice-driven games presents an opportunity for therapeutic narratives that benefit the game authors as well as potential players. Although the benefits of storytelling for therapy has been previously established, these narratives were often linear in nature; the software program, Twine, enables technologically non-savvy authors to write branching narratives with multiple choices, creating an opportunity for an enhanced experience of cathartic storytelling. This paper includes a brief description of writing therapy models, including cognitive behavioral writing therapy (CWBT) and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), and how the thinking involved with creating choice-based narratives mimics those processes. Then, it moves into a brief introduction of Twine and how it is used to create non-linear narratives. Following that, the paper presents three self-reported cases of authors who have experienced catharsis and wellbeing benefits via the use of interactive storytelling with Twine, and how the creation of choice-based narratives enhanced this wellbeing experience. Finally, the paper presents advantages for introducing Twine in a formal therapy process, and practical considerations in doing so.

In game studies, 'agency' is typically defined in terms of the 'choices' or 'freedom' granted to the player, which prioritises the influence of ludology on player engagement while discounting the impact of narratology (Tanenbaum & Tanenbaum 2010: 11). Alternative approaches to agency in games are under-theorised but equally important. This paper explores how player agency extends beyond in-game choices to their individual understanding and interpretation of a text, and how this form of player agency is equally evident in creative writing texts and other narrative mediums. Furthermore, this paper considers the understandings of 'character agency' that have been established in traditional creative writing and considers how this form of agency can influence our understanding of narrative in games. Character agencyand the autonomy of characters that it impliesengages an audience in the motivations of characters they (seemingly) do not control, and practitioners should consider how player agency intersects with the agency of non-player-characters (NPCs) if we are to understand the multi-faceted relationships audiences have with game narratives. This paper explores the ways game studies can engage with a broader consideration of agency, and how narrative is improved by the intersection of these approaches.

No abstract

No abstract