Story knots. A collaborative framework for the narrative design of interactive digital narratives

The study of Interactive Digital Narratives (IDN) is a vibrant research field with a tight connection to disparate disciplines like interaction design, game studies, cognitive science, art and programming. The artefacts belonging to this category have grown a wide and enduring interest because of their innovative methods with which users can take an active role into the digital environment and gain dramatic agency over the narrative discourse. Among them, digital games are the IDN that have seen the most impressive evolution, building a thriving market that in the 2020 alone was worth 180 billion dollars. Based on this premise, this study investigates possible approaches on the narrative design process of IDNs. It reviews a wide and interdisciplinary literature that covers interaction design, game design and narratology and it explores the state of the art of the matter, largely focusing on digital games as the most representative, yet mature, type of IDN, with a virtuous history of technological innovation and successful case studies. In doing so, it detects and recognizes the problematic nature of narrative design in an interactive environment; a prevailing topic still in need of scientific investigation, given the general availability of means and tools not only to professionals but also to artists, independent companies and researchers. This study particularly recognizes the need for a clearer communication on narrative-centered topics during the game design process and the necessity of well-established working tools. As a result, it aims to provide a collaborative framework able to support the narrative design of digital games. Knowledge from different fields was collected and summarized into a working paper prototype, that originated through an iterative co-design process conducted between the Amsterdam University of Applied Science (AUAS) and Politecnico di Milano. Subsequently the prototype has been reworked in a digital environment and tested with users and stakeholders and data was collected through qualitative methods. The final contribution of this research includes a digital collaborative tool that supports the narrative design of digital games, with the aim to advance the knowledge in the interactive digital narrative field and further the study on its design tools.

Lo studio delle Interactive Digital Narratives (IDN) è un campo di ricerca vivace, con diverse connessioni a discipline come l’interaction design, i game studies, le scienze cognitive, l’arte e la programmazione. Gli artefatti che appartengono a questa categoria hanno da sempre generato un vasto e duraturo interesse perché offrono agli utenti la possibilità di esplorare ambienti digitali sfaccettati e di poter modificare lo svolgimento della narrazione con le proprie scelte. Tra questi, i digital games sono senza ombra di dubbio la tipologia di IDN che ha attraversato la più impressionante e repentina evoluzione nel tempo. Basandosi su questa premessa, il presente studio investiga i possibili approcci al processo di narrative design delle IDNs, passando in rassegna un’ampia letteratura interdisciplinare che comprende l’interaction design, il game design e la narratologia, ed esplora lo stato dell’arte dell’argomento, focalizzandosi soprattutto sui digital games come la tipologia più rappresentativa e matura di IDN, con una virtuosa storia di innovazione tecnologica e casi studio rilevanti. In tal modo individua e riconosce la natura problematica del narrative design in un ambiente interattivo; una tematica particolarmente attuale che ancora necessita di investigazione scientifica. In particolare, questo studio sottolinea la necessità di una comunicazione più chiara sulle tematiche narrative-centered durante il processo di game design, e la necessità di strumenti di lavoro ben consolidati. Nell’approfondire queste esigenze lo studio ha permesso la creazione di un framework teorico per il narrative design collaborativo di digital games, supportato da un card-based progettato attraverso un processo iterativo di co-design condotto presso la Amsterdam University of Applied Science. Successivamente il framework è stato validato da sessioni di testing con possibili utenti e stakeholders (come indie developers e studenti), ed i risultati sono stati rielaborati in un un tool digitale e collaborativo per il narrative design di interactive digital narratives.