Fiona Schönberg is a novelist, script writer and narrative designer from Germany. She graduated from Mainz University and holds a Master of Arts in Mediendramaturgie (Media Studies), as well as a Bachelor’s in Film Studies and English Literature and Culture.
All Work and No Play – The Narrative Potential of Formal Gameplay Elements and Economic Alienation in Neo Cab
FROG 2022 – Talk
When we consider representation in video games, we are most commonly concerned with what might be considered primarily narrative elements: the visual depiction and design, the dialogue, the various sources of diegetic information, as well as the tropes and relations that inform framing within a scene or the narrative at large.
This presentation on the other hand, aims to interrogate what Clara Fernández-Vara dubbed the ‘formal elements’ of a video game – its mechanics and gameplay loops – for their potential to represent subaltern experience; not by painting a picture, but by creating an experience.
To that end, the presentation will examine how Chance Agency’s 2019 game Neo Cab uses each of its gameplay mechanics in tandem to engender the experience of economic alienation and marginalization experienced by the game’s protagonist, and will argue for the potential that this method holds.
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