Question-Based Immersion and Sethian
The concept of being immersed in a game is a common idea in gaming culture. People would usually refer to some game with gorgeous graphics and lore the size of a duffel bag. While, without a doubt, immersion is created by great graphics and herculean lore, there is another form that it can take. There is a form of immersion that is created by the presentation of a puzzle. To explore this different type of immersion we will examine the game Sethian, a somewhat obscure indie title that represents this form of immersion superbly.
Two Forms of Immersion
However, before we start talking about Sethian, we have to understand what the more conventional form of immersion looks like. This is the immersion of beautiful landscapes, empathetic characters, and good lore, or what we will call narrative immersion. Narrative immersion is “the experience of being drawn in - even transported to a fictional world through storytelling” (What is Immersion 0:27). There are two key parts to this definition. The first is a more general aspect of immersion, that being that the player must be drawn in or transported to the games world. What sets narrative immersion apart from other potential types of immersion is the catalyst for the immersion, that being storytelling. Storytelling in video games is a complex topic and could take an entire episode on its own, but to put it simply: the storytelling includes visuals, lore, and characters. The visuals set the worlds tone, thereby setting the story’s tone, the lore builds the world, and the characters are conduits for emotional investment from the player. Narrative immersion is certainly the most discussed form of immersion, but it is not the only one.
Another type of immersion that can be found in gaming is something that we’ll call question-based immersion. Just like narrative immersion, question-based immersion pulls a player into the world of the game. The difference between the two is the catalyst for the immersion. Instead of focusing on storytelling, question-based immersion uses a puzzle to pull the player in. A channel called Extra Credits made some remarks on this form of immersion, saying that “the moment when there’s a question that you need to know the answer to, most of the work is done to get you to cross the magic circle” (The Magic Circle 4:53). In other words, when a question is presented to the player, it pulls them into the “magic circle”. That circle is what they call the boundary to immersion. The drive to solve a problem creates a conduit for investment in a similar way to how good characters or rich lore allows players to immerse themselves. So, where is question-based immersion seen in gaming? That’s where Sethian comes in.
Sethian's Immersion
Sethian is an indie game that probably slipped past most peoples radars. In the game, the player is presented with a strange console and no information. After clicking around for a moment, the basic information is given to the player. They are a scientist who has come to a dead planet called Sethian to try to discover what happened to it. The only clue is this strange computer console that communicates in an alien language. Starting with just a few notes, the player must decipher what the computer is saying and discover what occurred on Sethian. The game uses question-based immersion to keep the player solving the puzzle, so lets look at the mechanics of that immersion.
The first thing that needs to be identified is the question. There are actually two questions presented by Sethian. The first is a question of “what is this”? This question is presented upon first opening the game. By presenting the player with a completely alien structure as their first image of the game, a curiosity is created within the player. They become bent on figuring out the secrets of the computer. The “what is this?” question is a bridge to the bigger question of “how do I understand this?” Once the basic concepts of the alien language are presented to the player, the player then feels the need to understand the language. They invest themselves into learning a new language. Taking notes and discussing with colleagues (or other players) becomes almost a must.
By taking up the “how do I understand this” question, the player becomes the scientist in the game. I do mean this literally. The player does not believe that they are playing the scientist, instead they have, in reality, become the scientist. There are two mechanisms that make the player become the scientist. The first is the interface of the game. The interface of the game is literally the computer that would have been found on Sethian. There is no intermediary, such as a player avatar, between the player and the actions in the game. Every button that the player presses is one that the player has pressed, not something that the player has chosen for an avatar to press. The second mechanism is the lack of knowledge. The player is ultimately given all the information that the in-game scientist was given. Because of this, there is no reliance on expositional dialogue to give the player information. Instead, the player learns new information through a direct dialogue with the Sethian computer. In a nutshell, the player has become the scientist because there is no distance between the player and the actions in the game.
While a cursory glance may make this system look like narrative immersion, the player may appear to be relating to a character, it is not. In a system of narrative immersion, the player would be pulled into an avatar. The avatar would represent the player in the world, thereby being a conduit of emotional connection to the player. The key difference between a narrative immersion system and Sethian’s scientist is that there is no meaningful avatar in Sethian’s system. A player cannot be the avatar for a game because the avatar is supposed to an external vessel with which the player can relate. Thereby, there is a completely different system of character relation in Sethian where the player physically takes the place of the avatar.
In this inquiry we cannot ignore the fact that Sethian does have narrative elements to it; however, they are not the primary immersive force. This is the case because the player is given basically nothing in terms of narrative elements in the initial portion of the game. In the first few minutes of gameplay, the player will be given the information about being a stranded scientist and that everyone is gone. This is enough information to build atmosphere, but not enough to build a story. Consider a game that focuses more on narrative immersion such as The Banner Saga. The first three minutes is taken up by a piece of written history and a cutscene accompanied by the emergence of characters. The difference in initial narrative elements within the two games is clear. The Banner Saga gives strong narrative and emotional connections whilst Sethian’s narrative connection is weaker. More intriguing narrative elements will be given to the player later, but only after they have put effort into solving the puzzle. While it is possible to have narrative immersion in the early parts of Sethian, for instance if the player is particularly intrigued by the setup, the main question-based immersion in Sethian, especially in the initial section of the game, is far stronger.
Through the example of Sethian we have parsed out a form of immersion that is not commonly discussed in gaming circles. By understanding question-based immersion a different means of engagement with games is understood. Being pulled into a games world is not done exclusively through storytelling mechanics, but also puzzles. While Sethian presented itself as a prime example of this form of immersion, it is certainly not the only game that uses it. Off the top of my head I can think of MirrorMoon EP and, to and extent, TIS-100. Both of these games use a question to pull the player in and then make the player the operator in the world. Consider checking those out if you want more examples of how question-based immersion can be used.
Works Cited
Duang! Games, Sethian. Duang! Games, LLC, Nov 9 2016.
Santa Ragione, MirrorMoon EP. Santa Ragione, Sep 4, 2013.
Stoic, The Banner Saga. Versus Evil, Jan 14 2016.
Zachtronics, TIS-100. Zachtronics, Jul 20 2015.
“What is Immersion? | Game Studies.” Youtube, uploaded by Video Game Close Up, Jan 20 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpZNJ-S5U30.
“The Magic Circle - How Games Transport Us to New Worlds - Extra Credits.” Youtube, uploaded by Extra Credits, Jan 22 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ-EY9gTsgU.
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