Ludonarrative

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A relationship between gameplay mechanics and narrative elements creates a cohesive experience
2. The interplay between the story components and gameplay features enhances user engagement
3. An integration of narrative and gameplay design fosters a more immersive storytelling approach

Etymology: Clint Hocking, a Canadian video game designer and director, coined "ludonarrative" in 2007 when he was critiquing the game BioShock. He argued that the game's story and its gameplay pulled in opposite directions: the narrative asked the player to make moral choices about the characters, while the mechanics mostly rewarded shooting and survival. The term was built to name that friction. The word is a blend of "ludology" and "narrative." "Ludology," the study of games as play, comes from the Latin "ludus," meaning game or play, and was itself a modern coinage. Hocking's blend therefore joins two terms that game scholars had been arguing over for years, one concerned with how games work as systems and the other with how stories are told. The "ludo-" part shares its root with words such as "ludicrous" and "interlude," though the connection is only visible through Latin.