Narrative has been a central topic in game studies since the beginnings of the field, particularly in the foundational debates between narratology and ludology over whether or not games are narrative. Yet in the aftermath of those debates narrative has remained significantly limited to being a linear or at best multilinear form, and studies of narrative form in games rarely consider how its form is always affected by race, gender, sexuality, and other intersectional identities. This dissertation pushes these understandings further by proposing a new theory of narrative based on video games, play, and the lived, embodied experience of difference. Specifically, I argue that narrative is the variable and emergent process of organizing signs into sequences and patterns, in the process constructing unique (and possibly queer) realities.Chapter one uses the popular queer indie game The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts 2014) as a case study in how narrative has become limited in games, particularly through the work of game studies scholars and toxic male gamers who claim that games with too much narrative are not real games. The rejection of narrative is imbricated with the marginalization of queer games, which often rely on narrative to represent queer experiences. In response to these problems, I turn to feminist, queer, and cognitive narrative theories to argue that narrative is an embodied and playful process that helps us construct and make sense of our different lived experiences.Chapter two examines how narrative emerges and operates in Pokemon Go (Niantic 2016), especially in the context of LGBTQ gaming communities in the United States. I argue that narrative in the game is much more than just the representations presented by the game; rather, narrative is the confluence of determined stories that developers design the game with, personal stories that players create as they play (and play differently), and larger collective and cultural stories that affect how players interact with each other and the game system.Chapter three uses digital humanities tools for image analysis, specifically ImagePlot developed by the Software Studies Initiative at CUNY, to visualize variation and difference in players' playthroughs of games. ImagePlot allows us to see an entire playthrough of a game in one image, and by comparing images of playthroughs of the same game one can see where and how much variation is possible in that game. By doing so, ImagePlot effectively visualizes how adaptable the narrative form of a given game is, how different players experience the narrative differently, and even how narrative patterns can be used and innovated upon in future games.Chapter four explores how the narrative processes laid out here are currently being used to create queer realities in popular queer games that limit queerness to experiences of loss, tragedy, and death. I argue that revealing the constrained narrative construction of these realities in existing games can contribute to imagining more inclusive, playful, and queer realities that recognize and create space for difference. In this sense, this dissertation reclaims narrative as a critical tool for social justice, and demonstrates how a reconsideration of form, embodied experience, and difference can help reshape our current realities.
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