Published: 2021-09-20

Where Does the Open World End? On the Borders of Playable Reality

Krzysztof M. Maj Logo ORCID

Website: https://about.me/krzysztof.m.maj
Section: Essays and Articles
https://doi.org/10.31261/SSP.2021.18.04

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of world-building as related to the strategies of delimiting the openness of the gameworld. Specifically, it treats of the role of a borderline that restricts both the range of exploration and the gaming experience. By using tools supplied by cognitive and transmedial narratology and by referring to empirical studies in thermal mapping of explorable game space, Krzysztof M. Maj inquires whether the use of focalization and of the knowledge of the narrative field of view can offer deepened immersive exploratory experiences and a greater freedom of choice – aspects crucial for the full enjoyment of a genuinely open world. Maj supports his theses with world-centered analyses of selected video games (Cyberpunk 2077, Skyrim, Total War: Warhammer II, Divinity II: Ego Draconis and others). His goal is to emphasize the most crucial aspects of an open gameworld and, most importantly, to decide what this “openness” actually refers to.

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Citation rules

Maj, K. M. (2021). Where Does the Open World End? On the Borders of Playable Reality. Śląskie Studia Polonistyczne [Silesian Journal of Polish Studies], 18(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.31261/SSP.2021.18.04

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Vol. 18 No. 2 (2021)
Published: 2021-11-10


ISSN: 2084-0772
eISSN: 2353-0928

Publisher
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

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