Dear Ester

The game Dear Ester definitely helped me understand more of what Jenkins was talking about in “Game Design as Narrative Architecture.” Dear Ester was totally different then anything we have played in class so far. The game is more of an information space and lets the player work through the space as he pleases. There are no directions or goals that are given to you at the beginning, you are just thrown into the game and figure it out as you go. Dear Ester portrays embedded narrative perfectly; there are numerous staged areas that the player can conclude their own ideas about what has happened. For example the cave that had old food it showed that maybe someone living there or is around, but you do not know for sure. The game is also designed beautifully; in no other game have we stopped playing to look at the scenery. This goes to show that the game was meant to be played slowly and for the player to take in their surroundings and try to figure out what the narrative of the game is trying to portray. This game is also an example of emergent narrative because depending on how you interact with the game and where you venture first makes the narrative of the story different. Going into the cave was also an example of this because in class when we went into the cave there was only old food but in other times the game was played there was also clothing on the ground. Which shows the game takes shape as it is played.