Doctoral defence: Mattia Bellini "Video Games, Narratives, and Complexity"

On June 12 at 11:00 Mattia Bellini will defend his doctoral thesis "Video Games, Narratives, and Complexity" for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature.

Supervisors:
prof. Marina Grišakova
Dr. Frank Nack (University of Amsterdam)

Opponent:
Dr. Veli‐Matti Karhulahti (University of Jyväskylä)


Summary:
What makes video games such powerful narrative media? My research explores how the interplay between games and players creates rich, complex experiences. By examining the ways in which video games narratives are organised, and how players collaboratively construct them, I uncover the mechanisms that make video game narratives so fascinating. In the first part of my work, I unpack the ingredients of compelling video game narratives. I show how certain storytelling techniques spark specific emotional and cognitive reactions in players, offering insights that could help game designers craft richer, more meaningful narratives. Next, I delve into the dynamic relationship between games and players as they collaborate to the sensemaking. This collaboration, I argue, behaves like a complex system, where countless interactions build something greater than the sum of its parts. In the final section, I bring these two threads together: the complexity of narratives and the complexity of sensemaking. I demonstrate how the two interact to produce the rich, multifaceted experiences we encounter in video games. Finally, I show how games can ease our mental workload by relying on cognitive shortcuts revealed by brain science. My findings have broad implications, touching on fields like narratology, media and game studies, game design, and beyond, and they open exciting possibilities for using video games to better represent and explore the complexity of our world.

Venue: Senate hall (Ülikooli 18–204) and via Zoom (Meeting ID: 928 7672 2810, Passcode: 763974)