The move to 3D graphics represents a dramatic artistic and technical development in the history of video games that suggests an overall transformation of games as media. The experience of space has become a key element of how we understand games and how we play them. This book investigates what this shift means for video game design and analysis. Navigable 3D spaces allow us to crawl, jump, fly, or even teleport through fictional worlds that come to life in our imagination. We encounter these spaces through a combination of perception and interaction. Drawing on concepts from literary studies, ... More

The move to 3D graphics represents a dramatic artistic and technical development in the history of video games that suggests an overall transformation of games as media. The experience of space has become a key element of how we understand games and how we play them. This book investigates what this shift means for video game design and analysis. Navigable 3D spaces allow us to crawl, jump, fly, or even teleport through fictional worlds that come to life in our imagination. We encounter these spaces through a combination of perception and interaction. Drawing on concepts from literary studies, architecture, and cinema, the book argues that game spaces can evoke narratives because the player is interpreting them in order to engage with them. Consequently, it approaches game spaces not as pure visual spectacles but as meaningful virtual locations. The book’s argument investigates what structures are at work in these locations, proceeds to an in-depth analysis of the audiovisual presentation of gameworlds, and ultimately explores how we use and comprehend their functionality. It introduces five analytical layers — rule-based space, mediated space, fictional space, play space, and social space — and uses them in the analyses of games that range from early classics to recent titles. The book revisits current topics in game research, including narrative, rules, and play, from this new perspective. The book provides a range of arguments and tools for media scholars, designers, and game researchers with an interest in 3D game worlds and the new challenges they pose.