Ludonarrative dissonance

Ludonarrative dissonance is a conflict between a game's ludic side (its rules and what they reward) and its narrative side (its story). Shamus Young's working definition: it happens "when a game has gameplay (ludo) and story (narrative) that are in conflict (dissonance)" (Twenty Sided: This Dumb Industry: Ludonarrative Dissonance).

The term comes from game designer Clint Hocking's October 2007 blog post about BioShock (Click Nothing: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock; games.pitt.edu: Ludonarrative Dissonance: What it Meant and…). The word appears only in the post's title; the body speaks of "a powerful dissonance between what it is about as a game, and what it is about as a story" (Click Nothing: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock).

#Hocking's argument

Hocking reads BioShock as "a game about the relationship between freedom and power" (Click Nothing: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock). Its mechanics set up a ludic contract, "literally 'seek power and you will progress'", which fits the game's critique of self-interest (Click Nothing: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock). But the story imposes a narrative contract, "'help Atlas and you will progress'", with no choice of sides (Click Nothing: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock). For Hocking the clash became insulting: "The game openly mocks us for having willingly suspended our disbelief in order to enjoy it" (Click Nothing: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock). He still ended hopefully: "BioShock is not our Citizen Kane", but "we leave our deepest footprints when we pick ourselves up from a fall" (Click Nothing: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock).

Hocking's case is about theme: the game's systems and its plot argue opposite things. That is narrower than how the term is often used now.

#Later changes in meaning

The University of Pittsburgh essay notes that the term "has been adopted, abused, and retired by dozens of mainstream game critics", and that it once applied to "crucial thematic elements" but is now used for "any inconsistency between 'the gameplay' and 'the story'" (games.pitt.edu: Ludonarrative Dissonance: What it Meant and…). It also appeared as a trophy name in Uncharted 4 (games.pitt.edu: Ludonarrative Dissonance: What it Meant and…).

#Deliberate dissonance in Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line is a well-known example of dissonance used deliberately. At GDC 2013, its lead writer and narrative designer Walt Williams gave the talk "We Are Not Heroes: Contextualizing Violence Through Narrative" (Game Developer: Video: Spec Ops: The Line contextualizes…). Game Developer's summary says the story, themes and choices were built "around its most basic mechanic (shooting)", and that Williams suggested "taking the player out of the equation when embracing ludonarrative dissonance" (Game Developer: Video: Spec Ops: The Line contextualizes…). PC Gamer reported him saying of violent games that "creatively they're too easy": "I'd like to see less violent games out there" (PC Gamer: GDC 2013: Violent games are creatively "too…).

In this case the clash between a shooter's reward loop and a story about the cost of violence was the intended subject of the game.

#Dissonance in environment art

The environment tells story too (see environmental storytelling), so it can clash with mechanics in the same way. A level dressed as a desperate, starving settlement that is full of ammunition and health packs sends two messages. A serene shrine used as a combat arena sends another. When you dress a space, check what the set dressing and art passes, the pickups and the encounter each say, and whether they agree, or deliberately disagree. See worldbuilding for artists.

#Related terms

environmental storytelling, choreography and scripted sequences, worldbuilding for artists, set dressing and art passes.

#Further reading and watching