Diversity of Immersion Mechanics in Videoludic Novels

Abstract

Interactive fictions are digital narrative artworks that require little to no dexterity. Indeed, these multimedia fictions do not require a particular proficiency in their manipulation to access and explore the story. However, they do demand distinct mechanics and reading moves, specific to narrative models. These items, between literary and videogame studies, call for the analyses of their own modes of interaction and consumption. In this specific environment, reading, as a form of entertainment, is voluntary and engaged. Since there is a tacit contract with the work that the reader agrees to, which establishes the expectation horizon and conveys reading habits, our study qualifies this reading experience as immersion, plunging into a second world, and exploring the possibilities it offers. In this article, immersion is defined as an entertainment experience where the human subjects get lost inside the text; they are incorporated in it. They find themselves in the narrative and feel its affects. We must therefore consider a continuum between artworks relying on few interactions—even minimal and repeated actions—and others that require more complex sequences.