Gamescapes: exploration and virtual presence in game-worlds

Abstract

An analysis of the scope for exploration and the extent to which impressions of presence are created in domes- tic videogames. This paper argues that exploration is an important dimension of play in many games, whether employed in relation to other objectives or as a source of pleasure in its own right. The first part of the paper examines the relationship between freedom to explore and spatial constraint, arguing that many games offer a balance between the two, the precise nature of which varies from one type of game to another. The sec- ond part of the paper considers the extent to which dif- ferent types of game offer illusions of presence in the game-world, from the distanced perspective of manage- ment and strategy games to the greater impression of sensory immersion created in games rendered in the first person.