Game Comics:
An Analysis of an Emergent Hybrid Form
d.m.1.goodbrey@hert s.ac.uk
www.e-merl.com
Int roduct ion
Hi, Im Daniel Merlin Goodbrey.
Im a lect urer in Narrat ive &
Int eract ion Design at t he Universit y
of Hert fordshire.
I also work as a freelance comic
creat or and as a consult ant for
companies t hat want t o do weird
t hings using comics.
Today Im here t o t alk about one of
t he new direct ions in digit al comics
t hat Im current ly exploring: Game
Comics.
Videogames
Videogames have t heir beginnings in
t he mid part of t he 20 t h Cent ury.
Their popularit y has risen st eadily
alongside t hat of t he comput ing and
gaming devices we use t o play t hem.
As videogames have developed as a
medium, t hey have also developed a
shared hist ory of visual influence and
narrat ive crossover wit h t he medium
of comics.
Videogames & Comics
There have been adapt at ions
of videogames int o comic
narrat ives.
And adapt at ions of comics
int o videogames.
Videogames & Comics
There have been comics
t hat make use of t he visual
t ropes of videogames.
And videogames t hat make
use of t he visual t ropes of
comics.
Videogames & Comics
There have been videogames
t hat use comics t o provide
narrat ive sequences t o link
bet ween sect ions of
gameplay.
Max Payne (2001)
Imaginary
Range (2011)
Videogames & Comics
There have even
been videogames
t hat are also comics.
Red Hawk (1986)
Dice Man
(1986)
And comics that
are als o games .
Videogames & Comics
It's in this area of direct
hybridis ation between comics and
videogames that I've been
focus ing my own res earch.
I began be trying to build a clearer
picture of s ome of the
fundamental concepts underlying
the two forms .
Games: What are t hey?
V ideogame theoris t J es per J uul
identifies s ix key characteris tics
of games :
R ules .
V ariable, quantifiable outcome.
V aloris ation of outcome.
P layer effort.
P layer attached to outcome.
Negotiable cons equences .
(J uul 2 0 0 5 )
Games: What are t hey?
J uul als o us efully divides videogames into two
major categories :
Games Of E mergence
E mergence is the primordial game s tructure
where a game is s pecified as a s mall number of
rules that combine and yielda large number
of game variations . (J uul 2 0 0 5 )
Games of P rogres s ion
P rogres s ion is the his torically newer s tructure
that entered the computer game through the
adventure genreT he player mus t perform a
predefined s equence of actions [to progres s ].
(J uul 2 0 0 5 )
Comics: What are t hey?
Ive taken a s imilar approach to J uul in
trying to identify the key characteris tics
of comics as a medium.
I came up with eight key characteris tics .
T hes e are primarily characteris tics of the
act of reading the object, not the object
its elf.
Its not as neat a lis t. T heres definite
overlap between s ome characteris tics .
I decided to allow this overlap as each
characteris tic does work to highlight a
s pecific as pect of the form.
Key Charact erist ics Of Comics
E ight key characteris tics :
J uxtapos ition of Images
S patial Networks
S pace as T ime
T emporal Maps
Clos ure between Images
T ablodic Images
Word & Image Blending
Reader Cont rol of Pacing
Game Comics: What are t hey?
Games
Rules
Quant ifiable Out come
Valorisat ion of Out come
Player Effort
Player At t achment
Negot iable Consequences.
Comics
Juxt aposit ion of Images
Spat ial Net works
Space as Time
Temporal Maps
Closure bet ween Images
Word & Image Blending
Tablodic Images
Reader Cont rol of Pacing
Game Comics exist in t he middle ground bet ween comics and games.
Game Comics: What are t hey?
In mos t exis ting examples of
game/ comic hybrids , the game play
mechanics and the comic form remain
s eparated.
In Red Hawk t he game's play is focused
on t he player's int eract ion wit h t he
game's t ext parser, while t he comic
st rip is used separat ely t o visualise t he
result of t his int eract ion.
In Diceman, t he choose your-ownadvent ure st ruct ure has been graft ed
over t he t op of t he comic.
Game Comics: What Are They?
T he s tructure of play again exis ts as a
s eparate s ys tem from the s ys tems us ed
in the vis ual language of the comic.
My aim in creating my own game/ comic
hybrids is to create works that offer a
more direct s ynthes is between the
media of comics and videogames .
In doing s o I'm trying to create games
that make s pecific us e of the key
characteris tics of comics in their
gameplay.
Game Comics: What Are They?
In order to do this , I've been cons idering
how the two media make us e of s pace.
Comics & videogames are s patial media.
In comics , s pace is us ed to repres ent
time with the comic panels exis ting as
part of a s patial network of juxtapos ed
and interrelated images .
In videogames , exploration and
manipulation of s pace can form a
fundamental part of gameplay with the
unlocking of s pace s erving as a key
as pect of a game's reward s tructure.
A Duck Has An Advent ure
My intent was to create s omething that
comic readers view as a comic and
videogame players view as a videogame.
As an initial attempt, Duck sit s nearer
t he comic end of t he spect rum.
It s based on a " choose-your-ownadvent ure" st yle of advent ure game,
where t he player must make choices for
t he cent ral charact er t hat influence t he
direct ion t he narrat ive will t ake.
Here's a quick play of t he game.
A Duck Has An Advent ure
Duck went on sale as an Android app in
20 12. Peeked at No. 6 in t he Google Play
Top 10 for paid comic apps. Short List ed
in t he 2012 New Media Writ ing Prize.
Uploaded t o t he free gaming port al
Kongregat e a mont h ago.
Has received 30 0 ,0 0 0 'plays' so far.
Generat ed several pages of player
feedback and YouTube playt hroughs.
My init ial impression is t hat t he majorit y
of comment ing players accept ed t he
work as a game.
Visual St yle
Duck was int ended init ially as a
smart phone app and is designed for a
casual gaming audience.
Tried t o build what J uul describes as
" juiciness" (20 12) - an excess of posit ive
feedback for each act ion.
Want ed t o creat e somet hing t hat called
for const ant reader int eract ion, not just
an occasional t ap t o go t o t he next page.
This called for a simplificat ion of t he
comic's t ablodic images so each panel
could be consumed quickly.
Achievement s
T he addition of achievements and
collectable hats are tropes that operate
as part of the game's reward s ys tem.
It is often the feeling of dis covery that
keeps players within the playworld."
(Gazzard 2 0 13)
T hey als o give the player a metric by
which to meas ure their progres s ion
through the game.
S eeking completenes s becomes a game
in its elf, as the player tries to collect all
the hats , achievements and endings .
Const ruct ing Temporal Maps
Duck can be considered in relat ion t o my
earlier infinit e canvas hypercomics.
In Never Shoot The Chronopat h (20 0 7)
t he whole comic is present for t he
reader t o navigat e t hrough and read.
In Duck, t he player const ruct s t he
comics t emporal map as t hey play.
Players of a game do not expect t o
have t he full game world open t o t hem;
t o do so would t ake away t he
explorat ory and learning aspect s of t he
game t hat t he players need t o keep
playing. (Gazzard 20 13)
Const ruct ing Temporal Maps
A zoomed out view of the temporal map
was added as a res ult of play tes ting.
T his zoomed out map becomes a vis ual
record of where the player has been, the
choices they've made and the paths
they've yet to explore.
S ome pathways in the game are only
unlocked once the player has vis ited
them from two different directions .
T his unlocking of s pace becomes
another as pect of the game's reward
s ys tem.
Icarus Needs
Icarus Needs is an advent ure game,
t aking it s lead from bot h classic t ext based games like Zork (1979) and also
lat er graphic advent ure games like The
Secret of Monkey Island (1990 ) and Day
of The Tent acle (1993).
Wit h Icarus I want ed t o push t owards
somet hing t hat felt more game-like.
The game's narrat ive is a met afict ion
about a cart oonist who finds himself
st uck in a videogame dream.
Let 's t ake a quick play of t he game.
Game World
Games theoris t Nick Monfort notes that
a typical adventure game " s imulates a
world that the interactor is s uppos ed to
figure out." (Montfort 2 0 0 3)
Montfort als o notes that much of the fun
of playing an adventure game comes
from the exploration of the game world.
My intent with Icarus was t o creat e an
explorable world mediat ed t hrough t he
medium of comics.
The narrat ive of Icarus is creat ed
t hrough explorat ion and play.
Narrat ive, Play & Puzzles
Montfort notes that adventure games
are not thems elves narratives , but
" produce narratives when a pers on
interacts with them. (2 0 0 3)
In Icarus you move around t he world,
int eract ing wit h t he worlds inhabit ant s
and picking up object s t o solve puzzles.
The puzzles in a work of int eract ive
fict ion funct ion t o cont rol t he revelat ion
of t he narrat ive; t hey are part of an
int eract ive process t hat generat es
narrat ive." (Mont fort 20 0 3)
Navigat ion & Explorat ion
T he player in Icarus is t rying t o bot h
appreciat e t he world t hey're in and
solve it in order t o successfully t raverse
t he game.
In t he design of t he game I t ried t o lead
players in cert ain direct ions, but
ult imat ely t he player is left t o det ermine
t heir own pat h t hrough t he game.
Videogames offer us t he empowered
experience of navigat ing our own
individual pat hs. (Gazzard 20 13)
Movement & Cont rol
I was careful to keep the reader in
charge of pacing throughout the comic.
No animation within the panels and we
never s ee the lead character in motion.
T he game, like any comic, relies on the
player's us e of clos ure to interpret the
changing s till images as movement.
As a brows er-bas ed game, Icarus
allowed me t o priorit ise arrow key and
WASD cont rols t o give t he player a
great er sense of agency wit hin t he
game.
Movement & Cont rol
Agency is " the s atis fying power to take
meaningful action and s ee the res ults of
our decis ions and choices ." (Murray
19 9 7)
Agency in Icarus is furt her enhanced by
t he player having a direct avat ar wit hin
t he game world which t hey can ident ify
wit h and cont rol.
This increased sense of agency is one of
t he fact ors t hat push Icarus more
t owards t he game end of t he game
comic spect rum.
Aporia / Epiphany
Another factor is the nature of the
" aporia and epiphany" (Aars eth 19 9 9 )
relations hip within the game.
In gaming terms , aporia can be thought
of as either the puzzle or the paus e-tos olve period as s ociated with a puzzle.
(Gazzard 2 0 13).
E piphany is the realis ation of the
s olution that allows the player to
progres s onwards to the next
area/ puzzle within the game.
Aporia / Epiphany
In Duck, t he majorit y of t he game's
aporia/ epiphany loops come t owards
t he end of t he game as t he player
searches for t he final hat s/ endings/
achievement s in order t o achieve a
complet e playt hrough of t he game.
Here t he zoomed out map becomes of
st rat egic use as t he player t ries t o spot
unexplored pat hways or find new rout es
t o unlock.
Aporia / Epiphany
In contras t, Icarus spreads t he player's
experience of aporia/ epiphany more
evenly t hroughout t he game.
The player is present ed regular gat es t o
progress t hat most be overcome
t hrough furt her explorat ion and
applicat ion of found it ems.
Each epiphany is accompanied wit h t he
reward of new areas of space t o explore
and new puzzles t o solve.
In t his way Icarus delivers a much bet t er
paced gaming experience t han Duck.
Games Comics: What Next ?
S o far Ive been focus s ed towards
games of progres s ion that rely on
exploration as part of their gameplay.
Next I hope to develop a puzzle game
that keeps aporia/ epiphany at its heart
but jettis ons the explorative as pects of
play.
T his will allow me to broaden my
inves tigate to cons ider how more rulebas ed games of emergence can be
s ucces s fully hybridis ed with the comics
form.
Games Comics: Game Over
Ins ert Ques tions T o Continue
A Duck Has An Advent ure
http:/ / e-merl.com/ s tuff/ duckadv.html
Icarus Needs
http:/ / e-merl.com/ s tuff/ icarus .html
d.m.1.goodbrey@herts .ac.uk
www.e-merl.com
