Lauryn Ash
Level Design
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Designing for Ludonarrative Harmony
This master’s thesis studied the ways
This thesis concluded that it is possible
systems and contexts to create a holistic
games increasingly incorporate narrative
mechanics and narratives interact with
player experience. An experience that
has synchronized interactions between
mechanics and narratives supported
by systems that tells a unified story has
ludonarrative harmony.
The goal of this thesis was to create
a design process for achieving and
maintaining ludonarrative harmony.
The final thesis artifact included the
ludonarrative design process, the
ludonarrative models, and a level artifact
that tested the process and models. I
spent a total of 23 weeks on this thesis:
eight weeks in research, eight weeks
developing the thesis level artifact and
refining the design process, and seven
weeks writing the thesis paper.
12
LEVEL DESIGN
to design for ludonarrative harmony. As
into their experience, it’s important to
know how narrative effects the way
players use game mechanics. Playing
a game with ludonarrative harmony
increases immersion because it allows
players to feel what they’re doing at an
emotional level, not just a narrative level.
Using my ludonarrative harmony model
and design process, game developers
can identify where their experiences break
harmony and create more immersive
game experiences.