Narrative mechanics : strategies and meanings in games and real life Frontmatter Contents Introduction Playing with Narratives Narrative Mechanics Narrative Patterns in Video Games Teaching Narrative Design The Narrative Role of Sound in Games Expanding the Narrative Mukokuseki and the Narrative Mechanics in Japanese Games Characterization and Emergent Narrative in Dwarf Fortress On the Evolution of Narrative Mechanics in Open World Games Open End Storytelling in Pinball Machines Mechanics of Inspiration Narrative Approaches in Contemporary Video Game Reviews Games Politics and Society Were not murderers. We just survive. QUIZ Ludic Meanders through Defictionalization: The Narrative Mechanics of Art If You Play It Do You Believe It Ball Games and Language Games Case Studies Florence The Last Guardian Murder at the Museum Even Missile Command Tells a Story Shave The Twitter Game Commander Kurz Authors What do stories in games have in common with political narrativesThis book identifies narrative strategies as mechanisms for meaning and manipulation in games and real life. It shows that the narrative mechanics so clearly identifiable in games are increasingly used (and abused) in politics and social life. They have »many faces« displays and interfaces. They occur as texts recipes stories dramas in three acts movies videos tweets journeys of heroes but also as rewarding stories in games and as narratives in society such as a career from rags to riches the concept of modernity or market economy. Below their surface however narrative mechanics are a particular type of motivational design of game mechanics