Thematization of actions in open-world action-adventure games

Abstract

Game thematization is a central element of game design according to many game designers, but there is still not much research into it. It is a core challenge when developing non-abstract games to find a suitable metaphor for abstract game mechanics (or the other way around) and make the game work both as a system of rules to be interacted with and a narrative experience with a setting that makes the game more interesting and relatable to the player. In this research I have played and analyzed Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) and an earlier non-Western game by the same company from the same gameplay genre of open-world third-person action-adventures, Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA5), exploring how the Western theme affects the interaction in RDR2 compared to GTA5. The goal is to better understand how these games use interactivity to strengthen their theme. The outcome of the research is a list and classification of the actions a player can take in these games during gameplay, and how the actions are similar or differ from each other, giving us a chance to analyze how these games express their theme through game mechanics. Techniques like spicing up the narrative parts of the games with unique actions or even special gameplay modes are identified among others.