Great IDNs

Compelling works to check out and experience

Brothers. A Tale of Two Sons (Starbreeze Studios, 2013)

In this narrative video game, two brothers are sent to fetch medicine for their sick father from a remote location. This IDN creates the experience of collaboration of the two characters, but also, at a later stage, of loss, grief and healing.

Dear Esther (The Chinese Room, 2008)

A deep, atmospheric experience which combines the bleak landscape of an island in the outer hebrides islands with the battered and desperate state of mind of a deeply traumatized man on his journey to find something. Redemption? Release? Forgiveness? We are going to find out by exploring the island

Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream, 2018)

What makes this IDN work particularly interesting is the representation of several characters in parallel. Also great for the integrating of the options map into the experience.This narrative video game is set in a future Detroit where androids with full artificial intelligence are commonplace as servants to humans.The work explores the question of what happens when artificial beings reach consciousness and thus ‘become human.

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM, 2019)

Compelling character development, difficult ethical decisions, the design of a complex society, and an interesting cast of characters make this IDN work an outstanding experience. This role-playing video game is focused on narrative and character develop- ment and does not feature traditional combat.The interactor acts in the role of a downtrodden detective with amnesia and thus tries to find out facts about himself as much as about the dead body he is assigned to investigate.There is a rich envir- onment and cast of characters

Florence (Mountains, 2018)

For the non-verbal, interactive representation of a relationship. Florence manages to be testimony to the wonder of falling in love, but also to the difficulties of maintaining a relationship and the horror of a breakup without resorting to extensive textual descriptions or long cinematics. Instead, the designers of this experience have found many graphical and interactive ways to depict a relationship, for example, making room in a cupboard for the partner to move in or speech bubbles that fit together like puzzle pieces depicting how in sync the couple is during the heyday of their relationship.

Fort McMoney (Dufresne, 2013)

The representation of a complex, multidimensional situation and connection between narrative information and a live online discussion forum that rewards interactors’ efforts. Unfortunately, this title is no longer directly accessible due to the obsolescence of Flash. However, a good description can be found at the MIT docubase16. Fort McMoney depicts the real-life city Fort McMurray in Canada, a small town transformed by the finding and subsequent mining of oil sand deposits.

Kentucky Route Zero (Cardboard Computer, 2013–2020)

An IDN experience inspired by magic realism using a unique visual language17, featuring compelling characters (including a dog), magic devices and hidden worlds embedded in an imagined Kentucky. This long-form IDN video game spans several distinct chapters and is conveyed through stylized and surreal environments as well as extensive dialogues between characters. Immersion comes from the fascination of discovering and exploring a hidden world underneath the surface, but equally from the believable and varied anti-hero characters.The journey explores the ‘underworld’ or the ‘unseen’ in more than one sense, featuring low-income workers and displaced people.

Last Hijack Interactive (Duijn et al., 2014)

This is a rare example of a successful conversion of non-interactive material to IDN, by careful design and by adding graphics to the videos. This is a great example of making a complex topic (piracy in Somalia) accessible and showing ‘the other side.’

Lifeline (3 Minute Games, 2015)

This IDN, shows the masterful use of a text-only experience by scripting the interactor as a part of a long-distance conversation with an astronaut, where text is the only viable means of communication.

Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik, 2019)

The cast of compelling characters and gardening as a central metaphor of care and growth; also a thought-provoking depiction of old age. In this IDN work, the interactor’s character (15-year-old Kai) is sent by her mother to an island populated by mutants, including her grandfather Nonno who is in bad health and supposedly dying. Surrounding Nonno is a community of characters who all have their own issues, including unrequited love and deep trauma

Papers, Please (Pope, 2013)

For the depiction of the multitudes of different kinds of pressure members of societies face under totalitarian rule. Papers, Please excels because the design avoids simplistic binary good/bad perspectives and instead manages to have the interactor experience the complexity of living under a totalitarian regime.The interactor is scripted into an assigned (not chosen) role of customs officer who has to decide who may enter their home country.There is considerable pressure in the role – including performing well under constantly changing rules in order to earn income for a family, protecting the country from terrorist attacks, accepting or resisting bribes, assisting a resistance group, and looking out themselves and their family.

Save the Date (Cornell, 2013)

For: cross-session memory and meta-narrative. The premise of this narrative-focused game is deceptively simple: go on a date and make sure your romantic interest survives.Yet, things are not so easy, as the date keeps dying from various causes, including an allergy-induced shock and an attack by ninjas. Every death forces a restart but the experience is unlike the endless repeating loop of the movie Groundhog Day (1993) – with every death, additional options for the interactor appear.

The Industry (Submarine Channel, 2018)

This IDN work is essentially a narrative interface to big data. It enables interactors to explore the illegal drug industry in the Netherlands in multiple ways, including by inputting a Dutch postal code to see drug-related incidents around their neighborhood based on actual police data. Other aspects include interviews with illicit industry workers and diagrams showing connections between them. The work has won multiple awards including the coveted Peabody price.

Unpacking (Witch Beam, 2021)

Using very few words, this IDN title conveys a narrative of growing up. In this calm and almost meditative experience, the interactor unpacks the narrative of a female character growing up.The design of this IDN work relies on a situation most of us are familiar with – unpacking after moving by opening moving boxes and placing items in dressers, cupboards, and on other types of furniture.