Alienation Effect in games

Alienation technique is a concept described by Bertolt Brecht in his German dramatic theory. It is meant to combat emotional manipulation found in a traditional theatre (Bogar, 2012). Instead of creating diegesis, explained by Aristotle in theory of performance as having the audience occupied in the play’s world (Dunne, 2014, p. 88), Brecht attempted to break immersion with unexpected and entertaining jolts (Bogar, 2012).

The concept gained popularity and extended into other media, including games. Games have plenty of distancing elements such as loading screen or save point, which is usually regarded as negative components that break the immersive experience of play (Clarke et al. 2006 cited in Cash, 2009). However, distancing effect can extend the player experience in video games.

For instance, The Stanley Parable exploits some of the Brecht’s techniques, used in his plays, such as presence of a narrator, non-existent and fragmental sets, signs and placards to show a range of information (Cash, 2009). Additionally, the game uses direct addressing, weaving it into the plot, for example, when the narrator addresses Stanley and shows him a control room. At other times, the game completely throws the player out of the world, asking someone nearby to play the game, assuming the death of the current player.

Moreover, it is hard to predict how the game will react to the players’ actions if they do not follow the plot. It correlates with entertaining and unexpected jolts described by Brecht.

Brecht endeavoured to accredit an active role to the audience, and instead of empathising the character on the stage, he wanted them to ask questions and come up with an intelligent solution to the problem arisen. The Stanley Parable takes a similar approach by breaking game conventions and attempts to force a player to think about choice and freedom.

References

Bogad, L. M. (2012). ‘Alienation effect’, Beautiful Trouble, 20 May. Available from: http://beautifultrouble.org/theory/alienation-effect/ (Accessed 20 March 2017).

Cash, J. (2009). ‘Brecht’s Epic Theatre Conventions (Pt.2)’, The Drama Teacher, 3 August. Available from: http://www.thedramateacher.com/brechts-epic-theatre-conventions-pt-2/ (Accessed 20 March 2017).

Dunne, D. (2014). ‘Brechtian Alienation in Video Games’, Press Start, 1(1), pp. 80-99. Available from: http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/8 (Accessed 20 March 2017)

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (2009). ‘Alienation effect’, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/art/alienation-effect (Accessed 20 March 2017).