Evocative Narrative

Papers, Please is a great game with a strong presence of evocative narratives. Beyond the dreary background, bureaucratic queues and stations, and a dizzying face-after-face experience, the game evokes a sense of secrecy and bureaucracy of customs and governmental oppression. This is further bolstered by the branching narratives that the game takes based on the player’s actions.

Embedded Narrative

While the mainline Pokémon games are noted for its enacted narrative, it also has its fair share of embedded narratives. For example, in the generation 1 and generation 1 remakes, the Pokémon mansion side story is told through an embedded narrative in the form of journal entries around the map that recounts the creation of the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo.

Enacted Narrative

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a great example of enacted narrative. There is a clear plot that the game wants you to follow, but the fun emerges from the fact that the actions are absurd, which immerses the player into the narrative than simply reading through the plot of the game, which at its core is just a redemption story of a turnip that is falsely accused of tax evasion by a corrupt government.

Emergent Narrative

Placid Plastic Duck Simulator is the epitome of games with emergent narratives. As basically a glorified screensaver, this idyllic game provides hours of entertainment as the player watches rubber ducks float around in a pool. From my own experiences, as well as the game reviews from Steam, players really make something out of nothing, as narratives emerge from the game that turn into office feud, or a harrowing tale about how a duck gets stuck in the flamingo floatie and maybe gets rescued by serendipity.