[…]I’ve written enough poetry to have a lot of respect for its particular tools[…]and [its] forms of logic unavailable to prose.

Maggie Nelson “Not Notes, Not Aphorisms, Not Fragments, Not Poetry: Composing Bluets”

This, is mostly ramblings, riffing on this blog. There will probably be errors, inconsistencies, jeez.

Okay so ludonarrative describes the relationship between the play found in a videogame, and the video found in it. The video being the narrative; the play being the inputs make on the game controller. I find that the idea that games can have a ludonarrative almost automatically means that there is the possibility for ludopoetry, or, playable poetry, I mean, come on. But more seriously, using poetics to complicate this relationship with play. And, expanding on the language already used in videogame criticism.

Because, as far as I can tell, there has never been a mention of ludopoetics in game discussion, this can be a place to introduce/formalize the informal idea. It means proving it’s existence in video gaming as is, as well as finding a way to allow for artists to intentionally create ludopoetry. My argument is that ludopoetry exists just as much as ludonarratives exist, and the existence of ludopoetry further complicates ludonarratices; however, we haven’t named anything as such just yet. I will try to further explain the idea here in this post, and in future posts I will focus more on specific games that I believe are employing ludopoetics.

Ludonarrative is the player(s) interaction with the narrative. In videogames, narrative can be broadly seen as the game’s action. And, the player enacts these actions.

Ludopoetics is the player’s interaction with the poetics. Further, in videogames, poetics can be broadly seen as the game’s feeling. and, the player enacts these actions.

These definitions (my argument) may not be right, rather, it is an invitation to expand on the lexicon. These definitions are designed to be complimentary and open to be complicated by others.

Second, the points I am making may seem trivial or bizarre to a lot of people, and certainly the arguments the points are built on are complicated. I am sure they are hard for many game developers to understand and impossible for laymen. Honestly – I only partially understand what I am experiencing when I play a game as thoroughly as I played BioShock, and frankly I only half understand what I am saying as I write this. With the ‘language of games’ being as limited as it is, understanding what I am ‘reading’ is hard, and trying to articulate it back to people in a useful way is a full order of magnitude harder.

Clint Hocking from that blog I linked to earlier in this post

What are the implications? How can Ludopoetry be used in videogames? What is distinctive about poetry that separates it from narrative?

When defining Ludopoetry I’ll need to define Ludonarrative as it is used in gaming conversation (read: ) As well as poetry and narrative, and their differences. Also the source for the prefix “ludo-” to describe interaction and play. (Huizinga). I’d also like to write about Death Stranding and Ludopoetry/Ludonarrative, once I’m able to climb that ladder. And proving my idea that the idea behind Ludopoetry already exists in gvideogames.

What is narrative? Poetry? Narrative being the root of story telling. Poetry being the root of feeling.