Abstract
This article considers how player interactions with religious and ethnic markers, create
a globalized game space in the mobile game Florence (2018). Florence is a multiaward-
winning interactive novella game with story-integrated minigames that weave
play experiences into the narrative. The game, in part, explores love, loss, and
rejuvenation as relatable experiences. Simultaneously, the game produces a unique
experience for each player, as they can refract the game narrative through their own
cultural, identitarian lens. The game assumes the shared cultural space of the player,
the player-character (PC), and the non-player-character (NPC) while blurring the
boundaries between each of these categories. Through textual analysis, semiotics,
and globalization theory, we show how Florence’s designers use game mechanics and
narrative artifacts to produce a dynamic, cosmopolitan game space that beckons the
player to engage personally with the game’s narrative. The result is that narrative
objects function as nonspecific cultural signifiers, inviting players to see the game
space as global, a place in which traditionally underrepresented groups (non-white
ethnicities and non-male genders) can be posited as normative and ordinary.
Specifically, the religious and cultural artifacts signify a game space in which an
interracial, interfaith love story is the default narrative – a pathway into the ordinary,
rather than these artifacts functioning merely as markers of difference. Thus, these
artifacts signify a globalized community that welcomes the player into the game
space of Florence. As such, Florence is a novel and important entry into video games’
representation of culture and religion.
Publication Date
Summer 8-4-2022
Document Type
Article
Department, Program, or Center
School of Interactive Games and Media (GCCIS)
Recommended Citation
Sundaram, D. and Gottlieb, O., 2022. “It's so normal, and … meaningful.” Playing with Narrative, Artifacts, and Cultural Difference in Florence. gamevironments 16, 68-99. Available at http://www.gamevironments.uni-bremen.de.
Campus
RIT – Main Campus
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