Core term - linguistically invariant
Ludic Narrational Structure
What it is about
A Ludic Narrational Structure is a narrative scaffold - the order in which a game narrates: beginning, turn, resolution. The three acts, the hero’s journey, kishōtenketsu, cyclical return are such scaffolds. It orders Ludic Narrems not by what they mean but by the order in which they are told - in which order is it told?
It is a pattern structure of fiction: transferable and therefore catalogable; it travels between games. A game has none, one or several - go and chess narrate nothing, Zelda follows the hero’s journey. It is realised in the Ludic Sujet, the fiction of a game in its order: the hero’s journey is the pattern, the sujet of Ocarina of Time its realisation - just as a Ludic Procedure realises a Ludic Mechanism.
It determines what is to be told in which order, not what is experienced. How tension runs is the Ludic Ductus; what actually happens in a match, the Ludic Fabula. A game can follow the hero’s journey and still feel flat.
In everyday language
- “story” (the term is narrower): the shape of the story (beginning, turn, resolution). Does not distinguish what the game specifies (Ludic Sujet, in the corpus) from what a match produces (Ludic Fabula, one for each agent); nor the reason for acting from the order of telling.
Place and design access
Place on the axis: CORPUS - a pattern structure within Ludic Fiction. It is chosen and realised in the corpus, in a game’s Ludic Sujet.
Design access: designable - which scaffold, how many, how tightly it guides the course: fully set, partly steered, loosely framed or not at all. Whether a match follows it is not designable.
Relations on the axis:
- CORPUS: it belongs to Ludic Fiction. The Ludic Sujet realises it; the Ludic Narrems supply what the scaffold is made of in a game. The Ludic Argumentum - the premise - suggests which scaffolds fit. It is a special form of the Ludic Pattern. It is not connected with the Ludic Temporal Structure: the places of the sujet lie on it, and that rounds count as days is an ascription at the temporal structure, not a scaffold.
- AGENT–CORPUS: the Ludic Frame constrains which scaffolds are coherent within it.
- AGENT–PROCESS: it acts on the Ludic Fabula, which can follow it or depart from it, makes certain Ludic Experiences more likely and carries content to the Ludic Effectus. It corresponds with the Ludic Ductus without coinciding with it.
- FORM: the Ludic Form conditions which scaffolds can be realised - a branching narrative needs something that keeps track of the branches.
- INTENT: the Ludic Desiderata guide the choice.
The trias at this concept
Ascription - the narrational structure is a pattern of fiction and of fiction only: it orders in which sequence ascriptions are set and made known. For the nine cultural patterns the aspect test has confirmed this.
Regulation and appearance - as a pattern it has neither; no level and no cutscene is attached to the hero’s journey. Realised in a game, in the sujet, it has all three: the chapters lie on phases of the temporal structure (regulation), they are conveyed by chapter cards, cutscenes, changes of music (appearance), and they count as departure, trial, return (ascription).
Named combinations - two interactive patterns need regulation to be what they are: the branching narrative (NA-10) decision points, the iterative narrative (NA-12) repetition with carry-over of the state. They are named combinations across several terms, not patterns of fiction alone, and their cards instantiate the Ludic Pattern; the parallel narrative (NA-11) is a borderline case. The stack carries them nonetheless - stacks are tools, the classification applies to the card.
Delimitations
Delimitation from Ludic Sujet
Against the Ludic Sujet: pattern and realisation. The narrational structure is transferable - the hero’s journey is known to many games. The sujet is the fiction of this game in its order: the cutscenes and temples of Ocarina of Time in a fixed sequence. The sujet realises a scaffold, as a procedure realises a mechanism; it can also exist without a catalogued pattern.
Delimitation from Ludic Argumentum
Against the Ludic Argumentum: scaffold and premise. Both are composed of narrems, but in two kinds, not in two stages. The argumentum is a standing configuration without order - “Ganon threatens Hyrule”, the reason why one must act now. The narrational structure is the order in which it is told. The premise suggests which scaffold fits; it does not subordinate it.
Delimitation from Ludic Ductus
Against the Ludic Ductus: narrative order and shape of the course. The narrational structure orders what is told in which sequence. The ductus is the shape that the course of a match takes - tension, calm, escalation. A scaffold often suggests a ductus and yet is not it: kishōtenketsu (NA-03) stands in the repertoire of narrative scaffolds, jo-ha-kyū in the ductus stack; overlaps are kept as cross-references, not merged.
Delimitation from Ludic Temporal Structure
Against the Ludic Temporal Structure: in which order it is told, and when. The temporal structure orders what happens in time; the narrational structure is a transferable narrative scaffold - beginning, turn, resolution. In a game it is realised by the Ludic Sujet, whose places lie on the temporal structure: in Pandemic Legacy a dossier is opened in a set month. That rounds count as days and phases as chapters is not a scaffold but an ascription at the places of the temporal structure. Its division stays the same whether there is narration or not. An abstract game has a temporal structure and no narrative.
Examples
- Zelda: Ocarina of Time: the hero’s journey - call, trials in the temples, return; in the sujet in a fixed sequence.
- Zelda: Breath of the Wild: a fragmented narrative - the memories are set, their order is chosen by the players, and they piece the backstory together themselves.
- Hades: the cyclical structure - every run returns to the starting point, with variation; that the state carries over makes it an iterative narrative.
- Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley: slice of life - no escalation, everyday life is the narrative form.
- Until Dawn: a branching narrative - the players’ decisions lead onto different paths; a named combination with regulation.
- Chess, go: zero point - no narrative scaffold.
- Football: zero point in the corpus. That the second half is narrated as escalation is an ascription in the process - by players, audience, commentary -, not a determination of the game.
Explanation
Many games tell stories - but how the story is built makes a great difference. Does it start slowly and build up? In the middle of things? Does it return to the starting point? The Ludic Narrational Structure is your game’s narrative scaffold: the order in which the story unfolds.
The best known is the three-act structure - set-up, confrontation, resolution. There are many more: kishōtenketsu works not with escalation but with surprise - introduction, development, twist, conclusion. The cyclical structure returns to the beginning with variation, as in Hades. Slice of life does without escalation altogether, as in Animal Crossing.
Not every game needs a narrative scaffold - chess and Tetris do without, the tension arises from the rules. If you want to tell a story, ask: which scaffold fits our premise and the course we are aiming for? And think beyond the hero’s journey: East Asian, African and cyclical patterns open spaces that Western scaffolds do not know.
Usage context
| Dimension | Classification |
|---|---|
| Phase | Ideation (choosing a scaffold to fit premise and course); development (the sujet: the order of ascriptions, their places on the temporal structure); evaluation (does the fabula follow the scaffold?) |
| Tool type | generative - twelve pattern cards (NA-01 to NA-09 cultural, NA-10 to NA-12 interactive) and three guide cards (NA-13 optionality, NA-14 degree of steering, NA-15 combination and multiple levels) in the stack stacks/corpus/narratio/ |
Theoretical foundation
- Narratology - Propp, Campbell, Vogler: Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale (31 functions, seven spheres of action); Campbell’s monomyth and Vogler’s hero’s journey. LUNA uses them as reference points of a culturally diverse repertoire, not as prescriptions.
- Russian formalism - Shklovsky, Tomashevsky: fabula and sjuzhet, the events and their arrangement. Hence the names in LUNA: the Ludic Sujet realises the narrational structure, the Ludic Fabula arises per agent.
- Kishōtenketsu: the four-part pattern of East Asian narration, without central conflict, with contrast and surprise instead of escalation - important for games not built on conflict.
- Game narratology - Eskelinen, Juul, Jenkins: games have structures of their own compared with film and literature; hence the narrative scaffold is optional.
- Oral narrative traditions: the West African griot tradition, Oceanian and indigenous cumulative forms - taken up as equal patterns.
Patterns
| Pattern | Origin | Scaffold |
|---|---|---|
| Three-act structure (NA-01) | Western - Aristotle, Field | set-up → confrontation → resolution |
| Hero’s journey (NA-02) | Campbell, Vogler | call → trials → return |
| Kishōtenketsu (NA-03) | East Asian | ki → shō → ten (twist) → ketsu |
| In medias res (NA-04) | ancient - Homer | beginning in the middle of the action; the backstory follows |
| Slice of life (NA-05) | Japanese, widespread | no escalation; everyday life as narrative form |
| Frame narrative (NA-06) | widespread - One Thousand and One Nights | a story within a story |
| Cyclical structure (NA-07) | mythological | repetition with variation; return to the starting point |
| Fragmented narrative (NA-08) | postmodern | non-chronological; the players piece it together |
| Cumulative narrative (NA-09) | oral tradition - Africa, Oceania | stories layer; a growing web |
| Branching narrative (NA-10) | interactive - named combination | decision points lead onto different paths |
| Parallel narrative (NA-11) | interactive - borderline case | several strands side by side |
| Iterative narrative (NA-12) | interactive - named combination | repetition with carry-over of the state |
Diversity as a duty: not limited to the three-act structure and the hero’s journey; kishōtenketsu, cyclical myths, fragmented and cumulative forms stand on an equal footing.
Degree of steering (NA-14): fully set (linear adventure) - partly steered (Mass Effect) - loosely framed (Civilization) - no narrative scaffold (chess, Tetris).
Optionality (NA-13): no game needs a narrative scaffold. The narrational structure is the most optional composition of fiction: almost all games have ascriptions, many a premise, only those that narrate deliberately a scaffold.