Mytholudics: Understanding Games As/Through Myth

Abstract

This dissertation outlines a mythological framework for understanding how games produce meaning. The central question is: how does a mythological approach help to understand the way games make meaning? I first theorise mythology as it applies to games and play. This is expressed through a cycle showing how mythology is embedded into the production of games as well as how it impacts the playing and interpretation of games. This is then operationalised as a method for the analysis of games. I call my theorisation and analytical approach mytholudics. With this established, I apply mytholudics in ten analyses of individual games or game series, split into two lenses: heroism and monstrosity. Finally, I reflect on these analyses and on mytholudics as an approach.

Mythology here is understood primarily from two theoretical perspectives: Roland Barthes’ theory outlined in Mythologies (1972/2009) and Frog’s (2015, 2021a) understanding of mythology in cultural practice and discourse from a folklore studies perspective. The Barthesian approach establishes myth as a mode of expression rather than as an object, a mode that is therefore prevalent in all forms of media and meaning-making. This mode of expression has naturalisation as a key feature, by which the arbitrariness of second-order signification is masked. Otherwise arbitrary relations between things are made to seem obvious and natural. Frog’s mythic discourse approach understands mythology as “constituted of signs that are emotionally invested by people within a society as models for knowing the world” (2021a, p. 161). Frog outlines mythic discourse analysis as a method which focuses on the comparison of mythic discourse over time and across cultures.

Barthes and Frog broadly share an understanding of mythology as a particular way of communicating an understanding of the world through discourse. From this perspective, mythology is not limited to any genre, medium or cultural context. It can include phenomena as diverse as systems, rules, customs, behaviours, rituals, stories, characters, events, social roles, motifs, spatial configurations, and so on. What is important is how these elements are placed in relation to one another. This stands in contrast to certain understandings of myth which may position it as a narrative genre or a socioreligious function of ‘primitive’ societies. Games consist of the same diverse elements arranged in comparable configurations, and so this perspective highlights the otherwise hidden parallels between mythology and games. Therefore, a mythological approach can help us to understand the game as an organising structure in which different and diverse elements are put into relation with one another in order to produce meaning.
To develop this framework, I argue for analysing games as and through myth. Games as myth means viewing the game as an organising structure that works analogously to mythology. Elements are constructed and put into relation with one another within a gameworld, which the player then plays in and interprets. Games through myth means seeing games as embedded within cultural contexts. The cultural context of development affects the mythologies that can be seen to influence the construction of the game, while the cultural context of the player affects how they relate to and interact with the game and the mythologies channelled through it.
With the theorisation and methodology laid out, I exemplify the mytholudic approach by applying it to ten analyses of individual games or game series, split into two chapters of five analyses each.

The first considers the games through the lens of heroism, defined as the positive mythologisation of an individual. To help with comparison and understanding, I outline a number of hero-types, broad categories based on different rhetorics of heroism. These include the hero-victim, the hero-sceptic, the preordained hero and the unsung hero. The examples analysed are the Call of Duty series (2003–2022), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios, 2011), the Assassin’s Creed series (2007–2022), Heaven’s Vault (Inkle, 2019) and Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games, 2017).

The second considers the games through the lens of monstrosity, defined broadly as a form of negative mythologisation of an entity. Like with heroes, I outline a number of monster-types based on where their monstrosity is said to come from. These are the monster from within, the monster from without, the artificial monster and the monster of nature. The game examples are Doom (id Software, 1993a), the Pokémon series (Game Freak, 1996–2022), Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory, 2017), Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions, 2020a) and The Witcher series (CD Projekt Red, 2007–2016).

Finally, I synthesise these two lenses in a chapter reflecting on the hero- and monster-types, all ten analyses and the mytholudic approach in general. I argue that a mytholudic approach helps us to understand how games make meaning because it focuses on the naturalised and hidden premises that go into the construction of games as organising structures. By analysing the underpinnings of those organising structures, we can outline the model for understanding the world that is virtually instantiated and how they are influenced by, influence and relate to models for understanding the world—mythologies—in the real world.

Full text

Mytholudics
Understanding Games As/rough Myth
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

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
Supervisor


Examination Committee







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
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

is PhD position was fully funded
by the IT University of Copenhagen
Additional funding was provided in the form of an
Elite Research Travel Grant (EliteForsk-rejsestipendium)
from the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science
(0195-00057B)

RESUMÉ






mytholudics




Mythologies
 

naturalisation




      


  









   


som igennem som 
 



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igennem 
        








thehero-victimthe hero-scepticthe preordained hero
the unsung hero, 
Call of Dutye Elder Scrolls V:
Skyrim     Assassin’s Creed  Heaven’s
VaultHorizon Zero Dawn



the monster from within
the monster from withoutthe
articial monsterthe monster of nature, 
Doom
 Pokémon    Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrice 
Ghost of Tsushimae Witcher


  







ABSTRACT



            


mytholudics
   

         
Mythologies
            


naturalisation  






     







   


asthroughas


through




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         







hero-victimhero-scepticpreordained herounsung hero
 Call of Duty  e Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 
Assassin’s CreedHeaven’s VaultHori-
zon Zero Dawn


monster from
withinmonster from withoutarticial monstermonster of nature
  Doom     Pokémon    
Hellblade: Senua’s SacriceGhost of Tsushima
e Witcher








ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
   


Elden
Ring

would


     


Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet
EliteForsk-rejsestipendium


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




        




      

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
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
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
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






    


 



          

            












CONTENTS
Resumé .......................................................................................................................................... i
Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... v
Contents ..................................................................................................................................... vii
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1
 ......................................................................................................................... 
 ................................................................................... 
 ..................................................................................................................... 
2 What is Myth? ......................................................................................................................... 9
.......................................................................................................... 
 ....................................................................................................................... 
 ..................................................................................................................... 
 .......................................................................................................................... 
 ......................................................................................................................... 
3 Towards Mytholudics ........................................................................................................... 31
 ................................................................................................... 
 .................................................................................................................................... 
4 Methods .................................................................................................................................. 73
 ......................................................................................................... 
 ............................................................................................................................ 
 ................................................................................................................................. 
 ......................................................................................................................................... 
5 Heroes ..................................................................................................................................... 93
 ..................................................................................... 
 ....................................................................................................
 ...................................................................................................................
 ....................................................................................................................................
Call of Duty ...................................................................................................................................
e Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim .........................................................................................................
Assassin’s Creed ...........................................................................................................................
Heaven’s Vault ..............................................................................................................................
Horizon Zero Dawn .....................................................................................................................
 ....................................................................



6 Monsters ............................................................................................................................... 197
 ............................................................................................................................
 ............................................................................................................
 ..............................................................................................................................
Doom ..............................................................................................................................................
Pokémon .........................................................................................................................................
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrice ........................................................................................................
Ghost of Tsushima .......................................................................................................................
e Witcher....................................................................................................................................
 ................................................................
7 Reections on Heroes, Monsters and Mytholudics ................................................... 291
8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 299
 .......................................................................................................................................
 ..................................................................................................
 .......................................................................
References ............................................................................................................................... 313

1 INTRODUCTION









  
    

          



true
only   


      

myth of mythlessness
          


 












 















  

 



0F
1
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       











             
1

Man, Play, and Games    e
Study of GamesPlaying at the World
Fictional Games


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


play



 


       
and

play

  


through





as/through


      



Super Mario Bros.

 Mario
 
As/through

  










Games are models for structuring play that instantiate real, historical or specu-
lative models for understanding the world, which may be or include mytholo-
gies.

weaved into



prescriptive frame











Mytholudics


1.1 Research questions
 
     


How does a mythological approach help to understand the way games make
meaning?

 
 
 
        









1.2 Previous research into myth and
games
      
















           
 






 


  

       



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           
        
              






mythopoeiasubcreation







  
        
     
       


emulated
     






    




         

   Ludomythologies 
Mytholudics







myths in the presentmyths of the
present      
 

   




1.3 Summary of chapters

myth



Odyssey
Horizon Zero Dawn


mytholudic cycle
ossication
fossilisation
mytholudics

mythic discourse analysis
 integersmotifspartials
themes



Mythol-
ogies









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 heavy
heroes
hero-types

hero-victim hero-sceptic preordained hero  unsung hero  


Call of Dutye Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Assassin’s CreedHeaven’s VaultHorizon Zero Dawn
     
        



   



    

   monster from within monster from without articial
monstermonster of natureDoom
PokémonHellblade: Senua’s Sacrice
Ghost of Tsushimae Witcher







     






2 WHAT IS MYTH?


       

     





   
kind





Odyssey

 

Mytholo-
gies
     Horizon Zero
Dawn





The term myth





             








fromtowith
      1F
2
 
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
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
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
 mȳthos

mythoslogos
 

mythoslogos
        


 mythe2F
3
 

              
2



    
      
develop-
ment





3
 
Troy Book


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   
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



  



2.1 Myth as text type or genre

Myth is a type of story


       



myth as text type



          ab initio
ab origineillo tempore
 










a myth

psychoanalytic reections of the myth
historical manifestations of that myth
the myth in elite culture
the myth in mass-mediated or popular culture

the myth in everyday life



Myth/Sacred
story







Psychoanalytic
manifestation






Historical
experience






Elite culture


e
American
Oedipus
Rex
Hamlet
Popular
culture


Shane


King Kong
Everyday life






  


           



    





within





   



    

      

 


  
    
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
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


          









      

      














The Odyssey
Odyssey


Odyssey        
           Odyssey 
Odyssey
O Brother, Where Art ou?
Odyssey

Everyday life and popular culture



          
Shane

Shane

  


Odyssey
Horizon Zero Dawn






Tetrise
Last of Us

  Horizon Zero Dawn ShaneOdyssey





text type
Horizon










            


Horizon

    


2.2 Myth as archetypal


     

 archetypes

   





 




  








x
y
z
separation–initiation–return







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

            



     






             





  






Star Wars



   e Writer’s Journey, Mythic Structure for Writers    
Video Game Storytelling: What Every Developer Needs to Know About
Narrative Techniques           Journey






    
consciously







The Odyssey
Odyssey
Odyssey
     
Odyssey


   









Odyssey
              

           


Everyday life and popular culture

Luther

           




       

Horizon Zero Dawn
        
            









      

          


2.3 Myth as explanation



       


       
    

           

             


3F
4


       

explain 
  

      

4











nature







     
   

idiom

  
       

















The Odyssey
Odyssey

            




xenia 
Everyday life and popular culture
  
         




Horizon Zero Dawn
  Horizon Zero Dawn     
Odyssey
Horizon Zero Dawn




Horizon Zero Dawn
2.4 Myth as structure

  4F
5





           
     

 
                


    


             
5
before
Morphology of the Folktale











mor-
phology







           






single move
dramatis personae
functions


 Functions of characters serve as stable, constant elements in a tale, inde-
pendent of how and by whom they are fullled. ey constitute the fun-
damental components of a tale.
 e number of functions known to the fairy tale is limited. 
 e sequence of functions is always identical.
 All fairy tales are of one type in regard to their structure.






          
β
e person absenting himself can be a member of the older generation
β



An intensied form of absentation is represented by the death of par-
entsβ
Sometimes members of the younger generation absent themselvesβ
   


spheres of action
villain



     

          
single
skázka
 a
  


movexod




   


gross constituent units
mythemepho-
nememorpheme


      




       
above




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
    
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langueparole
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
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        
 

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