The LOST
Choices vs Constraint
"Choice vs Constraint" examines the tension between agency and limitation in ergodic literature, interactive theatre, and digital storytelling. While ergodic works often present themselves as open-ended, allowing users to shape their own experiences, these choices are always constrained by authorial intent, system limitations, and hidden structures. This chapter explores how Wayfinder reflects this paradox—offering multiple paths, but also embedding obstacles, dead ends, and meta-narrative interventions that question whether true choice exists.
In theatre and performance studies, this connects to actor agency in scripted vs devised work, where actors follow a predetermined text but bring personal interpretation to performance. In gaming and digital narratives, it relates to illusionary choice, where apparent freedom is ultimately a curated experience. By deconstructing these mechanisms, Wayfinder interrogates the boundaries between narrative autonomy and structural inevitability.
where.
The Stars /
The Grandmother
A short film on the freedom of youth and the consequences of that raw energy. Where do your feet lead you, and are you in control of them?
Footnotes & References
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Core Theoretical Foundations:
- Janet Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck – Defines interactive storytelling as a balance between authored control and user engagement, arguing that true freedom in digital narratives is a myth.
- Espen Aarseth, Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature – Introduces the concept of ergodic texts as "non-trivial effort" required to traverse a story, but also highlights that this effort is always shaped by the system's pre-set conditions.
- Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author – While often cited to suggest reader empowerment, Barthes also implies that interpretation remains confined by the material the author provides—mirroring how ergodic works give only the illusion of choice.
- Janet Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck – Defines interactive storytelling as a balance between authored control and user engagement, arguing that true freedom in digital narratives is a myth.
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Critical Debates and Counterarguments:
- Richard Schechner, Performance Studies: An Introduction – Explores how performance is inherently improvisational, making any scripted structure mutable in the hands of the performer. This applies to Wayfinder, where actors engage with fragmented narratives to reconstruct meaning.
- Marie-Laure Ryan, Avatars of Story – Challenges the notion that fixed paths negate agency, arguing that choice is not about unlimited freedom but about meaningful engagement within a structured environment.
- Emily Short, Beyond Branching: Quality-Based Narrative Design – A game-design perspective that dismantles the assumption that branching paths define choice, emphasizing how emergent meaning can arise from constrained interactions.
- Richard Schechner, Performance Studies: An Introduction – Explores how performance is inherently improvisational, making any scripted structure mutable in the hands of the performer. This applies to Wayfinder, where actors engage with fragmented narratives to reconstruct meaning.
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Empirical Studies & Case Studies:
- Telltale Games (The Walking Dead Series) – Presents the illusion of choice, where different decisions lead to superficially different but ultimately convergent outcomes.
- Christopher Nolan’s Memento – A film structured to force audiences into retrospective reconfiguration, questioning whether perceived choice changes narrative understanding.
- Sleep No More (Punchdrunk Theatre) – An immersive performance where audience movement dictates experience, yet core events remain immutable, reinforcing the dynamic between agency and constraint.
- Telltale Games (The Walking Dead Series) – Presents the illusion of choice, where different decisions lead to superficially different but ultimately convergent outcomes.
