Connecting the dots: Quantifying the narrative experience in interactive media

The design of an interactive narrative begins with the choice of a type of story. In this paper I examine the potential of three kinds of plot for active user participation: the epic plot, which focuses on the struggle of the individual to survive in a hostile world, the dramatic plot, which deals with the evolution of a network of human relations, and the epistemic plot, which is propelled by the desire to solve a mystery. I distinguish two basic types of immersionludic and narrative, the latter subdivided into spatial, temporal and emotional variants, and I discuss the ability of the three kinds of plot to generate these various forms of immersion.