Play time: 1:30- 2:30pm

Now that I have become accustomed to the game, I find that there is very little variation to what I am able to do. I start the game, I go into the house and take everything I can carry. I move a rug and open a trap door that is then shut and barred by a creature that is in the house unbeknownst to me. My sword glows, I kill the troll. I have been able to pick up on the tiny details of the narrative that I constantly interact with that I have begun to get bored.

Reflecting on Jenkins’ concept of embedded narratives (2006, pp. 181- 183), I see that there is a narrative within the game that a player must navigate. But I feel utterly lost as to what the objective of the game or the end of the narrative is. Embedded narratives should communicate significant information (Jenkins, 2006, p. 182), but how can the player understand that piece of the narrative as a whole when there is no detail given by the designers to communicate why this portion of the narrative is significant to the narrative and the objective of the game? Or am I just missing it completely?

My search for new information in this game and new places to explore have brought me to believe that there is no end in sight for me as a player in Zork. I have not found any information that leads me to new locations (other than being lost in a maze) that would point me in the direction of ‘winning’ the game. Will I be doomed to roam the forest of Zork for the rest of my gaming experience? Or will there magically be another piece of the narrative puzzle that will reveal itself over time?

Jenkins, H. 2006. “Game Design as Narrative Architecture”, pp. 174- 184.