So how does this translate into tabletop games? By their very nature, video game agency will always take players to the same place – the end screen (although there maybe multiple endings depending on choices the players make during the game).
Compare to the Grand Theft Auto games where players have got lots of choices to make (although the individual missions may cut that choice down to more defined parameters). Whilst you are given a concept of a bigger world and bigger level around you by the impressive visuals, you are railroaded into very specific routes that take you from one set piece to the next. The Call Of Duty games are an example of where there is very low levels of player agency. It has frequent use in the video game industry, where the concept of control can sometime be an illusion.
So naturally I did some digging.Ī very simplified definition of the term is how much control a player has over what happens to them. But as with all such matters, you hear it once and you start hearing it again and again. Completely forget about the term and think about other things. So naturally I did what I normally do in such situations. It has only been in the last few months that I have heard the term ‘agency’ being used in reference a few games. I should just stop waffling and get on with it, shouldn’t I? Although that could probably be said for many of my articles, so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Most of you will have read to title of this article and wondered what the hell I am blathering on about.