Narrative spaces in museum video games

In recent years, some museums have introduced the video game among the communication strategies aimed at making their cultural heritage more accessible. Its intrinsic nature, as a technological, playful and visual experience, is capable of stimulating factors such as discovery, exploration, interaction and participation, which are not casually among the current objectives of museum institutions. The narrative model adopted in video games, unlike traditional media, is spatial. The player, in fact, is not a passive spectator, but he acts, moves and explores the space to build the story. The spatial design, therefore, directs the player, suggests the movements to be made or helps him in the interpretation of the tale. Based on these considerations, this research aims to investigate the representation of space in museum video games. They accurately simulate the features of traditional video games, but transferring museum heritage and/or environments inside them. The qualitative and comparative analysis of some case studies, identifies which elements of visual language can implement the narrative, stimulating the knowledge of the museum and its artwork. The research defines guidelines that can be applied to the construction of the spatial image in all cultural games, in order to develop a deeper connection between the open languages of video games and today’s role of the museum as an informal learning environment.