An Analysis of Text Box Interfaces: Connecting Games with Writing and Unlocking the Rhetorical Possibilities of Systems Within Multimodal CompositionS

Abstract

As more research observes how digital multimodal texts transform the activity of writing, one intriguing opportunity to explore is how interactive media, such as narrative-driven video games, shape in-game text through various forms of rhetoric within gameplay systems to create a compelling user experience. To better assess rhetoric in these interactive narratives, this article presents findings from an analysis of four computer role-playing games (RPGs) released through Steam, an online video game distribution service. Asa common system used in games to display text and convey narrative to users, this article argues that text boxes demonstrate the rhetorical potential of video games and other digital compositions through their use of text, visuals, and procedurality. I propose that a rhetorical examination of each game’s text box provides two interconnected, though distinct, possibilities for consideration in multimodal texts: 1) Text boxes act as their own compositions with intentional design choices that link forms of rhetoric to engage reader-response interactions from users; and, 2) Text boxes act as a cohesive part of a multimodal text by serving a video game’s narrative and immersion. My arguments reveal that game designers employ writing by composing a narrative and designing the gameplay interfaces which communicate that narrative to users, along with showcasing that parts of a multimodal text can be assessed alone for their rhetorical features and in the broader context of what they achieve for their work.