The Construction of the Cyborg Player in Transistor: A Ludo-Narrative Analysis

Abstract

The paper intends to study the ludo-narrative structures of the game Transistor^[1] to examine how, through the engagement of the player into the game’s ludic structures (i.e. those structures that make it a game) constructs the cyborg body. The aim is to examine how the narrative of a game can contextualise its mechanics, and generate meaning. It understands video games, or even games in general not merely through its representational features, but in recognition that a game constitutes essential structures that make it a game, and enable the possibility of play. The cyborg body is understood in terms of how the player engages with the game in both the ludic and the narrative forms.