English

Link, user-centred designer: Game characters as transcendent models

Computers and Society 2023-10-10 v1

Abstract

Games allow us to construct and explore identities and offer us role models, good and bad. Game characters are a reflection of us -- players and creators alike -- or could be. But do games also encode identities, values, and orientations that transcend diegetic categories and player self-insertion? I explore the notion of game characters as conduits of transcendent models through the case study of Link from the Legend of Zelda series. I propose that designers embed tacit, nondiegetic patterns of praxis and complex value models, such as user-centred design, when crafting the embodiment of characters in gameplay, even unawares.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2310.04739,
  title  = {Link, user-centred designer: Game characters as transcendent models},
  author = {Katie Seaborn},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.04739},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Accepted at CHI PLAY '23

R2 v1 2026-06-28T12:43:16.970Z