Environmental Storytelling: An Integrative Review of Storytelling Through the Environment in Digital Games
Resumo
Objective: This paper answers: how can Environmental Storytelling (ES) foundations be expanded through complementary frameworks? It performs an integrative review of “A narrativa por meio do ambiente", examining ES methods. Methodology: An exploratory and analytical approach is adopted, expanding the theoretical framework with Nitsche, Brown, Feltham, Totten, and Hocking. The foundation is operationalized through qualitative analysis of case studies: BioShock, Dark Souls, The Last of Us Part II, and Gone Home. Results: Environmental Storytelling constitutes a complex narrative structure, whose effectiveness depends on the harmonious integration of World Building, Level Design, and environmental details. Overlapping Nitsche and Brown’s frameworks reveals the articulation between narrative, interactive, and presentation spaces. Successful applications (BioShock, Gone Home) and cases of ludonarrative dissonance (The Last of Us Part II) are identified, highlighting risks of misalignment between Environmental Storytelling and gameplay.
Palavras-chave:
Environmental Storytelling, Narrative, Digital Games, Level Design
Referências
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Bevensee, S. H., Boisen, K. A. D., Olsen, M. P., Schoenau-Fog, H., e Bruni, L. E. (2012). Project aporia - an exploration of narrative understanding of environmental storytelling in an open world scenario. In Oyarzun, D., Peinado, F., Young, R. M., Elizalde, A., e Méndez, G., editors, Interactive Storytelling - 5th International Conference, ICIDS 2012, San Sebastián, Spain, November 12-15, 2012. Proceedings, volume 7648 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 96–101. Springer.
Brown, M. (2017). Como o level design pode contar uma história — game maker’s toolkit. GMTK.
Carson, D. (2000). Environmental storytelling: Creating immersive 3d worlds using lessons learned from the theme park industry. Gamasutra.
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Feltham, D. (2013). Emotional journey: Bioware’s methods to bring narrative into levels. Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Ferrari, A. e Soraci, P. (2022). Ludonarrative dissonance in the last of us part ii: Attempting to create empathy with a villain. In Proceedings of the 8th International Virtual Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2022), pages 26–35. AHFE International.
Freitas, L. M. e Silva, B. C. d. (2020). A narrativa por meio do ambiente. In Anais do XIX SBGames, pages 1264–1267, Recife. SBC.
He, C. (2024). Best practices: Using semiotics in environmental storytelling. M.i.t. thesis, Southern Methodist University.
Hirt, J., Nordhausen, T., Fuerst, T., Ewald, H., e Appenzeller-Herzog, C. (2024). Guidance on terminology, application, and reporting of citation searching: the tarcis statement. BMJ, 385:e078384.
Hocking, C. (2007). Ludonarrative dissonance in bioshock. Click Nothing.
Jenkins, H. (2004). Game design as narrative architecture. Computer, 44(3):118–130.
Mendes, K. D. S., Silveira, R. C. d. C. P., e Galvão, C. M. (2008). Revisão integrativa: método de pesquisa para a incorporação de evidências na saúde e na enfermagem. Texto & Contexto Enfermagem, 17(4):758– 764.
Nitsche, M. (2008). Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Game Worlds. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Paul, J. e Criado, A. R. (2020). The art of writing literature review: What do we know and what do we need to know? International Business Review, 29(4):101717.
Roscoe, L. B. J. (2024). Environmental storytelling in dark souls iii, by hidetaka miyazaki.
Serelis, R. (2024). Gradational environmental storytelling: A case study in visual narrative techniques within contemporary game environments. Master’s thesis, Södertörns University / Stockholm University.
Silva, B. C. d., Freitas, L. M., Maia, J. G. R., e Carvalho, W. V. d. (2022). Analisando a narrativa de ambiente transumana em jogo. In Anais Estendidos do XXI Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames Estendido 2022), pages 89–98, Natal/RN.
Smith, H. e Worch, M. (2010). What happened here? environmental storytelling. Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104:333–339.
Templier, M. e Paré, G. (2015). A framework for guiding and evaluating literature reviews. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 37(6):112–137.
Totten, C. W. (2014). An Architectural Approach to Level Design. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1 edition.
Bevensee, S. H., Boisen, K. A. D., Olsen, M. P., Schoenau-Fog, H., e Bruni, L. E. (2012). Project aporia - an exploration of narrative understanding of environmental storytelling in an open world scenario. In Oyarzun, D., Peinado, F., Young, R. M., Elizalde, A., e Méndez, G., editors, Interactive Storytelling - 5th International Conference, ICIDS 2012, San Sebastián, Spain, November 12-15, 2012. Proceedings, volume 7648 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 96–101. Springer.
Brown, M. (2017). Como o level design pode contar uma história — game maker’s toolkit. GMTK.
Carson, D. (2000). Environmental storytelling: Creating immersive 3d worlds using lessons learned from the theme park industry. Gamasutra.
Cyran, J. P., Myszor, D., e Cyran, K. A. (2025). Environmental storytelling in video games: Crafting narratives beyond words. In From Pixels to Play - The Art and Science of Video Games. IntechOpen.
Ekvall, M. (2024). Berättande genom spelmiljö: En analys av environmental storytelling i western & cyberpunk spel.
Feltham, D. (2013). Emotional journey: Bioware’s methods to bring narrative into levels. Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Ferrari, A. e Soraci, P. (2022). Ludonarrative dissonance in the last of us part ii: Attempting to create empathy with a villain. In Proceedings of the 8th International Virtual Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2022), pages 26–35. AHFE International.
Freitas, L. M. e Silva, B. C. d. (2020). A narrativa por meio do ambiente. In Anais do XIX SBGames, pages 1264–1267, Recife. SBC.
He, C. (2024). Best practices: Using semiotics in environmental storytelling. M.i.t. thesis, Southern Methodist University.
Hirt, J., Nordhausen, T., Fuerst, T., Ewald, H., e Appenzeller-Herzog, C. (2024). Guidance on terminology, application, and reporting of citation searching: the tarcis statement. BMJ, 385:e078384.
Hocking, C. (2007). Ludonarrative dissonance in bioshock. Click Nothing.
Jenkins, H. (2004). Game design as narrative architecture. Computer, 44(3):118–130.
Mendes, K. D. S., Silveira, R. C. d. C. P., e Galvão, C. M. (2008). Revisão integrativa: método de pesquisa para a incorporação de evidências na saúde e na enfermagem. Texto & Contexto Enfermagem, 17(4):758– 764.
Nitsche, M. (2008). Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Game Worlds. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Paul, J. e Criado, A. R. (2020). The art of writing literature review: What do we know and what do we need to know? International Business Review, 29(4):101717.
Roscoe, L. B. J. (2024). Environmental storytelling in dark souls iii, by hidetaka miyazaki.
Serelis, R. (2024). Gradational environmental storytelling: A case study in visual narrative techniques within contemporary game environments. Master’s thesis, Södertörns University / Stockholm University.
Silva, B. C. d., Freitas, L. M., Maia, J. G. R., e Carvalho, W. V. d. (2022). Analisando a narrativa de ambiente transumana em jogo. In Anais Estendidos do XXI Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames Estendido 2022), pages 89–98, Natal/RN.
Smith, H. e Worch, M. (2010). What happened here? environmental storytelling. Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104:333–339.
Templier, M. e Paré, G. (2015). A framework for guiding and evaluating literature reviews. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 37(6):112–137.
Totten, C. W. (2014). An Architectural Approach to Level Design. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1 edition.
Publicado
29/09/2026
Como Citar
ROCHA, André Rodrigues; OLIVEIRA, Pedro Arruda de; SILVA, Bruno Correia da.
Environmental Storytelling: An Integrative Review of Storytelling Through the Environment in Digital Games. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE JOGOS E ENTRETENIMENTO DIGITAL (SBGAMES), 25. , 2026, Goiânia/GO.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2026
.
p. 350-359.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbgames.2026.25800.
