Navigating the Mechanics (How We “Read” Games)

The Passive vs. Active Reader

To understand how gamers read, we must clearly define the difference between a passive and an active reader. Reading a traditional novel is a linear, relatively passive journey. The author is the architect who paves a straight road, and the reader simply walks it from chapter one to the final chapter. Navigating an open-world game, however, is a spatial, interactive experience. The game does not give you a paved road; it scatters the bricks across a massive map and forces you to build the road yourself. The player must actively seek out the text to construct the narrative path.

Ludonarrative and the Avatar

Because the player is building the road, the very mechanics of playing become part of the reading process. This is the concept of ludonarrative: the intersection of gameplay and story. As explored by the writers at Gamecloud, the physical act of exploring with a controller is an act of narrative agency. If the story tells you a region is dangerous, and the game mechanics make the enemies there incredibly difficult to defeat, the mechanics are “writing” the story of that danger. You read the story not just through text, but through the resistance you feel on your controller, or the numbers of lives lost to the gargantuan creature pummeling you with their crude club.

A Mind Divided: Avatar, Actor, Strategist

This means the active reader in a video game is doing an immense amount of mental juggling. According to scholar Ryan Zhao (2025), a player actually holds three distinct perspectives simultaneously while “reading” a game: they are the embodied avatar within the space, they are a role-player engaging with the fantasy, and they are an external strategist trying to beat the software. Traditional reading rarely demands this tri-layered perspective. The player is simultaneously interpreting art, feeling the emotions of a character, and solving a puzzle, making them a highly active co-author of the experience.