Time, Space and Motion in Braid: A Cognitive Semantic Approach to a Video Game

Abstract

The paper (1) analyses the computer game Braid with regard to the TIME IS SPACE/MOTION metaphor and the multimodal approach, (2) links the possibilities of such a study to the existing studies of temporality in video games, and (3) explores the link between the game’s narrative and its gameplay mechanics based on the TIME IS SPACE/MOTION metaphor. The theoretical section briefly overviews Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the TIME IS SPACE/MOTION metaphor, multimodality, CMT in video games, time in video games, as well as several studies related to the game. The main section investigates Braid so as to evaluate the ways in which the TIME IS SPACE/MOTION metaphor operates within each of the game worlds and how this affects the narrative and the gameplay. The complex, unconventional relations existing among time, space, motion and causality result in a unique coupling between the narrative and the use of the TIME IS SPACE/MOTION metaphor.

Keywords: video gaming, cognition, time, space, narrative, gameplay, causality, motion