Towards a Conciliation of Ludology and Narratology in Computer Game Studies: An Analysis of Valheim

This article presents, firstly, an overview of the recent field of Computer Game Studies, drawing on works of major importance so as to explore the two most prominent theoretical approaches which were adopted in video game research after the publication of Espen Aarseth’s pioneer study Cybertext: perspectives on ergodic literature (1997): ludology and narratology. An acute debate ensued between opposing scholars supporting each perspective and, taking this into consideration, this article aims to focus on the contributions of these scholars in order to suggest that a conciliatory framework not only offers a comprehensive solution to analyse video games but is, in fact, necessary to understand, and thus properly study, this hybrid and deeply multifaceted digital medium. Secondly, by exploring Valheim, a survival video game released in 2021, this study intends to demonstrate how different aspects focused typically by either narratology or ludology are, in fact, inherently connected, influencing each other and having an impact on how players react to the game’s narrative, interface and mechanics.