A Functional Perspective on Narrative in Computer Games - Wolf Maul

potion, fixing a broken watch or patching a deflated rubber duck, to catching a worm in a flour
sack with a piece of sticky candy snuck from a jar.
In general, The Longest Journey has a relatively simple interface, with attention paid to
blending it into the logic of the story world. For example, the player can “look” at items (point
and click an icon of an eye) to get a description of them. This description is rendered in April’s
voice and often reveals colourful aspects of her character along with additional information
related (or even tangential) to the object being viewed.
The Longest Journey – Eye icon (middle of screen, just above the bottom) is used
to ‘examine’ objects without actually interacting with them.
With the logic behind actions and reactions carried over from the world frame (with
variations and exceptions according to genre and the individual game), the player expects
cause and effect to be preserved within certain parameters. Without reading any instruction
manuals, the player immediately knows what to do with, for example, a key. It can be inserted
into a lock and twisted. The lock will then either open or not. A key is usually associated with
something valuable, and always associated with one or more active agents (to operate and
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