Last year, MIT University Press published Second Person: Roleplaying and Story in Playable Media, an anthology of articles on the subject by a diverse group of contributors edited by Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin. By "a diverse group," I mean everything from game studies academics to digital game developers to tabletop game designers; it also included three experimental tabletop RPGs (John Tynes's Puppetland, James Wallis's The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and my Bestial Acts).

Recently, the editors have been putting selected articles from the volume online (under a Creative Commons release). One such is the piece I wrote, entitled Games, Storytelling, and Breaking the String, which is a look at the ways in which both digital and non-digital games (or game-like entities) have tried to address the inherent conflict between the demands of the game (interactivity and player volition) and the story (linearity and narrative coherence).

It's somewhat theoretical, but written plainly, and worth a read if you're interested in these issues.

The other articles they've posted from the book can be found here.
posted by Greg at 1:33 PM