One of humanity’s great revolutions was the creation of writing. The ability to leave a record, a message, on an external media made it possible to organize humanity as we see it today, both in terms of civilization and culture. One of the consequences of this invention was the creation of stories in books. But how do these stories survive and reinvent themselves today, in the digital age? One of the many ways is their adaptation for digital games. But how does this adaptation take place? Is there a right way? Which is better, the book or the game?
Initially created as experiments in university laboratories in the 1950s and restricted to private spaces, digital games are now within the reach of any individual in possession of a basic cell phone.
The industry surrounding this media is booming, standing out as one of the largest in the entertainment business. Over the years, the public has become more demanding and avid for novelty, resulting in different types and categories of games that suit different types of players. One of these branches is dedicated to adapting literary works for digital games.
The adaptation of works for different media and/or contexts is a field of study in which several authors have been working over time. They bring theories that sometimes converge, and sometimes diverge on some points. However, some points seem to be a consensus for these theorists, such as, for example, the understanding that an adapted work is a new work, so there is no hierarchy between it and the original work. Another point, a consequence of this first one, is that the concept of faithfulness of the adaptation is relativized: if they are different works, artistic freedom makes use of a new vision, creates a new experience.
An adaptor – or a game development team, in this case – must understand the work to be adapted. It must appropriate its elements and, through decisions preferably focused on the target audience, transpose these elements into those of the game.
The book is usually a fixed system, that is, it does not change as the reader goes through the pages. It is linear, reading from right to left, from top to bottom, and when finished, remains the same as when it started. It is signic because it is based on written language, which presupposes the understanding of the language in order to be read, and this language generates the meanings for understanding the work.
The digital game makes use of a multimedia array that unites video, audio, and animation. In addition, it is a complex system of constant exchange of information and change of states that occur during its interaction with the player. In this way, it is governed by a set of rules, and allows the player a collection of mechanics and actions to send responses to the situations and challenges presented by the game. Here we can see the need for more creation by the developers, but they can still be attentive to the descriptions present in the books to adapt them as faithfully as possible. Descriptions of characters, places, and sounds can be translated, although without a possible perfect precision. It is also possible to be attentive to the movements and methods of the characters to resolve conflicts in the literary work, adapting these qualities into game mechanics.
Proper appropriation of the differences in elements of each media allows an adaptation to generate a new and different experience according to the arrangements and dispositions of these characteristics. Thus, even if a digital game based on a book is a new work, different from the original work, it is possible to provide the player with interactions and intentions previously considered impossible given the restrictions of the written media.
May the words deposited here serve as inspiration for the construction of games that transport players to the worlds and universes of their favorite literary works, be they novels, science fiction, or drama. With good conduct and understanding of the peculiarities of the media and its consumers, it is possible to realize interactions once restricted to dreams and imagination!
