The impact of user interfaces for the enhancement of narrative elements of a video game

User interfaces are substantial parts of the gamer’s experience, but they are not only showing useful information to the player. Indeed, they can also be used to transmit narrative elements, even if sometimes only under the form of the “mood” of the game. Since interfaces can be used to enhance storytelling, their design should be aware of issues of narrative theory. The suspension of disbelief is probably the main cognitive mechanism to be considered, that is the process of both knowing and forgetting that what is happening in a game is fictional. The equilibrium between those two sides is precarious. This is why all the narrative elements have to be created to keep the balance: user interfaces are not excluded. In this paper, the focus of the analysis is the possible contribution of interfaces to the storytelling, and the contribution of narrative theory in game design, particularly regarding the suspension of disbelief.