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<html>
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<head>
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<title></title>
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<meta charset="utf-8">
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../style.css">
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
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</head>
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<body>
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<div id="content"><div id="papa-louie" class="has-images">
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<h1 id="papa-louies-ghosteria">Papa Louie’s Ghosteria</h1>
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<h2
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id="papa-louies-ghosteria-is-a-comic-like-fan-fiction-written-by-ada-irmak-and-boyana.">Papa
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Louie’s Ghosteria is a comic-like fan fiction written by Ada, Irmak and
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Boyana.</h2>
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<p>Following the discussions we had about the texts ‘Notes on
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Deconstructing The Popular’ by Stuart Hall and ‘Game Modding: Cross-Over
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Mutation and Unwelcome Gifts’ from The Player’s Power to Change the Game
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by Anne-Marie Schleiner, we split into groups and started dissecting the
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ideology behind games some of us have played as children. To do that, we
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utilised several prompts to help us examine the ideology that two
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popular video games enforce through their narrative and gameplay. The
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list of questions we needed to answer while playing the game includes:
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What are the win conditions? If the game is quest based, what types of
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quests are you asked to complete? What is the gameplay? What is the
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narrative? How much space is there for alternative ways of playing this
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game? What is missing? What type of relationships are you allowed to
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form? What is the role of non-player characters? What are the
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requirements for surviving the game? Which behaviours are rewarded? What
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real-world values are reproduced in the game you are playing? How are
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you situated in the hierarchy of the game? What change in status is
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promised? What are you being trained for? What fantasies are lived out
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or explored?</p>
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<p>Our team, Irmak, Ada and Boyana, worked on the famous Papa Louie:
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When Pizzas Attack. Soon after we started investigating the game, its
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elements and modifications, we discovered that other people already have
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done numerous fan fiction about it. We were bewitched by this the
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multitude of stories fans have written and the really good memes they
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have created about Papa and his businesses. Yes, plural. Freezeria.
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Sushiria. Donuteria. Burgeria. PanCakeria. CupCakeria. Taco Mia. You
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name it.</p>
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<p>After spending some time analysing the ideology behind the game, we
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discovered a few elements that reinforce the capitalist narrative, such
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as the need to fight to survive and collect coins to purchase weapons.
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In response, we decided to create a new version of the game with a
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storyline that focuses on healing and coping with grief and loss, rather
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than violence. Also, to link the new storyline to SI20’s topic we felt
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like adding somehow ritualistic elements as actions during the
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gameplay.</p>
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<p>What we decided to change was the topic, purpose and outcome of the
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game. Papa no longer fights to save his customers, but he deals with his
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own loss and grief over what happened. Our version is promoting rest and
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rituals for healing instead of revenge-seeking, violence and toxic
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pizzeria culture.</p>
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<p>We started by putting some keywords and suggestions on a blackboard
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about “How To Cope With Grief” and “How to Use Rituals and Ceremonies to
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Overcome Grief” to define what Papa Louie lost and what rituals could
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help him heal.</p>
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<p>We also liked the idea of making a comic-like storyboard that
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visualises the new narrative for Papa Louie’s Ghosteria. To create a few
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scenes depicting some of the 5 levels we outlined earlier, we used an
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app called Papa Louie Pals. The images turned out pretty nice! Playing
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around with the app was fun mainly because it allowed us to materialise
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our idea in just a couple of hours.</p>
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<p>The gameplay revolves around things Papa lost and the needs he needs
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to fulfil. Different types of losses are organised into five levels of
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the game: 1. loss of safety (innocence, physical safety) 2. loss of
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community (clients, belonging) 3. loss of future (hope, dreams) 4. loss
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of identity (dignity, making things himself) 5. loss of labour (money,
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time, effort, pizza)</p>
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<p>To cope with grief, Papa Louie performs various rituals to unlock a
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new stage in his grieving process and heal from that loss. Rituals are
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the actions players need to execute at each level.</p>
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<p>And so our story goes like this: The Onion ring mafia kidnapped Papà
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Louie’s clients, and he lost his Pizzeria. However, along with this
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external change, he lost his identity as a pizza owner/maker. He is full
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of grief and seeks ways to cope with grief and ease himself. He tries
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different rituals throughout this process, builds his new identity and
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overcomes his troubles.</p>
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<figure>
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<img src="papa-louie-story" alt="The Storyboard" />
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<figcaption aria-hidden="true">The Storyboard</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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