Honor the dice: narrative effects in “actual-play” media

Tabletop role-playing games allow players to create improvised, collaborative narratives using codified game systems. “Actual-play” shows feature professional actors utilizing these game systems to create long-form narratives. The present research sought to examine traditional narrative engagement processes, basic need satisfaction, and motivation to continue viewing among first-time viewers of this emerging genre of entertainment media. First-time viewers were randomly assigned to attend to narrative features of the show (e.g., plot) or to game mechanics. Results indicated that viewers assigned to focus on narrative features experienced greater transportation, parasocial interaction, and relatedness with characters than did those assigned to focus on game mechanics. Narrative engagement processes were in turn associated with greater interest in viewing additional show episodes. This work highlights the importance of storytelling in collaborative games. Findings have implications for enhancing viewer enjoyment as well as reducing barriers to enjoying emerging media.