The Hunger Games and Fan Paratextual Participation - Game Play: Paratextuality in Contemporary Board Games - page 131

immersion is enhanced by providing characters and the world with a
comprehensive temporal dimension—if the world extends beyond the story
itself into the past, and if the characters seem to have their own mind, will, and
emotions which afects their actions in the present, the illusion of realizing is
that much more potent. 52
His example of the Mass Efect video game series reveals the importance of
character history for player immersion; such immersion may be diicult to
achieve in a popular board game (do we feel connected to a green token in
“Sorry!”), but in a paratextual board game, the characters come with built-in
histories. he most relatable characters have histories but they are also open
enough to allow fans to develop underexplored characteristics.
However, the characters in Training Days come with only the most basic
history—they do not even have names. Jones notes how cult characters “are
incomplete and incompletable. Lacking referents, they exist as liminal entities
poised between tele-presence and absence.” 53 he characters in Training Days
are almost completely void of presence. In the game, players take on the roles of
Tributes who have been chosen by lottery to participate in the Hunger Games.
hink of Training Days as a sequel, of sorts, to District 12 . It is not that one
directly follows the other, but if one were to follow the exploits of the loser in
District 12 (the person picked out of the Glass Ball), one would necessarily then
follow him or her to the training center. Training requires each of the Tributes to
practice weaponry, tactics, and survival skills while being watched by the judges
and the Game Maker—the person who put the Hunger Games arena together.
In the topic, the Tributes are also keenly watched by the audiences of
Panem—the entire Hunger Games is mandatory viewing for every member of
every District. he ultimate reality television, the broadcast of the games, “is
the Capitol's method of reminding the remaining Districts not to rebel.” 54 Ater
training, the Tributes are rated on a scale of 1 to 12, and the higher the rating,
the more sponsors (rich benefactors who can send packages and supplies to the
Tributes in the arena) will want to help the Tribute in the Games. he game
Training Days follows the Tributes in their training as they participate in events to
earn approval rating, use special events to earn additional abilities, and generate
alliances with other characters to augment their skill set. Winning events is
easier with an alliance, which can be formed by betting against other players.
Alliances are not with other players, but with NPCs—nonplayer characters
within the game. here is an immense level of satisfaction when an alliance pays
of—when the two or more characters linked together achieve the goal. 55 he