Ludic Interaction in Doctor Who - Game Play: Paratextuality in Contemporary Board Games - page 169

perform this synthesis themselves. hey are at the same time part of the media
franchise but also apart from the narrative. Because paratextual board games
cannot build narrative within the franchise, they reveal that non-narrative
components of contemporary media are equally, if not more, important than
plot. his unstructure complicates and problematizes our traditional notions
of mediation, game narrative, and play. hey are text and paratext, classic and
innovative, adaptation and extension. Board games are representative of a new
way of performing the media.
Paratextual board games allow us to see the media environment as constructed
not by absolute delineations between one text and other, but as a series of shiting
signiiers, each of which performs diferent interpretations of textual moments.
he paratextual board game is a mediated performance, a connection between
player, audience member, and text that can only be generated in the moment
of play. his moment is cocreated by audience, game designer, and original
media text, and is never concretized. Each game session is unique, each play
individual.
If anything, Game Play has shown how serious game playing can be. Far from
mere “pasted on themes,” paratextual board games reveal a complex relationship
with the contemporary media environment. But hopefully Game Play has also
revealed how much fun game playing can be. We play games because they
are entertaining and because they bring us together as friends and family. In
Game Play I have hopefully started a conversation about the importance of
paratextuality in board gaming, but I hope the discussion continues. here is so
much let to play.