When Theme and Mechanics Collide

Examining the disconnect between mechanics and theme in games like Overland and The Banner Saga

This blog post by James Margaris is kind of two articles in one, but I like them both. First, he looks at the value of alignment between a game’s mechanics (what you do and how it works) and its theming (how things are presented and framed) - mechanics are much easier to grasp intuitively if they match the theming. Next, he explains how most discussion about ludonarrative dissonance is not framed usefully and that the real problem people are pointing to is usually one of tonal dissonance that is more about the narrative than the ludo.