Setting aside classic narrative structures, Caleb and Lydia explore the incredible ability of video games to tell a story through experience while discussing the 1980 Atari hit Missile Command.  Caleb geeks out about environmental storytelling and meta-narrative, Lydia marvels at game cabinet design, and the two reflect on how this game played a role with one another in building a common language of game design.

Dusting off the Cover is a subseries of the Pages of Play podcast where the hosts look back at older titles in the canon of video games to revisit, relive, and re-delight in game narratives from years past. Feel free to submit your ideas for future episodes at pagesofplay@gmail.com

The opening music is the track “Magic Tales” and the closing music is the track “The Call” by Kim Lightyear/Lightyeartraxx used with permission under the Pixabay license.  Find these and others at Pixabay and YouTube.

Contents: 

(00:00) Intro

(03:51) First Time Playing

(05:56) Narrative Recap

(07:13) Innovations

(10:46) Influences

(13:43) Narrative Through Play

(18:04) What Makes This Game Worth Playing?

(23:25) Closing