The Survival games genre is infamous for its lack of narrative. In this paper we look at thepossibility of emerging narrative in open world survival sandbox games. The survival aspectof a game is heavily tied to specific survival-centric mechanics that are frequently occurringin the genre. These mechanics and systems can in and of themselves give way to an unwrittennarrative for each individual player. By working with the concept of Narrative gamemechanics, we interviewed a pool of people about their stories and narrative experiences insurvival games. After analysing the results we found recurring patterns to indicate how certaintypes of survival-mechanics can lead to certain types of narrative situations.

The relationship between narrative and game mechanics has been researched under terms such as ludonarrative dissonance, ludonarrative resonance and narrative mechanics. Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Trading Card Game which contains game mechanics that symbolically represents sections of the Arthurian legend. In this thesis the mechanics of specific Yu-Gi-Oh! cards were compared to the Arthurian legend. From this analysis were design guidelines derived, on how to represent a narrative with game mechanics. Game objects can be referenced by listing associated cards. The name of a mechanic can help in symbolically tell a narrative. The exclusion of a mechanic can also represent something. The conditions for a mechanic to be available is an area where narrative can be implemented. If a narrative mechanic is surrounded by many other mechanics, the symbolism can be “drowned out”. There is a balance between effective symbolism and a good game mechanic.