stories . 26 Trophies are often included within games to extend their longevity and provide players with the impetus to do more than simply finish the game ’ s narrative , but to also discover all of its secrets and complete various challenges . They are effectively arbitrary challenges established by the game developer to be met by the player , occasionally coinciding with the inherent goals or narrative of the game itself . In either case , trophies are permissive , and thus encourage the player to explore choices , rather than make them . When playing Until Dawn , this extradiegetic approach can be seen in trophies such as ‘ Four Daughters of Darkness ’ and ‘ The Quicker Man ’ which reward players for completing the game with specific combinations of characters . While the inclusion of goals defined outside of the game ’ s parameters might influence player choices , Until Dawn features only hidden trophies whose conditions remain concealed until they are otherwise fulfilled in-game .
Overall , Until Dawn presents a unique corollary between player expectation and player choice as an interactive cinematic experience . On the one hand , Until Dawn adheres to the generic slasher formula , wherein characters are killed according to an almost folkloric social-script theory of storytelling based on moralistic lessons about consumptive behavior and personal responsibility . Conversely , the incorporation of permissive albeit concealed extrinsic rewards for completion demonstrate how video games are fundamentally intended to be won . Game design cannot function without the prospect of players as active agents learning to overcome or master formal challenges . Victory conditions are explicit 26
Justin Hodgson , ‘ Developing and Extending Gaming Pedagogy : Designing a Course as Game ’, in Rhetoric / Composition / Play through Video Games : Reshaping Theory and Practice of Writing , ed . by R . Colby ( Berlin : Springer , 2013 ), p . 57 .
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