Figures of Speech

A metaphor is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, "a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable" (notice the correct use of the word literally, so proud of you Oxford). I like to think Portuguese and Romance languages (languages derived from vulgar latin) have such a recurrence of figures of speech because they often adopt indirect speech and what we could call "implicit subject" (sujeito oculto). Very often we use metaphors in Portuguese to create proper nouns, names and punchlines. English, as a more straight to the point language, adopts metaphors, to my understanding, more often as cautionary tales. Telling you what would happen in a situation without really telling you.My fascination with metaphors and their uses came to fruition by working with games, as a narrative designer in special. Video games run on metaphors. You give the player a controller or some form of input, and tell them to perform an action that will translate to another action or meaning that is not literally applicable to what they did. Press A to jump. Collect stars to upgrade. Do this to simulate that.There is an element of awe to me in games that come up with great metaphors to summarize what are you doing, why are you doing it, what happens if you don't do it. Sometimes they are the whole game, the story in it, and sometimes they are just a small piece of the puzzle, but that fits in there to perfection. Think of a game like Signs of the Sojourner, in itself a metaphor to conversations and social anxiety while playing cards. Or how the twin-stick controllers in Brothers create a metaphor to cooperation while playing alone, and this has a big part on the game's narrative.A big chunk of what I do is this, to make the players understand how they impact the universe of the game and create some mental model of how to act and why. Surprisingly enough, it is very rare the occasion in which I in fact write a metaphor.But more on that and how metaphors function to different purposes in games and communication in general some other day. Right now I should better hit the hay.-Maíra

May 11, 2021

A metaphor is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, "a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable" (notice the correct use of the word literally, so proud of you Oxford). I like to think Portuguese and Romance languages (languages derived from vulgar latin) have such a recurrence of figures of speech because they often adopt indirect speech and what we could call "implicit subject" (sujeito oculto). Very often we use metaphors in Portuguese to create proper nouns, names and punchlines. English, as a more straight to the point language, adopts metaphors, to my understanding, more often as cautionary tales. Telling you what would happen in a situation without really telling you.

My fascination with metaphors and their uses came to fruition by working with games, as a narrative designer in special. Video games run on metaphors. You give the player a controller or some form of input, and tell them to perform an action that will translate to another action or meaning that is not literally applicable to what they did. Press A to jump. Collect stars to upgrade. Do this to simulate that.

There is an element of awe to me in games that come up with great metaphors to summarize what are you doing, why are you doing it, what happens if you don't do it. Sometimes they are the whole game, the story in it, and sometimes they are just a small piece of the puzzle, but that fits in there to perfection. Think of a game like Signs of the Sojourner, in itself a metaphor to conversations and social anxiety while playing cards. Or how the twin-stick controllers in Brothers create a metaphor to cooperation while playing alone, and this has a big part on the game's narrative.

A big chunk of what I do is this, to make the players understand how they impact the universe of the game and create some mental model of how to act and why. Surprisingly enough, it is very rare the occasion in which I in fact write a metaphor.

But more on that and how metaphors function to different purposes in games and communication in general some other day. Right now I should better hit the hay.

-Maíra