Ludonarrative Hermeneutics: A Way Out and the Narrative Paradox Christian Roth 1 , Tom van Nuenen 2 , Hartmut Koenitz 1 1 HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, Nieuwekade 1, 3511 RV Utrecht, The Netherlands christian.roth@hku.nl; hartmut.koenitz@hku.nl 2 King’s College London, WC2R 2LS London, United Kingdom tomvannuenen@gmail.com Abstract. The practice of designing Interactive Digital Narratives [IDN] is often described as a challenge facing issues such as the “narrative paradox” and avoid- ing the unintentional creation of “ludonarrative dissonance”. These terms are ex- pressions of a perspective that takes narrative and interactivity as dichotomic ends of a design trajectory, mirroring an enduring discussion in game studies be- tween positions often cast as ludologists and narratologists. The dichotomy of ludo versus narrative is, in itself, problematic and is often the source of the very conflict it describes. In this paper, we investigate this issue through the example of the cooperative game A Way Out, in which two players team up to break out of prison. The game is designed with a narrative twist, involving the escalation and final resolution of the game’s competitive motif in the final scene. To under- stand the user experiences of this reveal, and the concomitant consequences, we engage in a discursive analysis of "Let’s Play" videos as a largely untapped re- source for research. By analyzing the interactions and performances in these vid- eos, we can more clearly understand player responses to unsatisfying IDN design. As a result we introduce the notion of a ‘hermeneutic strip’, extending Koenitz’ SPP model to locate and describe the involved processes of narrative cognition in IDN work. Keywords: Interactive Narrative Design, ludonarrative dissonance, narrative paradox, hermeneutics, hermeneutic strip, SPP Model, role distancing. 1 Introduction The practice of designing Interactive Digital Narratives [IDN] is often described as a challenge that requires moderation between player freedom and the structured experi- ence that interactive forms like video games internalize. Here, terms such as “ludonarra- tive dissonance” and “narrative paradox” are often used expressions of a perspective that takes narrative and interactivity as dichotomic ends of a design trajectory, reflect- ing the enduring trope of the narratology vs. ludology debate. However, as we will point out, the dichotomy of “ludo” versus “narrative” is in itself problematic, and is often the source of the very conflict it describes as a design challenge.