The videoludic labyrinth as a mythical structure: from Teseo’s multicursal search to Ariadne’s thread

Abstract

The labyrinth has traditionally been one of the most relevant and enigmatic physical, psychological and symbolic structure of the Western cultural world. Fertile as a mythical framework for literature and film, its impact on the design of contemporary video games has barely been explored. Therefore, in this article we explore how the labyrinth, understood as a criterion of physical and mythical design, has inspired the video game both from the ludological and interactive perspective and from the symbolic vision of ludofictional worlds. Based on the heritage of analogical games and the first video games, we make a first conceptual delimitation between unicursal or labyrinth, multi-cursal or maze and rhizomatic games. Then, we apply the first two figures to the current video game and we analyze the central figures of the myth - Theseus, the Minotaur and Ariadne - and their role in the formation of old and new heroicities, the conception of otherness and evil and play as an interactive life path.