Today I talk with Agata Waszkiewicz, a doctoral candidate at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. We discuss the (non-)existence of the fourth wall in theatre, film, and digital games, and how it creates intimacy between player and avatar in the games Bury me my Love (The Pixel Hunt, 2019), and A Normal Lost Phone (Diane Landais, 2018). How do these games break the fourth wall exactly? Agata will tell you!

Games:

Dys4ia (Anna Anthropy 2012)

Deadpool (Activision 2013) (standalone Deadpool game)

Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom 2011)

Mystic Messenger (Cheritz, 2016)

Pony Island 9Daniel Mullins Games, 2016)

Tell me Why (DONTNOD Entertainment, 2020)

The Hex (Daniel Mullins Games, 2018)

Articles and Books:

Conway, S. - A circular wall? Reformulating the fourth wall for videogames (2010)

Jørgensen, K. - Game World Interfaces (2013)

Waszkiewix, A. - TOGETHER THEY ARE TWOFOLD”: PLAYER-AVATAR RELATIONSHIP BEYOND THE FOURTH WALL (2020)