environmental storytelling

English

Etymology

From environmental +‎ storytelling. The phrase gained prominence as an internet meme and caption for images on Twitter in the early 2020s. (See KYM.)

Noun

environmental storytelling (uncountable)

  1. (video games) The art of conveying narrative elements through the game's environment rather than direct exposition; the method of using a space's design, objects, and subtle details to create a story that players can piece together on their own, making them active participants in the narrative.
    • 2015 November 12, Stewart, Bart, “Environmental Storytelling”, in Game Developer‎[1]:
      Environmental storytelling is less direct. Instead of explicitly describing events, environmental storytelling shows the final outcome of a sequence of events, then it invites players to make up their own stories about what happened to cause that outcome.
  2. (Internet, humorous) Often used to caption images that hide a meaning which can be extracted from the environment and objects depicted in that image.

Further reading

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