Environmental Storytelling and Active Spectatorship in Walking Simulators and Exploration Theatre

This article aims to construct a comparison between exploration immersive theatre - analysed through the work of the British theatre company Punchdrunk - and the video game genre of walking simulators. This comparison is rooted in strong similarities between the two media forms, namely the use of the environment as the main site of storytelling and the exploratory agency afforded to the audience. The narrative use of the environment is discussed through the concept of environmental storytelling, identifying in that regard two different design strategies employed in both walking simulators and exploration immersive theatre. On one hand, environmental storytelling can rely on cause-and-effect relationships, turning the player/audience into a detective, while on the other hand environmental storytelling can be used to construct an atmospheric narrative, experienced affectively and aesthetically by the wandering player/audience.