Research on the Design of Open World Games for the Communication of Distinctive Ethnic Cultures—A Case Study of the Tibetan Culture Game the Legend of Guge

Jinlong Dai, Dingbo

Abstract

In the digital era, video games have emerged as a dominant medium within popular culture and have demonstrated a mutually reinforcing relationship with the communication of distinctive Chinese ethnic cultures. Open-world games, characterized by their realism, freedom, and immersive qualities, have proven particularly effective in cultural preservation and educational engagement, establishing themselves as a vital medium for cultural transmission in recent years. Building upon this foundation, this study proposes an integrated open-world game design model tailored for the communication of distinctive ethnic cultures, drawing on environmental storytelling theory and the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics) game design framework. To validate the feasibility of this model, the research team developed The Legend of Guge, an open-world game prototype based on the ruins of the ancient Guge Kingdom in Tibet. The findings suggest that this model provides a novel theoretical framework for designing educational open-world games centered on ethnic cultural heritage, thereby expanding the avenues through which such cultures can be represented in educational gaming contexts.

Keywords

Environmental StorytellingDistinctive Ethnic CulturesTibetan CultureOpen World GamesMDA Framework

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