Format: A story-led top-down puzzle game
Produced by Newfangled Games, Paper Trail follows protagonist Paige, who hopes to become an astrophysicist, much to her overprotective parents’ despair. The game alternates between distinct story-led segments and puzzle-solving gameplay.
Literary Merit
While Paper Trail may be considered as an example of the evolution of digital storytelling –– which will be discussed further below –– its imbalance between the time spent on interactive puzzles, as opposed to its storytelling sections, impacts its literary strength.
The story-led sections are high quality, effectively building character and offering breadcrumbs as the story unravels in charming folktale-style animations. For example, Paige tells of her hopes and dreams despite her parents not wanting her to leave their hometown of Southfold. The overall themes of coming-of-age and dreams are beautifully revealed through origami-inspired interactives where the reader literally folds and unfolds the page, moving the story forward. The story segments drop clues of the secrets of Paige’s world and her past, demonstrating that digital storytelling can blend narrative and interactivity in innovative ways (Dobler, 2013; Unsworth, 2006; Yokota & Teale (2014). Unfortunately the narrative moments are few and far between. Unlike works such as The Boat (Huynh, 2015) where storyline is central to the experience, Paper Trail feels to prioritise its puzzle-play world-building over its literary depth.
Multimodal Integration
The digital affordances in Paper Trail are purposeful and work to enhance the narrative’s overarching themes and whimsical atmosphere. This is particularly true in the story segments. The origami-folding across the animations reinforces its storybook-feel, enabling readers to move the narrative forward with each fold. This is an example of how digital stories can cleverly encompass metaphors or themes through multimodal features, enhancing the story in new and engaging ways (Lamb, 2011; Serafini, 2010; Unsworth, 2006).
During the puzzle-solving sections, multimodal features contribute more to world-building than to the narrative. The muted colour palette and ethereal music, create a dreamlike atmosphere that reflects Paige’s ability to bend reality to shape her environment.
Overall, Paper Trail’s multimodal design is visually stunning and atmospheric, offering a sensory experience that enriches the themes of the story, which demonstrates the evolving potential of digital literature (Lamb, 2011; Walsh, 2010).
Interactivity
The interactive components are distinctly different between the story segments and the puzzle-solving game play.
In the story segments, the player listens to Paige’s narration, and interacts to move the story on. For example, players origami-fold an animation of Paige writing a letter to reveal its contents, then unfold the letter to see her packed suitcase, creating immersion in Paige’s motivations while also reinforcing the imbedded origami theme.
In contrast, the puzzle segments, while highly interactive and atmospheric, have limited narrative impact and, at times, feel disjointed from the story. The interactivity is as to be expected for a top-down puzzle game, giving players control over elements such as moving Paige around stone paths or dragging boulders. The paper-folding technique adds another dimension, as players reveal new secret pathways on the underside.
Essentially, Paper Trail is an example of how interactivity maintains integrity, and immerses players to manipulate elements and control the story, reinforcing themes along the way (Dobler, 2013; Unsworth, 2006; Yokota & Teale, 2014).
Accessibility
Paper Trail does have some accessibility concerns. Firstly, it is only accessible with a Netflix subscription or on other paid platforms, limiting availability for many users and making it unsuitable for student use.
As for inclusive access, however, the game includes both text and audio throughout narrations, improving accessibility for readers with low literacy skills or reading difficulties. However, as a literary text, the game-play segments may be arguably distractions, using up cognitive load that students could be using on literary engagement (Serafini, 2010; Yokota & Teale, 2014). Due to the skewed balance toward the puzzle playing time, there is a heavy reliance on interactives, which may create barriers for some users (Cope & Kalantzis, 2015).
Educational and Cultural Value
The game’s portion of puzzle-solving outweighs the literary aspects, and the narrative not as central as works like The Boat (Huynh, 2015). However, it could certainly be upheld as an example of the evolution of storytelling in the digital environment. As suggested by Aquilina (2014) narrative-driven games blur the boundary between play and literary form. Therefore, Paper Trail’s mergence of literature and gameplay may be a step on the evolution of storytelling, where the storytellers use the puzzles as a vehicle to exude atmosphere and sensory stimulation (Aquilina, 2014; Lamb, 2011). If the intention of the producers is to stir the emotions or affect the senses –– much like in contemporary art –– this would warrant it as being worthy of critical literary discussion.
Conclusion
Paper Trail has the potential of showing digital storytelling to blend narrative and interactive gameplay. While its multimodal design is masterful in creating atmosphere, the imbalance between narrative and gameplay reduces Paper Trail’s literary merit. Overall, Paper Trail provides a point of discussion of the evolution of digital stories, demonstrating interactivity that reinforces themes.
References
Aquilina, M. (2014). ‘Is that my score?’: Between literature and digital games. Antae Journal, 1(2), 93–103.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2015). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Learning by design. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Dobler, E. (2013). Looking beyond the screen: Evaluating the quality of digital books. Reading Today, 30(5), 20-21.
Huynh, M. (2015). The Boat [Digital graphic novel]. SBS. https://www.sbs.com.au/theboat/
Jabr, F. (2013, April 11). The reading brain in the digital age: The science of paper versus screens. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/
Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning & Leading with Technology, 39(3), 12–17.
Newfangled Games. (2023). Paper trail [Interactive digital game]. Netflix.
Serafini, F. (2010). Reading Multimodal Texts: Perceptual, Structural and Ideological Perspectives. Children’s Literature in Education, 41(2), 85–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-010-9100-5
Sutherland, T., Choi, D., & Yu, C. (2021). “Brought to life through imagery”: Animated graphic novels to promote empathic, patient-centred care in postgraduate medical learners. BMC Medical Education, 21(66). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02491-4
Unsworth, L. (2006). E-literature for children: Enhancing digital literacy learning. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203412954
Walsh, M. (2013). Multimodal literacy: What does it mean for classroom practice? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 36(3), 211–239.Yokota, J., & Teale, W. H. (2014). Picture books and the digital world: Making informed choices. The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 577–585. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1252
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