Embodied Engagement with Environmental Storytelling in Walking Simulators: A Case Study of What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)
- Jun 16
- 1 min read
Xiang, K. (2026, June). Embodied Engagement with Environmental Storytelling in Walking Simulators: A Case Study of What Remains of Edith Finch (2017). In Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2026.
This article examines how game environments can be narratively experienced and interpreted through a case study of the award-winning What Remains of Edith Finch. The analysis is guided by the 4E cognition framework and adopts the method of playthrough poetics. It reveals four layers of embodied player experiences in environmental storytelling: environment as perceptual cues, environment as action affordances, environment as affective tones, environment as spatial metaphors.