The'Chinese'Non-city: Thematic (in) coherence and level design in Sifu
- Jun 16
- 1 min read
Barroso, D. (2026, June). The'Chinese'Non-city: Thematic (in) coherence and level design in Sifu. In Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2026.
The fragmentary nature of Sifu’s (Sloclap 2022) game world, underlying its thematic design, leads us to an overwhelming question: 1. Can a video game with discrete levels/stages construct a coherent and cohesive (all-encompassing) spatial environment, such as a city? And, more importantly, is this urban environment actually congruent with the cultural foundation serving as the main theme for the game? Or simply put, in the case of Sifu, 2. How does this space articulate its purported “Chinese-ness”?