Le jeu vidéo comme vecteur d’expression du patrimoine culturel des Iñupiats d’Alaska.

Une étude exploratoire du jeu Kisima Inŋitchuŋa (Never Alone).

Abstract

In 2014, the video game studio Upper One Games developed a game in collaboration with elder storytellers from the Iñupiat indigenous people of Alaska: Kisima Inŋitchuŋa (Never Alone). The game offers a poetic immersion in a Nordic environment as well as a singular narrative frame inspired by a traditional legend. In a cultural perspective, the gaming and documentary functions of the game allow the players to gain knowledge about the traditional practices and world vision of the Iñupiat. The exploratory research presented in this article therefore contributes to understand the game’s characteristics (storytelling, game mechanics, etc.) and design strategies. The results invite readers to reconsider dominant representations of the Great North and underline how the game may showcase the cultural, artistic, and oral heritage of an indigenous people of the Arctic.