Getting high in hi-tech settings

This study engages with representations of partying in singleplayer sci-fi games by taking the Mass Effect 3 (BioWare, 2012a) DLC Citadel (BioWare, 2012b) mission ‘Party’ as its case. Through a theoretical lens based on previous notions of partying and play forms—chiefly the theory of game rubrics by Roger Caillois (1958/2001) and the three-act structure of drama by Syd Field (1979/2005)—the structure of the party, and the roles and functions of the characters present there, are analysed to understand the possibilities and limitations of participating in partying. The findings are presented as a timestamped graph of the three acts of the in-game party, along with descriptions of eleven identified festive archetypes. The study concludes that the Cailloisian concepts are apt for analysing parties as narratological and gamelike phenomena, and that the complexity of fun preferences should be taken seriously in forthcoming party research.