Interactive Digital Narrative for Cultural Heritage: Game Design Taking Night Revels of Han Xizai as a Case Study

Abstract

In the context of global digital transformation, traditional cultural dissemination is shifting from one-way linear transmission to interactive communication. Video games, with immersion, interactivity, and multi-dimensional storytelling, are emerging as innovative carriers for cultural heritage. However, digitizing traditional painting-based heritage still faces two key challenges: reliance on linear, pre-scripted narratives that limit exploration, and one-way knowledge transfer that results in fragmented historical understanding.To address this, the study transforms The Night Banquet of Han Xizai into a narrative-driven strategy puzzle game. Drawing on Ryan’s three-layer model of interactive narrative and Chatman’s narrative structure theory, it analyzes the painting’s narrative elements and proposes a game design framework aimed at reducing players’cognitive load and encouraging active cultural inquiry. A System Usability Scale (SUS) evaluation with 12 participants showed that combining interactive narrative with card-based strategy improved both usability and learnability.

Keywords: narrative games, traditional culture, dissemination of classical Chinese paintings

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1006833