As in music, the meaning of interactive applications is
determined, not only by its sensory appearance,
but to a high extent by the structure and functionality of the application.
This observation may, also, explain, why narratives become more and more important
in current video games, namely in providing a meaningful context
for possible user actions.
In this chapter, we take an interactive game-model
extended with narrative functionality as a starting point
to explore the aesthetics of interactive applications.
In section 12.1, we will introduce a model for interactive video games, and in section 12.2
we will present a variety of rules for the construction of narratives
in a game context.
Finally, in section 12.3, we will characterize the notion of meaning
from a traditional semiotics perspective, which we will then apply
in the context of games and interactive multimedia applications.