ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the various communicative modes—along with their modal affordances—available to game developers and players. Given the dazzling visuals and lush soundscapes of contemporary videogames, text may not be the first mode one thinks of when studying videogames. Lore is not found in all game genres, as not all games are concerned with world-building. However, most videogames have a user interface (UI) and most use text as part of it. Many games use speech for dialogue, narration, and so subtitles allow for players who have difficulty hearing these aspects understand what is occurring. Image is often thought of as the dominant semiotic mode in videogames. The expressive affordance of moving image is that it communicates movement in time and space, which is a key component of most videogames. Videogames rely on sound for a number of their communicative goals, and with few exceptions.
