ABSTRACT
This contribution analyzes metareference in videogames from a semiotic perspective. First, I outline some general theoretical approaches to the semiotics-based study of videogames. In particular, I address the fundamental distinction between object language and metalanguage and discuss the extent to which this distinction can be applied across different media. In a second step, building on this theoretical framework, I propose an analytical framework, distinguishing between individual dimensions of analysis on which meta-references can occur. Finally, I apply this framework in a case study of the independent game The Hex (2018). The Hex contains several metareferential strategies that increase in intensity over the course of the game. I examine and systematize these strategies with regard to the respective markers that suggest a metareferential reading in the sense of metalanguage, focusing on the decoupling of game and narrative that The Hex performs as an example of a medium-specific variant of metaization.
