Interactive Adaptation as a Media Phenomenon: A Case Study of the Video Game "The Invincible"
Abstract
This article explores how video game adaptations transform and enhance the meanings of their source materials. It focuses on Stanisław Lem’s novel "The Invincible" and its eponymous video game adaptation. The central hypothesis is that gameplay, as an interactive medium, not only conveys but also deepens the original work’s content by offering players choices that shape various narrative paths. The analysis is grounded in an interdisciplinary approach, combining adaptation theory and ludonarratology, which allows for a comprehensive comparison between the game’s narrative and the novel’s text. The conclusion is that video game adaptations serve as a narrative extension of the original, enabling players to co-create meaning through their choices, which influence the resolution of the central conflict.
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