Narrative games in ergodic media

Computational media allow the development of very particular relationships with readers. Their nature allows them to register static information, as well as complex and contingent behaviours, that they are then capable to operationalise, becoming interactive and immersive.  These media exist in a dual state, between a surface layer and a subface layer. These two are inextricably connected, with the subface often becoming a black box that can only be peered at through its surface effusions, that simultaneously mediate and isolate it. The procedural layer of the subface can however be discovered through a process of virtuosic interpretation that allows readers to form a theory of system , to breed empathy with it, and ultimately, to transfer some processes to the human’s mind. This paper focuses on how virtuosic interpretation is developed, how from it stems the development of a unique type of aesthetic experience, how is it that computational media become narrative games that involve readers in anamorphosis, and how narrative develops from a dialectics of aporia and epiphany.