[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-201927-105":59,"doc-detail-201927-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","playing-with-choice-agency-plot-and-character-in-telltales-the-walking-dead-video-game-series","Playing with Choice - Agency, Plot and Character in Telltale’s The Walking Dead Video Game Series","","The bachelor thesis examines how Telltale’s video game series The Walking Dead is criticized for lacking player agency, defined as the power to take meaningful action and see results from decisions. It argues that agency in the series is not mainly expressed through plot alternatives, which rarely occur. Instead, agency emerges through character creation and character-centered interactive triggers, emphasizing how game-specific strategies intertwine with inherited tools to shape the playable character’s identity.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/playing-with-choice-agency-plot-and-character-in-telltales-the-walking-dead-video-game-series/201927/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/playing-with-choice-agency-plot-and-character-in-telltales-the-walking-dead-video-game-series/201927.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Mia  ","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-09-04",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",13,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What definition of agency guides the thesis?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"The thesis uses Murray’s definition of agency as the satisfying power to take meaningful action and see results of decisions and choices.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How does the thesis reinterpret agency in The Walking Dead?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"It argues that lack of plot-based agency does not mean the series lacks agency; instead, agency is realized through character-related elements that foster the player’s image of the playable character’s identity.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"Which playable characters receive special focus?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The study focuses on Lee and Clementine, the two playable characters from Season One (2012-2013) and Season Two (2014-2015), respectively.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},201927,1788540236,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},687207024478,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","This is the published version of the bachelor thesis:  \nMonchan, Josúe; Martín Alegre, Sara, dir. Playing with Choice. Agency, Plot and Character in Telltale’s The Walking Dead Video Game Series. 2017. 37 pag.(801 Grau en Estudis Anglesos)  \nThis version is available at [https://ddd.uab.cat/record/181036](https://ddd.uab.cat/record/181036)[ ](https://ddd.uab.cat/record/181036)under the terms of the  license  \nPlaying with Choice:  \nAgency, Plot and Character in Telltale's The Walking Dead Video Game Series  \nSupervisor: Dr Sara Martín Alegre  \nStudent: Josué Monchan  \nTFG Estudis Anglesos, June 2017  \nTable of Contents  \n1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................3  \n2. Agency and plot..................................................................................................................................6  \n2.1 Branching narratives....................................................................................................................6  \n2.2 Satellites and kernels...................................................................................................................9  \n3. Agency and characters...................................................................................................................... 13  \n3.1 Embodying the cursor................................................................................................................ 13  \n3.2 Expressions of feeling............................................................................................................... 14  \n3.3 Interactivity meets Kuleshov..................................................................................................... 17  \n4. Agency as meaning...........................................................................................................................23  \n4.1 Game meaning versus player meaning......................................................................................23  \n4.2. Game meaning plus player meaning........................................................................................26  \n4.3. Commitment to meaning..........................................................................................................27  \n5. Conclusions......................................................................................................................................30  \nAcknowledgements..............................................................................................................................33  \nLudology..............................................................................................................................................33  \nBibliography.........................................................................................................................................33  \nAbstract  \nDespite public and critical acclaim, Telltale’s video game series The Walking Dead has been widely criticized for its lack of player agency –“the satisfying power to take meaningful action and see the results of our decisions and choices”, according to Murray’s definition (1998)–. Traditionally, agency in video games has been materialized in plot changes determined by player choices. While these agency-based plot alternatives seldom exist in The Walking Dead, the aforesaid criticism restricts agency to plot. Using evidence taken from the game, I will highlight some triggers of agency that happen not in the realm of plot but in that of character creation, focusing on strategies exclusive to video games and how they intertwine with inherited tools. Hence, I will suggest that the series does not lack agency, but that agency applies only to character-related elements in order to foster the player’s image of the playable character’s identity. Special focus will be placed on Lee and Clementine, the two playable characters on Seas","cbCaipjaOYuP9p3G","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipjaOYuP9p3G","pdf",3095407,38,"English","# Introduction\n## Agency and plot\n## Branching narratives\n## Satellites and kernels\n## Agency and characters\n## Embodying the cursor\n## Expressions of feeling\n## Interactivity meets Kuleshov\n## Agency as meaning\n## Game meaning versus player meaning\n## Game meaning plus player meaning\n## Commitment to meaning\n# Conclusions\n## Acknowledgements\n## Ludology\n## Bibliography","[{\"question\":\"What definition of agency guides the thesis?\",\"answer\":\"The thesis uses Murray’s definition of agency as the satisfying power to take meaningful action and see results of decisions and choices.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the thesis reinterpret agency in The Walking Dead?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that lack of plot-based agency does not mean the series lacks agency; instead, agency is realized through character-related elements that foster the player’s image of the playable character’s identity.\"},{\"question\":\"Which playable characters receive special focus?\",\"answer\":\"The study focuses on Lee and Clementine, the two playable characters from Season One (2012-2013) and Season Two (2014-2015), respectively.\"}]","Playing with Choice - Agency, Plot and Character in Telltale’s The Walking Dead Video Game Series | PDF",96]