Incompleteness on Video Game Horizons

Horizons represent an interesting visual and mechanical contradiction in video games. On the one hand, horizons activate players’ imaginations inviting them to project an expansive world with endlessly explorable spaces and places occupied by a diversity (or sometimes a dearth) of people and creatures. On the other hand, horizons are often invisible blockades that denote the limits of the game world where the illusion of players’ diegetic fantasy gives way to a game’s manufactured and medial qualities. How do players and designers approach this contradictory element in video games? In collaboration with Aggro Crab Game's level designer, Phillip Corrodo (Another Crab's Treasure, Crashout Crew), this article considers the ways we might begin to read the contradictory horizons in video games.