Video games are an important part of children's digital lives. Active video games (AVG) are a potential intervention useful in combating childhood obesity. Narratives are stories with a beginning, middle and end. Motivational ingredients in narratives could attract and maintain AVG players' attention when delivering behavioral interventions. Few empirical studies have explored children's cognitive and emotional responses to narratives, and even fewer explored their reactions to AVG narratives.

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... his paper presents some exploratory research on this topic. Four animated narrative video clips were developed to accompany an existing AVG. Twenty children viewed the clips, were then interviewed, and asked to select their favorite narrative. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Results revealed that: game character movement and action should be carefully woven into an AVG narrative; character behavior in the narrative must be justified; the narrative's protagonist should be someone with whom the children identify; the protagonist should have a companion; and the narrative should lead players to expect additional levels. Narratives have the potential for behavioral intervention in active video games. Effective integration of narrative into AVG development is the key.