When elements of either the fantasy or frame of a game detract or are in tension with one another, the result is dysnergy. The term means that the game is less than the sum of its parts, and the likelihood that the player will find it special is low. The opposite of dysnergy is synergy.
Ludonarrative Dissonance
Clint Hocking coined the term ‘ludonarrative dissonance’ in 2007 to describe a state of story and gameplay pulling on one another in Bioshock, which probably sounds very similar to dysnergy. What Games Are regards ludonarrative dissonance as one form of dysnergy, but not the only kind.
