Inside Life Is Strange - Exploring Video Game Intertextuality through a Neo4j Knowledge Graph

This repository contains the data and code for a Neo4j knowledge graph. It was developed for my master’s thesis dedicated to mapping and analysing the narrative and cultural network surrounding the video game Life Is Strange (DON'T NOD, 2015).

The project connects characters, events, locations, creative works, and other artistic references through a model built in Neo4j in order to explore the intertextual dialogue between the case study and the cultural influences that shaped its development.

Overview (October 2025)

• Total nodes: 507
• Total relationships: 3,218
• Database type: Neo4j AuraDB Free instance, exported via Neo4j Desktop 1.6.3
• Data format: .cypher/.cql and .csv
• License: GNU General Public License v3.0

Repository structure

• code/ – full graph export in Cypher format

  • lisgraph.cypher — complete .cypher snapshot of the graph
  • README.md — documentation of the Cypher export

• csv-package/ – nodes and relationships in CSV format

  • data/
    • nodes/ — 18 node tables (one per label)
    • relationships/ — 21 relationship tables (one per relationship type)
    • constraints.cypher — unique constraints for consistent import
    • README.md — information and general instructions
    • work_label.cql — script to assign the Work superlabel after import

• LICENSE — GNU General Public License v3.0

Node types

Book, Character, Episode, Event, Film, Franchise,
Location, MusicAlbum, MusicGroup, MusicTrack,
Narration, Narrative, NarrativeTrope, Object,
Person, Theme, TVSeries, VideoGame

Creative works (Book, Film, Franchise, MusicAlbum, MusicTrack, TVSeries, VideoGame) also carry the common label Work.

Relationship types

ALTERNATIVE_TO, APPEARS_IN, CHOICE, HAS_CHARACTER,
HAS_COMPONENT, HAS_EPISODE, HAS_REFERENCE, HAS_RELATIONSHIP,
HAS_SETTING, HAS_THEME, HAS_TROPE, IS_FEATURED_IN,
IS_PLAYED_BY, LOCATED_IN, MENTIONED_IN, OCCURS_BEFORE,
OF_NARRATIVE, OWNED_BY, PART_OF, PART_OF_NARRATIVE, REALISES

Data use

• The .cypher version allows full database reconstruction in a single command.
• The .csv version allows modular import and editing of specific graph components.
• All files can be used in Neo4j Desktop, AuraDB, or the new Neo4j application (2.0 and above).

Related project

For the methodological framework, project description, and research analysis, see the accompanying thesis repository here: https://github.com/ariadne28/Master-s-thesis

Recommended citation

Denitto, Arianna. 2025. 'Inside Life Is Strange. Exploring Video Game Intertextuality through a Neo4j Knowledge Graph'. GitHub repository. Università di Torino. https://github.com/ariadne28/Inside-Life-Is-Strange.