Writing for Games

excellent source of further reading on story in videogames with more of a focus on narrative design, then I would recommend starting with Emily Short’s invaluable blog.

David Edgar, How Plays Work

What’s important is that the player is acting, leaning in, and playing ‘as’ the character very often.

Characterisation can be derived from disagreement, silence, and lack of effect.

Choice and agency are part of the material of storytelling in games – and you can make decisions against the grain of players’ expectations for better storytelling.

Familial relationships do often adhere to a stereotype or format, but to turn from stereotype to character, consider how you will complicate your characters, and demonstrate that through dialogue-driven exposition.

Stewart Lee’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate

Mary Flanagan’s Critical Play (2009)

The Theatre of the Oppressed (Boal, 1993

Elements of form in games are ways the storytelling is shaped by the writer, the design, the gameplay, and by the player. These elements include:

Register (poetic, prose-like, script-like, sitcom-like)
Length (vignette, 3–5 acts, epic)
Parcelling of story (episodic, sequel based, mission based, through environment, through encounters)
Agency (play between cutscenes, open world, multiple middles, multiple endings)
Platform and proximity (mobile, console, PC, local multiplayer, online multiplayer, non-screen focused)
Unit of attention (how long a play session is meant to be – a commute, a bathroom break, an evening, a weekend day)