Telling Engaging Stories
Answer the following questions from the perspective of an average gamer.
How often do you continue playing a game to see how the story ends?
How many games have an engaging story?
How often do you play a game and have no idea what’s going on?
There are only a few games that I can think of where I actually cared about the characters. I would guess the ratio of gamers that are engaged in the stories is the same as the ratio of Trekkies to average movie fans.
What is keeping games from being an effective storytelling vehicle?
Story Is About Relationships
Relationships are what make movies and television entertaining. It’s not about special effects, or graphics, or production value. It’s about the relationships we build with the characters and the relationships the characters have with each other.
Look at the Family Guy. It has average animation, but we have a relationship with every one of those characters. It’s a hilarious show that is built on personality.
The Dark Knight builds drama through relationships.
Batman The Dark Knight is another good example. We build a relationship with Bruce Wayne and Batman and are drawn into his love for Rachel and his hatred of The Joker. The special effects are awesome, the fight scenes exciting, but it’s the story that grabs us.
How do we build the relationships in games? So many games are the player versus the world. It’s difficult to care, when there is no one to care about.
Games Are NOT Movies
Games are often compared to movies and strive fore a movie-like experience. However, there is a significant difference between movies and games. Time. A movie does not show every action or task that a character must take. A drive across town? Takes 30 seconds, just ask Jack Bauer. We watch only the events that are relevant to the story.
In many aspects games are closer to life, than to movies. In most cases the player must drive across the city, or walk across the map. In many cases the player goes 30 minutes or more without advancing the story. It’s difficult to be engaged when you forget what’s going on. You can’t just move what works on film to a game and expect to have an engaging story.
We must find ways to consistently reinforce the story, even if not advancing it. The player should want to complete actions and not just be told to. Take queues from what works in TV and film, and translate them to the active nature of games. More importantly take what works in life and translate that into the game.
Gameplay Drives Creation
Games are primarily gameplay driven. Cool features are thought up and a story constructed around it. This happens in movies as well, often with mixed results. It’s fine that gameplay drives the creation of the game. Why wouldn’t it, as we are making a game and not a movie. However, the story should also drive gameplay.
What activities should a player do to reinforce the story? What gameplay elements make you feel like you’re living the story?
There are always going to be twitch games that don’t require a story. That’s OK. We just need to work towards the game we want to create. Want a compelling story? Make sure the gameplay, relationships, and emotions all support your goal.