Storytelling In Gaming
Storytelling In Gaming
Let’s talk about storytelling in gaming. A lot of video games tell a story in some fashion. These stories can be extremely simple and linear, or they can be massively long and complex. One of the more important aspects of video game stories is that you, as the player, can ‘choose your own adventure.’
Who remembers the ‘choose your own adventure’ books? Where you made a decision at the bottom of the page, and the book told you to turn to a specific page. Thus you got a different story every time based on making different choices. This is how most video game stories work too. It is something players value, especially in role-playing games and narrative focused action games.
Why Story Matters
Just like watching a movie or reading a novel, a compelling and engaging story makes a huge difference in games. After all, if you make a video game, presumably you want people to buy it and play it. So you need to keep players interested and engaged to keep them playing your game.
People play video games for much the same reason as they enjoy reading fiction or watching movies and TV shows. They want an experience, an escape from their real lives for a while. The main difference is that gamers are actively involved, controlling the protagonist’s actions and making decisions.
If a story is boring, or seems like nonsense, this breaks the immersion and the player loses interest. They may stop playing, and probably won’t buy the sequel. So it’s important that narrative driven games have a storyline that players want to follow. Of course, some games like Tetris don’t really need a complex plot.
Mundane Simulation Games
There has been a huge rise in simulation games in recent years. It’s fascinating that games where you repeatedly carry out a mundane task have become so popular. As an example, Power Wash Simulator, developed by FuturLab and published by Square Enix, has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam. Unsurprisingly, the point of the game is to power wash things and clean them.
There is a story, a simple one but it’s enough to flesh out the game and make it feel interesting. You are opening a power-washing business and you start by cleaning your work van. You then get new jobs after each one you take on, and during the jobs you get text messages to add a little flavour. There’s an upgrade system, where you spend money you’ve earned on buying better power-washing equipment and clothing. So it sounds boring and mundane, you’re just power-washing things, but its very relaxing to play and satisfying to clean up all that dirt. Little bits of flavour text allow you to get to know the world of the game and keep it interesting. So it’s clear that you don’t always need a big complex storyline to keep players interested.
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