Basics of Narrative Design for Games

Many believe not all stories make for great gameplay, citing decades of awful movie-to-game adaptations as proof. Video games are better at modeling physical concepts like running or jumping than dramatic concepts like betrayal or seduction. It would take advanced artificial intelligence and expensive photorealistic graphics to achieve the emotion and impact we associate with novels, films, theater, or comics. So why not just stick to what games already do well? 

This is all of course utter nonsense. Games can tackle any subject matter, any dramatic concept, and still be deep, rich interactive experiences. They can tell stories with their core mechanics, with their core systems of cause and effect, without relegating moments that reveal or deepen character to static cut-scenes. It is easy, and requires no special technology. You just have to train your imagination to see stories, and story games, a certain way: as a set of dramatic verbs. 

This class will guide participants through a series of exercises based on finding, collecting, and utilizing dramatic verbs. They will learn how to look for verbs in traditional media and apply them to interactive media. By the end of the class, each participant will have their own working prototype game inspired by a story from traditional media.