Slay the Dragon. Robert Denton Bryant
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truth. But now when you play a game, we want you to play with a more analytical eye. Start a Game Journal, and fill it with your reflections on and impressions of every game you play, good or bad. Record your thoughts during or shortly after the game.
2 PLAY A BOARD GAME
For your first entry, we want you to play a board game. But not a game that’s sitting in the basement of Mom’s house, or in your closet. Play a new board game—one that you’ve never played before.
Board games have enjoyed a renaissance over the last decade or so. Actor Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) hosts a web series called “Table Top,” which features celebrities and game industry veterans playing new board games.
But why do you need to play a board game?
The Writer will probably be the player who loves to read the backstory that might come with the instructions; or really like the world as described on the back of the box. But board games are a great way for writers to start thinking about game design. As Writers play board games, they should ask: What are the rules? What are the obstacles? Are there rewards and achievements? Setbacks? How is the game structured? This is not a book about balancing gameplay based on statistics and math. It’s a book on game story. But as Writers will soon learn, story and gameplay go together. How does the gameplay in the board game reflect its story or world?
The Gamer probably knows all about the gameplay. He or she will be able to see the framework of the game the way a screenwriter would see story structure. So the Gamer needs to play a new board game and concentrate on the story—the world—of the game. Who are the characters? How are they represented? What is the story line? What is the goal of the characters, and is that different from the goal(s) of the players? How is the world of the game conveyed to the player?
Play a game and in one page describe the world of the story, the plot, and the game play. Record your impressions in your Game Journal.
Some board games that are well worth playing if you haven’t tried them are:
Battlestar Galactica
King of New York
Myth
Quantum
Puerto Rico
Settlers of Catan
Sheriff of Nottingham
Ticket to Ride
If you’re still stumped as to what to try, there are plenty of great suggestions at www.boardgamegeek.com.
3 PLAY A VIDEO GAME
(We realize this may be stunningly obvious.)
Way too many games; way too little time. Keith tells his screenwriting students to watch all of the films on the American Film Institute’s list of the “100 Greatest American Films of All Time.” Well, aspiring game writers need to do the same sort of thing. However, there is no definitive list of the top 100 games, although many lists agree on many great games. Many game magazines and web sites publish such lists periodically. But you as a writer should focus on the more story-driven games. (Pong is, after all, simply Pong.) Although many classic games have been “remastered” for play on modern systems ranging from PCs to smartphones, not every old game ages well.
Play games that have been recognized in the last five years or so for their engaging stories or immersive worlds. Play games on a computer, on a console, on a smartphone or tablet. Play indie games. Download and play trial and demo versions. Play games in various game genres to get the feel of how they work. Play a sports game like FIFA or NBA 2K. (Yes, these do have stories.)
Play best-sellers, critics’ darlings, and award winners. Although the games industry does not yet have its “Academy Awards,” it’s worth paying attention to any such list. Some of the story-driven nominees and winners of The Game Awards 2014 included:
Bravely Default
Broken Age: Act I
Divinity
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
South Park: The Stick of Truth
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Walking Dead, Season Two
The Wolf Among Us
This War of Mine
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Wolfenstein: The New Order
We also recommend in our classes games from the following list, in which we find the narrative, characters, or world very compelling, and gameplay organic to the story line. They are also interactive narratives that we feel make the best use of the tools of video game writing.
Assassin’s Creed franchise
Beyond Good & Evil
BioShock
BioShock Infinite
Braid
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Deus Ex franchise
Fallout
Fallout 3
Final Fantasy VII
God of War
Half-Life
Halo franchise
Heavy Rain
Ico
Journey
The Last of Us
Mass Effect franchise
Portal
Portal 2
The Stanley Parable
(Please don’t freak out if your favorite game isn’t on the list. This is a short list, and is by no means definitive. We only present it here as a jumping-off point for you to begin to explore story-driven games.)
Play a game and in one page describe the world, the plot, and the gameplay. Record your impressions in your Game Journal.
1 Entertainment Software Association, Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry 2014, p. 13. http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2014.pdf
2 http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2614915
3 http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3805&p=.htm
4 Entertainment Software Association, p. 3.
5 1955 June 6, Time, Radio: Conversation Piece, Time Inc., New York. (Accessed time.com on September 12 2013; Online Time Magazine Archive)
6 Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Oxford University Press, 2008.
7 http://entertainment.time.com/2007/03/19/lyst_cuse_and_lindelof_on_lost_1/ In the same