Category: Storytelling

  • Stay a while longer, and listen some more

    Stay a while longer, and listen some more

    Thoughts about Diablo 4 after the open beta, and how much storytelling is actually “necessary” in one of the most successful game series of all time

  • Haven’t Got Time for Immortality

    Immortality is both a masterwork and a frustrating example of the limitations of interactive storytelling. Spoilers within.

  • Until Done

    First impressions of Until Dawn and the current state of story-heavy games

  • Camp Grizzly

    Camp Grizzly finally hits the sweet spot between cooperative games and storytelling games

  • Paper Chase

    My thoughts on Gone Home and what it reveals about storytelling in video games

  • Choosy Zombies Choose Jeff

    Telltale’s The Walking Dead series is some of the best work the studio’s ever done, and it’s actually right on the verge of establishing an entirely new genre of video game. Spoilers on the first two episodes.

  • Side Effects May Include Dizziness, Nausea, and Plot Development

    More on using narrative as a game mechanic. Games have borrowed liberally from Tolkien over the years, but I’ve never seen a game incorporate one of his coolest ideas.

  • What is Past is Prologue

    Laying the foundation for more talk about narrative as a game mechanic, but this time with semi-concrete examples. Plus huge spoilers for Portal 2!

  • Are You Experiences? (And have you ever been games?)

    Narrative can too be a game mechanic, as long as you familiarize yourself with how narratives work, and you don’t have an overly strict definition of “game.”

  • Lore on Demand

    Repressed memories dredged up by Skyrim, and reconsidering some assumptions about storytelling in videogames

  • Closing the Loop

    Another article for Gamasutra about videogame storytelling, more or less.

  • The Hills Have EyeToys

    I wrote an article about horror movies, videogames, and how to get players to give a damn about your story.