A Developer's Guide to Crafting Engaging Narrative Games

At a recent GI Academy Live event, renowned game developer Sam Barlow shared his insights on designing narrative-driven video games, highlighting the unique aspects of the medium and his core principles for building compelling stories. Barlow began by explaining why he finds storytelling in video games more exciting than in other forms of entertainment, citing the presence of inherent obstacles that players must overcome as a key factor. This challenge, he argued, serves as a fundamental hook that resonates with human nature, driving players to overcome obstacles and engage with the story. In his 2015 game Her Story, the challenge lies in the player's task of piecing together the narrative by analyzing clues and making inferences. Barlow emphasized that the game's core mechanic requires players to pay attention, think critically, and contribute to the storytelling process. He identified expression as another essential element that elevates video game narratives above other mediums. Using the example of the Mario games, Barlow demonstrated how the design of gameplay can facilitate player expression, allowing individuals to play the game in unique ways and express themselves through the character of Mario. In his own games, Barlow strives to incorporate expressive elements, such as the core search mechanic in Her Story, which enables players to type in any English word and explore the narrative in a non-linear fashion. This expressive aspect of gameplay ties into the concept of exploration, which Barlow believes is hardwired into human nature. He drew parallels between the exploration of a 3D space in games like Metroid and the process of uncovering a story, where players build a mental map of the narrative as they discover new pieces of information. Barlow's final element for narrative is simulation, a core ingredient in most video games. However, in Her Story, he deliberately avoided simulation, instead focusing on the interactive narrative and the player's ability to influence the story. When designing his games, Barlow adheres to three core tenets: emotion, idea, and metaphor. The emotion refers to the feeling he wants players to experience, while the idea is the thematic or intellectual concept he aims to convey. The metaphor, often related to the game mechanic, serves as a tool to explore the idea and evoke the desired emotion. Barlow illustrated how these components work together in his game Telling Lies, where the emotion is the feeling of realizing that someone you loved is not who you thought they were. The idea explores the concept of never truly knowing those you are intimate with, and the metaphor of surveillance is used to convey this idea. By reducing a game's design to these core components, Barlow aims to keep the development process focused and ensure that the final product stays true to his original vision. Throughout the development cycle, he regularly refers back to these elements to guide decision-making and ensure that the game remains on track to deliver a cohesive and engaging narrative experience.