For the last two decades, video game writers and narrative designers have fought ferociously to have their work recognized and elevated in the realm of game development. For years, writers were treated as tertiary to the core of game development teams, but that mindset has shifted with the success of single-player franchises like The Last of Us, Life is Strange, A Plague Tale, Control, and a cavalcade of other series that pair storytelling with highly-polished gameplay.
But what role do writers and narrative designers play when making games that aren’t “story-first?” These might include 4X strategy games, puzzle games, multiplayer games, ARPGs—in theory players pick up these games not for tales of heroes and villains, but to lock in and solve complex gameplay problems that prioritize strategic play or test their reflexes.
Today, we’re talking to veteran game writer (and former Game Developer contributor) Emma Kidwell and narrative designer Harrison Pink about their experiences working on these kinds of games—and how they’ve learned that even on “non-narrative” games, they’ve seen how players respond to even the simplest little stories that complement exceptionally complex gameplay systems.
About the Game Developer Podcast
The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling the triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between of game development, sharing lessons and strategies fellow developers can use to hone their craft. The Game Developer Podcast is hosted by Bryant Francis, edited by Pierre Landriau, and features music by Mike Meehan.
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Game Developer and GDC Festival of Gaming are sibling organizations under Informa Festivals