Stories in Games
Stories by definition is an account of fictional or real people and events told for entertainment. Stories in their simplest form is about characters and what happens to them. Video games in the early days often only had a simple story.
For example in the original arcade game Donkey Kong the story is that Jumpman (Mario) unintentionally laughs at a local circus animal, a giant monkey known as Donkey Kong. After being offended Donkey Kong escapes and kidnaps Jumpman's girlfriend. Donkey Kong flees with Pauline to the top of a construction site where Jumpman must jump platforms and avoid obstacles to reach his girlfriend and rescuer here fro Donkey Kong.
Play: Heroes Hesiod (DND)
📝Critical Thinking | 🕒30 minutes | 📂Required Resources: Printed pieces and dice
This activity is designed to help students recognize how story and character can engage the player.
Discussion
Play a round of Heroes Hesiod after which discuss what is the premise of the game and who are the characters? Would this game be playable without the narrative? Would the game still be engaging? How would make changes to make the narrative more engaging?
Premise
Games do not always have a story however, you will often find a premise or plot. A premise is general description of a story. Using Donkey Kong as an example the premise would be "Man must rescue girlfriend after being kidnapped by giant monkey." Notice that the premise is not concerned about the individual characters or what they have to do, just the main conflict that drives the plot.
In some instances a premise can be derived simply from the name of a game. The card game WAR for example, just by it's name we can assume the premise revolves around of two empires battling for supremacy. Space Invaders premise is that invaders from space are attack and we must defend Earth. A premise help players familiarize themselves with the basic conflict of the game.
Plot
Plot expands upon the premise by defining the main events of the story, essentially outlining the goal, conflict and stakes. The plot of Donkey Kong would be "Man must rescue girlfriend. The girlfriend is being held captive by a giant Monkey at the top of a constriction site. Man must jump to the top of the site while avoiding obstacles to rescue her."
Story Foundation
In games premise, plot and story provide the player with helpful information about the game. The premise provides context to the game rules and procedures. Plot helps to example the how; how are we supposed to achieve our goal. The story tells us who and what has lead to these circumstances. While these elements can provide players with some investment in the game, player engagement can be further enhanced with the use of Narrative Design.