

The way that levers and buttons interact. Half caught sentences from passing characters. The narrative of video games is not usually told (like in books) or shown (like in films) but overheard.

Less obviously, games can also communicate narrative through how they Simulate the world, what needs solving in Puzzles or even the Strategies players need to employ. Games can use Adventure, Action and Role-Playing to communicate elements of story to players. The best examples intertwine gameplay and storytelling, rather than interspersing short films ("Cut Scenes) between levels. Learning from the power of books and films, these games string together interactions not for excitement or competition but for storytelling beats. Narrative video games focus on telling a story about characters, worlds and themes. In this entry we are looking at Narrative games. This is designed for people new to gaming, and aims to identify games with the least barriers. In this series, we are learning how different aspects of video games work by playing games that offer an easy introduction to this one concept.
