Nick Fortugno looks at the way in which games and gameplay can be used to extend, monetise, and even incubate brands and stories. By looking at successful examples of transmedia that incorporate play into their storyworlds, Nick discusses how games create aesthetics and how that practice can be applied to larger brand strategies. From there, the talk explores how gameplay can fit into a larger transmedial strategy in a number of rules, from expanding the story’s access to new audiences to serving as an experimental platform for brand-new story properties.

1. Extending Story
through Play
Nicholas Fortugno
confiden'al

4. Ques'ons
• How
do
games
(or
interac've
elements
in
general)
tell
stories?
• How
do
games
(etc.)
fit
as
part
of
a
transmedial
ecosystem?

5. Games
and
Aesthe'cs

6. Quick
Play
Example

7. Twenty
Ques'ons,
Variant
1
• Break
up
into
groups
of
about
five.
• Pick
a
judge.
The
judge
picks
a
noun:
a
person,
a
place,
or
a
thing.
It
cannot
be
a
proper
noun.
• The
rest
of
the
players
try
to
figure
out
the
object
by
asking
the
judge
yes/no
ques'ons.
– The
judge
can
return
a
ques'on
to
the
players
if
s/he
feels
it
can’t
be
answered
or
isn’t
relevant.
• The
judge
keeps
track
of
ques'ons
asked.
• A
guess
is
a
ques'on,
phrased
“Is
it
a….?”
If
the
judge
answers
this
ques'on
with
a
yes,
the
players
win.
• The
players
have
20
ques'ons
to
guess
the
noun
successfully.
• They
have
infinite
'me
to
make
their
guess.

8. Twenty
Ques'ons,
Variant
2
• Break
up
into
groups
of
about
five.
• Pick
a
judge.
The
judge
picks
a
noun:
a
person,
a
place,
or
a
thing.
It
cannot
be
a
proper
noun.
• The
rest
of
the
players
try
to
figure
out
the
object
by
asking
the
judge
yes/no
ques'ons.
– The
judge
can
return
a
ques'on
to
the
players
if
s/he
feels
it
can’t
be
answered
or
isn’t
relevant.
• The
judge
keeps
track
of
ques'ons
asked.
• A
guess
is
a
ques'on,
phrased
“Is
it
a….?”
If
the
judge
answers
this
ques'on
with
a
yes,
the
players
win.
• The
players
have
an
infinite
number
of
ques'ons
to
guess
the
noun
successfully.
• They
have
90
seconds
to
make
their
guess.

9. Hunicke,
LeBlanc,
and
Zubek

11. Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthe'cs

12. Mechanics
• Rules
• Code
• Parameters
of
Interac'vity

14. Dynamics
• Rules
create
the
parameters
by
which
someone
engages.
• These
parameters
encourage
and
discourage
different
ac'ons
and
behaviors.
• Dynamics
are
these
emergent
behaviors.

16. Aesthe'cs
• These
behaviors
create
feelings
in
users.
• These
feeling
can
reflect
emo'ons,
tones,
themes,
or
stories.
• This
is
the
Aesthe'cs
of
Interac'vity.

18. The
Aesthe'cs
of
Interac'vity
Rules
Behavior
Emo'on

19. 20
Ques'ons
Review
• One
change
in
rules
(mechanics)…
• creates
completely
different
behavior
(dynamics)…
• which
creates
completely
different
feelings
(aesthe'cs).

20. One
Caveat
–
Transparent
Interac'vity

21. What
does
this
have
to
do
with
narra've?
• In
an
interac've
system,
users
do
things.
They
are
agents.
• This
means
that
they
are
following
your
rules.
• Those
rules
create
behaviors
and
thus
emo'ons,
themes,
and
story.
• This
is
true
of
EVERY
interac've
system.
• So
if
you
have
a
theme
or
story
to
your
work,
the
aesthe'cs
of
your
interac'vity
should
reflect
that.

22. STREET
GAME
EXAMPLE

25. Kill
Him
and
You
Will
Be
Famous
• One
player
is
the
Master.
Everyone
else
is
an
Afacker.
• The
Afacker,
when
called,
has
15
seconds
to
get
a
ball
into
the
Master’s
open
backpack.
• While
the
Afacker
afacks,
The
Master
can
do
nothing
but
defend.
• At
the
end
of
15
seconds,
I
yell
Retreat
and
the
Afacker
drops
both
balls
and
runs.
• If
the
Afacker
ever
doesn’t
have
any
balls
in
hand,
the
Master
can
kill
the
Afacker
with
a
touch.
• Whenever
an
Afacker
escapes
the
Master
or
is
killed,
I
call
the
next
Afacker
to
start.
• If
the
Afacker
scores
a
ball
in
the
Master’s
backpack,
the
Master
is
killed
and
the
Afacker
becomes
the
next
Master.

28. What
is
the
narra've
experience?
Mechanics
–
basket
goal,
numbering
and
calling
of
afackers,
retreat
'mer
Dynamics
–
choice
of
afack
styles,
Master
strategies
of
energy
conserva'on
and
defense,
Master
vigilance
about
next
afacker
Aesthe'c
–
a
mar'al
arts
master
figh'ng
off
a
roomful
of
thugs

29. COMMERCIAL
EXAMPLE

36. Is
Brand
Extension
the
Only
Use
of
Games?

38. Creature
Feep

45. Brand
Inven'on

46. Games
as
Part
of
Brand
Lifecycle
Brand
Inven'on
Brand
Development
Brand
Extension
Games
as
early
experiments
to
test
concepts
cheaply
Games
as
steps
in
the
story
as
equal
parts
to
other
narra've
elements
Games
as
external
element
to
expand
fan
base
and
bridge
series
gaps

47. Brand
Extension
• Game
serves
a
marke'ng
or
commercial
purpose.
• Marke'ng
– Game
is
designed
to
take
IP
to
a
new
audience.
– Cri'cal
that
the
game
get
adopted,
not
mone'zed.
– Development
costs
here
are
'ed
to
plajorm
and
reach.

48. Marke'ng
Example:
Red
Bull
Focus

49. Brand
Extension
• Commercial
– Game
is
designed
to
exploit
the
brand
to
mone'ze
the
audience
more.
– This
is
more
expensive
and
more
involved,
because
the
game
has
to
compete
in
the
market.
– Not
automa'c
success,
but
a
good
game
'ed
to
an
appropriate
category
can
be
very
successful.

50. Commercial
Example:
Kim
Kardashian
Hollywood

51. Commercial
Example:
Hunger
Games
Panem
Run

52. Brand
Development
• Game
is
a
core
part
of
the
narra've
universe.
• Playing
the
game
is
actually
par'cipa'ng
in
the
story.
The
story
is
transmedial.
• Why
not
mone'ze
on
this?

53. Example:
Force
Unleashed

54. Example:
Other
Movie
Tie-­‐Ins

55. Example:
Breaking
Bad:
The
Cost
of
Doing
Business

56. Brand
Inven'on
• Use
the
game
as
a
way
to
incubate
a
new
brand.
• Horror,
sci-­‐fi,
fantasy,
detec've,
thriller,
soap
operas,
historic
melodrama
–
all
of
these
are
genres
that
overlap
with
gamers.
• How
much
does
it
cost
to
make
a
game
rela've
to
a
pilot?

57. Pseudo-­‐example:
Where’s
my
Water?

58. Pseudo-­‐example:
Toy-­‐game
Hybrids

59. Games
as
Part
of
Brand
Lifecycle
Brand
Inven'on
Brand
Development
Brand
Extension
Games
as
early
experiments
to
test
concepts
cheaply
Games
as
steps
in
the
story
as
equal
parts
to
other
narra've
elements
Games
as
external
element
to
expand
fan
base
and
bridge
series
gaps

60. Thank You
nick@playmatics.com
www.playmatics.com
confiden'al