This document discusses game story devices (GSD) and introduces six types: 1) Interactivity, which makes games more interactive than passive media, 2) Non-linearity, which allows non-sequential player choices, 3) Player control, which gives players power over characters and worlds, 4) Collaboration, which enables shared storytelling among players, 5) Immersion, which deeply engages players in game worlds, and 6) Cinematics, which are video cutscenes that can advance plots but risk reducing immersion. The types of GSD give game designers tools for combining narrative and challenges to create meaningful games.

1. Game Story Devices
Niaz Ali (BSIT-F15-R21)
M. Usama Khalid (BSIT-F14-R45)
M. Umar Farooq (BSIT-F15-R12)

2. Topics Covered
• Introduction of GSD
• Types of GSD

3. Introduction
• Good game stories inspire us, transform us, take us to
another world.
• A game designer might argue that a good
game challenges the player.
• Games differ from other storytelling media in that they give the
player agency the power to succeed and also to fail.
• In order to create powerful, meaningful games it is important that
game designers have tools for structuring the combination of
narrative and challenges

4. Types of GSD
There are several game-specific story devices
1. Interactivity
2. Non-Linearity
3. Player Control
4. Collaboration
5. Immersion
6. Cinematics

5. 1.Interactivity
 Games have a higher level of
interactivity than other media
 Games depend even more on
gameplay than story for player
satisfaction.
 By nature, stories are not
interactive. They come out of the
storyteller’s mind and are meant
only to be received by the
audience passively.
 They can also be co-storytellers—
and sometimes, they can even be
the only storytellers.

6. 2. Non-Linearity
 Linear stories follow a physical
and temporal straight line.
 Games do not have to follow a
linear storyline.
 Beginning with the most
distant events and ending with
the most recent.
 Allows players to choose
different paths within one
storyline.

7. 3. Player Control
 Players have the ability to
manipulate the game in some way.
 players can be storytellers in games—
something they cannot do in books
and movies.
 A common form of player control
involves character customization,
where players create their own
characters with personalized
features.
 The character creation process in
RPGs gives the player the freedom to
personalize their profile.

8. 4. Collaboration
 The multiplayer game mode makes it possible for players to
engage in collaborative storytelling.
 MMO games in which thousands of players could conceivably
personalize their character roles, introduce new plot points, and
modify the environment itself while playing the game.
 Collaboration is similar to interactive theatre—where the players
are performers improving with each other and with the audience.
 A collaborative storyline could be initiated by the game
development team, and the paths of the story might be added by
the players.

9. 5. Immersion
 Game storylines play a significant
role is known as game immersion.
 In immersion the story, characters,
and gameplay are so powerful and
engaging that the players find
themselves deeply caught up in the
game world.
 Bat Man , Final Fantasy , Infocom’s
text adventure Zork and the
graphically rich Myst are also
extremely immersive games
because they create an atmosphere
and a mood that is rich and
consistent.

10. 6. Cinematics
 Another way immersion can be
compromised in a game might be
surprising to the film industry.
 Cinematics are sequences that run like
movies, usually at the beginning or end of
a game.
 Cut-scenes are mini-movies that run
within the game.
 The goal of a cutscene is to either develop
characters, introduce new environments,
advance the plot, or set out goals for a
new section in the game.
 A cut-scene introduced instead of
providing the total emotional involvement
have the opposite effect.