Mechanics and Storytelling

Games tend to veer in one of two directions: they are usually either story-based, or mechanic-based, with a distinct bias towards one or the other. Heavily story-based games tend to have strict narratives with a series of moments that are prescribed by the creators. Even if the game has some kind of branching narrative with moments where you can affect the story, the moments that follow are all still purposeful and accounted for. The story never veers off the pre-planned path(s). Even if the game itself has a lot of gameplay mechanics, the story itself is generally separate from them, unable to be influenced in any meaningful way. If a character dies in gameplay, it will likely be considered “non-canon”; the story rewinds and you have another shot to do it “the right way”. Games that are heavily mechanic based may have very little actual story, if any at all. Some games, like Tetris, are completely abstract, focusing only on the gameplay and forgoing any kind of narrative framing. However, the two design paths don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Certain games can work storytelling into the mechanics themselves, and some are able to let players create their own personal stories based on how they interact with the game’s mechanics.

The first thing that developers must give up when letting mechanics generate stories is some amount of narrative control. They simply need to accept that not every player will see the exact same, meticulously planned story. Themes and plots may need to be more abstract and presented less directly. They are not so much telling the story directly as they are creating a bunch of interacting components that have a high likelihood of resulting in interesting, unique stories for each player. A developer needs to place a large amount of trust in their systems and in their players. They might be able to strictly define the framing and setting of the game but leave what happens between the beginning and ending completely up to the player and how they interact with the game.

Depending on the type of game, they may also need to relinquish some amount of control over the characters in the game. Games like XCOM 2 and Aliens: Dark Descent all have characters that are important to the story. However, the ones vital to the story must take a backseat, while the characters you actually play the games with are all generated by the games’ character creation systems. The only backstories they have are the ones you imagine for them, and they are all completely expendable. They can’t be so integral to the plot that they can’t die; and many of them will die as players make foolish choices. But from these choices also arise unique stories. You might have a personal attachment to one of your XCOM operatives because they got you through some tough scrapes, only to end up being left behind on a timed mission and captured. When the opportunity arrives to mount a rescue operation, the stakes for that mission are now much higher because you yourself are personally invested in getting them back. Well-written and executed story-based games are certainly capable of investing players in linear, pre-written stories, but video games are the only medium that is uniquely suited to create stories that their participants have actual, personal investment in.

A few other games that let players generate their own stories through gameplay:

• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor has its patented Nemesis System, which lets any enemy in the game form a rivalry with the player. If a lowly orc kills the player, it gets promoted, becoming more powerful. The next time you encounter that particular orc, it will likely taunt you over your previous failings. If it survives an encounter with you, it will bare the scars of what you did to it and hold a grudge the next time you meet. The game gets away with this system by making the player character essentially immortal, resurrecting after each death. By making player death “canonical” in the game, it bypasses the need to rewind time and instead lets the story continue from that point.
• Watch Dogs: Legion uses a similar (but legally distinct) spin on the Nemesis System concept but makes every single NPC in the game a possible recruit and playable character. The more you interact with one, the more they are “promoted” into being significant to the game. They can have their own schedules and relationships with other NPCs, which you can use to interact with and leverage. Depending on the setting, every single playable character can be expendable. With the systems in place, you could have a unique tale of how you recruited a 70-year-old ex-Black Ops grandmother to do one final job where she went out in a blaze of glory.
• Shadows of Doubt is a lo-fi, procedurally generated detective simulator. Every single building and room of a city is simulated, with each of their occupants adhering to a schedule. Every single resident can be found in a city directory. The crimes are fully simulated as well. Each one is unique, and your job as a detective is to solve them by taking note of actual clues; perps will leave behind fingerprints and evidence that can be traced to other locations and leads. The game is so thoroughly simulated that it forgoes a lot of the usual tricks that other detective games must hide behind. Everything and everyone technically exist in the game world at all times. There isn’t a single piece of evidence that didn’t exist until you hit an arbitrary story point. It always existed; you just never would have known to look in the right place if you hadn’t followed the breadcrumbs. You could have organically bumped into the perpetrator on their way to work and never realized it. This is probably the first game to ever simulate the broad strokes of being a detective. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but it is truly a unique and compelling game.
• Wildermyth is a tactical RPG entirely built around the concept of telling your own stories through gameplay. Inspired by tabletop RPGs, where how players respond to the story can branch wildly based on their imaginations, your teams of heroes play out grand tales, with each individual greatly affected by your choices. They can have grand victories, go out in blazes of glory, fall in love with each other, and have encounters that impart permanent, life-changing effects.