Interactive Storytelling for Video Games

While seeking potential texts to use in my “Writing & Editing for Gaming” course, I learned of a similar course being taught from a video game perspective rather than tabletop. Interactive Storytelling for Video Games by Josiah Lebowitz and Chris Klug was written for that course. Though it is focused on video games, the book covers narrative storytelling very well, so I am including it as recommended reading in my course, but not requiring it as a text. If you are interested in storytelling and writing for video games, or tabletop games, I suggest checking out this book.

From the official website:

What really makes a video game story interactive?
What’s the best way to create an interactive story?
How much control should players be given? Do they really want that control in the first place?
Do they even know what they want—or are their stated desires at odds with the unconscious preferences?

All these questions and more are examined in this definitive book on interactive storytelling for video games. You’ll get detailed descriptions of all major types of interactive stories, case studies of popular games (including Bioshock, Fallout 3, FINAL FANTASY XIII, Heavy Rain, and Metal Gear Solid), how players interact with them, and an in-depth analysis of the results of a national survey on player storytelling preferences in games. You’ll get the expert advice you need to generate compelling and original game concepts and narratives.

At http://storytellingforgames.com/ you’ll find information about the book and it’s authors along with valuable teaching aids (including a complete set of classroom ready PowerPoint presentations) and supplementary material (including additional player survey data).

What other books would you recommend regarding the topics of writing and editing for tabletop games?

On My Shelf: Interactive Storytelling for Video Games

Post navigation


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.