Video Game Structural Layers for Narrative Design

The aim of this presentation is to articulate the structural layers, present in the majority of video games, that impose and motivate the shape of any narrative entwined within them. By outlining and understanding these layers it should help designers create effective narratives that make use of the medium.

Video Games are composites of interlocking structures that collectively create meaning for the player to investigate and act upon. The most apparent form of meaning for the player is the narrative story or context. However, the narrative in a video game is structured and contextualised itself by the inherent form of the video game. This range of meaning making tools in the medium is both daunting and exciting. To understand the application of narrative better, designers, critics and academics need to be able to distinguish and understand the high-level structural layers that affect and support it. These layers not only create the unique affordances of video game narrative but generate meaning in a way that the narrative design needs to compliment. This synthesis, when applied successfully, creates a composite that merges gameplay and storytelling into a meaning making whole.

This presentation is primarily intended for those from other disciplines who are interested in moving into narrative game design or meaning making strategies in video games. Outlining the accumulative progression of player experience and the tense and release structure of most games, it offers a focused explanation of relevant key terms and concepts with diagrams and illustrations demonstrating the relationships of these structural layers.