Session Name: | Game Narrative Summit: Conflict, Mystery, and Connection in Casual, Free to Play Puzzle Games |
Speaker(s): | Lisa Brunette |
Company Name(s): | Brunette Games, LLC |
Track / Format: | Game Narrative Summit |
Overview: | Most casual developers in our experience shy away from conflict under the wrongful assumption that anything that isn't light and happy will turn players off. But what we've seen is that player audiences can handle much more pathos than we give them credit for, and without the lows, you simply cannot appreciate the highs. You need both to tell a good story. Many players are drawn to games because they like to solve problems, and mystery provides a narrative problem to solve. This goes beyond the detective genre to include an element of mystery in any literary genre. Finally, connection is why players crave a populated world in their games. And they want the connections between characters, as well as between themselves and the characters, to be meaningful. |