Join hosts Jon Ingold (inkle) and Sagar Beroshi (The Chinese Room) in conversation with authors from the Game Narrative Kaleidoscope, as they discuss all aspects of the craft of interactive writing and narrative design. Find out more about the Kaleidoscope at inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope
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Your AAA game should be more mundane We're joined by Emma Kidwell (Civilisation VII, Midnight Suns) to discuss the quieter, mundane moments that make a blockbuster game sing, by bringing out the humanity of the characters and realities of their world. How do we structure the story to allow for these moments? And how important is the player's choice of whether or not to engage? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Let’s make an 80 Days tabletop roleplaying game We're joined by TTRPG designer Graham Walmsley (Cthulu Dark, Cosmic Dark) to discuss his approaches to creating table-top games. How do we create a coherent world when don't have control? How do we know when our mechanics are working? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
You're Not a Bad Writer, You Just Don't Get the Assignment When writers join a project, they're not always fully aligned with that project's tone and style - sometimes, it hasn't even been defined yet. Today we talk with Jill Scharr (Destiny 2, The Lamplighters League) about that crucial process of getting aligned with the game, the vision and the team. How do we promote good on-boarding for new writers? How do we, as writers, explore concepts to find the style that's right for the game? And what do we do when this process is difficult, or isn't working? For more info the GNK book, and to buy,
A Simple Pawn A wide-ranging and fascinating conversation with writer and narrative designer Pietro Polsinelli (Football Drama, Becoming Saint) about writing games embedded in history, developing from the theme outwards, the importance of testing, and lessons that games writers can take into wider artistic contexts. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Localisation, Localisation, Localisation Philippa Warr (Little Kitty, Big City, A Monster's Expedition) joins us to talk about the process of localisation. Can digging into your script in immense detail make you a better writer? And how intentional do we need to be to cross the cultural divides? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
"Tell Me More About That": Writing Characters Using a Devised Theater Approach We're joined by freelance writer Anna C. Webster (Echoes of Wisdom, Bloodlines 2) about using theatre techniques to bring your characters to life. How much can we let characters drive the writing themselves? And how do we extend this approach to cover wider casts and variable production environments? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Make Something Insane: A Guide To Short Twines Nessa Cannon (Borderlands 4, Endoparasitic) joins us to explain how making fast, scrappy Twine games quickly and intuitively can develop your portfolio as well as developing your core skills and confidence as a writer. What can we learn by doing things fast? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Two Tips for Better Dialogues We're joined by Kevin VanOrd (Baldur's Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin 2), who tells us about his approaches to writing interactive conversations that keep the player involved at every step. How can a choice point keep the momentum going? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
On the Purpose of Choices, and What Keeps Players Engaged We're joined by Deborah D'Antonio L.B. Almeida (SideQuest Vol 1, Drintera) to talk about writing and designing choices for the most interesting player experience, and the benefits of using a very structure-first approach to write for games. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
On Entering Cities (In Interesting and Memorable Ways) Konstantinos Dimopoulos (Zero Parades) is a game urbanist who designs cities for games. How do we bring big urban spaces to life? How do we make the best introductions to these spaces? And should we be thinking more about different ways of presenting them? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Silence! We talk to Anthony Jauneaud (Night Call, Flat Eye) about the value of silence in conversations. How do encourage players to hold back, and let the other characters do the talking? We discuss how to make stories more dramatic by doing less, and why every game should have a Greek chorus. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Economy and Commerce as Narrative Tools Narrative designer Raquel de Miranda (Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden) joins us to outline ways to use the economy of the world to drive a game's narrative. What's valuable is a core part of your world, but can it also respond to what the player does? And how would this slot into a bigger open-world game - or a tighter, story-driven one? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
'I don't wanna put my lips on that:' An Ode to Adventure Game Protagonists We're joined by Eric Stirpe (Fortnite, Minecraft: Story Mode) about adventure game protagonists with minds of their own. What role does the player take if the protagonist's character is already defined? And does putting distance between player and protagonist allow us to have more immoral and complex characters? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Leave Nothing on the Table Veteran games writer Anna Megill (Control, Guild Wars 2) joins us to talk about coherent storytelling using every part of the game dev team. How do we, as writers, get other creatives invested in the story? How do we integrate diverse ideas, and make sure people feel ownership? And how far can we push the boundaries of how we tell our stories? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
The Bricks & The Gaps: What We Do & Don't Need When Building Worlds We talk with Total War and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor writer Pete Stewart about how to build worlds that leave the player with questions, even inside the walls of enormous franchises - or of history itself. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
The Tina Fey Hat Problem We talk to Ed Stern (Brink) about the power and problems of understatement in games. We discuss how to leave room for nuance, surprise and - best of all - deception, with examples drawn from stage magic, theatrics, and the limits and triumphs of cinema. How do we tell the tightest version of our story? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Is It Relatable? Is It Sublime? We're joined by actor turned narrative designer Taage Storey (Choices) to discuss the relatable and the submlime in games writing. How do produce content that's entertaining, while satisfying the need to be art? Drawing on writing for romance, theatre and mass-market interactive fiction, this is a fascinating discussion on how tone and content don't always go hand in hand, and how conflict is sometimes the wrong lens for drama. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https:/
The 'Grenade!' Paradox: Writing Better Barks We talk to Giles Armstrong (Assassin's Creed: Mirage, Helldivers II, and many other games) about the art and craft of writing barks that express character and world-building as richly as possible without overloading the script. How much can we do with the shortest, most disposable bits of writing in a game project? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Perfectionists Hate This One Simple Trick We talk with Jill Murray (Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Subnautica: Below Zero, Assassin’s Creed: Liberation) about how she gets things finished. If you write for your ideal audience member, can you manifest them? And how do you know when a project is nearing completion anyway? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Cite Your Sources! Historian and game writer Holly Nielsen (Amberspire, Neurocracy) joins us to discuss ambiguous worldbuilding and the use of biased and unreliable narrators in historical sources. Should your world have a solid foundation? Or is everything up for debate? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
A Smorgasbord Join us as narrative expert Ian Thomas from The Chinese Room expands the boundaries of story design. What can computer RPGs learn from a live-action roleplaying game set in the world of The Three Musketeers? And how do we encourage players to trust the story, and act the part? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Microbranching: Big Reactivity with Small Effort We're joined by Kate Gray (Moonstone Island, Hello Kitty Island Adventure) who tells us about microbranching in dialogue. Small decisions without long-term impacts can free up the player to funnier in a comedy and more sympathetic in a dating sim. But what do we do with the players who don't engage without a visible pay-off? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Swiss Cheese and Soda Cans: Writing for Proc-Gen Systems Novelist and narrative designer Stark Holborn joins us to talk about the procedural generation systems of Shadows of Doubt. How do you ensure a generated world has character and style? How systematic do you need to be about writing it? And can we apply those learnings back to more linear fiction? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
Call Me by Your Name Ex-Naughty Dog narrative designer Josh Scherr joins us to discuss the best ways to employ reactive dialogue: in action sequences, puzzle sequences, and the quieter moments in between, with first-hand examples drawn from The Last of Us: Part II and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
How to Love the Player Who Hates You - Creating after (or during) Gamergate We're joined by Mary Kenney, narrative director and senior writer (Marvel: Wolverine, Spiderman: Miles Morales), to talk about recovering from online harrasment, and how in a divided world stories - and the compassion required to tell them - are more important than ever. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman (https://www.laurencechapman.com/)
