Game writing in particular has to be dense with information/layers because of time and budget limits. It's such a treat to go back to prose with no wordcount limits now and just sprawl out inefficiently, haha.
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PLAYER ERGONOMICS: How comfortable are players in this story moment? How good does it feel to exist around this character? How uncomfortable can you afford to make your players? IMO a lot of popular villains are popular because they have good player ergonomics, and selling a face turn relies on it.
I will try to come back here at later points to add lenses as they come into my collection. Player ergonomics is the newest one, arrived at in talking with a mentor just recently.
I should also whack all of these up on my website somewhere now I think about it. I'll figure that out.
Anyway-- this is my current set of lenses. I reach for them constantly and have proselytized the problems bucket in particular to basically all my writer friends at this point. Would love to hear it if anyone's got other lenses they reach for in their narrative work.
Belatedly, here's two I use constantly that I just plain forgot count as lenses.
PERSONALIZATION: Even in a linear story, is there a way to make the game respond to some player choice—their action, their state, their inventory? A couple small things here make a big impact.
SURPRISE THAT SURPRISES: Not only a surprise in terms of what's there, but a surprise in terms of what is possible. Something that blows open the expectation of what can even happen in a game/activity like this. It can create awe.
Psycho Mantis reading your save data is this + personalization.
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I should also whack all of these up on my website somewhere now I think about it. I'll figure that out.
End of thread. Thanks! 🫡
PERSONALIZATION: Even in a linear story, is there a way to make the game respond to some player choice—their action, their state, their inventory? A couple small things here make a big impact.
Psycho Mantis reading your save data is this + personalization.