Lots of lovely chatter about storytelling in video games on my feed this morning. I think there's an important to distinction to be made: a game can ship with a unique and interesting story, but that story lives or dies on the quality of its narrative design.

I've noticed that there's a tendency draw a line in the sand between mechanical and narrative design, but ideally those two elements go hand in hand, working together to create a fully realised experience. No other medium can achieve this.

Tangentially related: A clip of me rambling for three minutes about codex design, worldbuilding and 'lore dumps' in the context of In Other Waters. @InOtherWaters https://www.twitch.tv/videos/882181991

The main crux of this game is collating research on an alien world's ecosystem. Instead of bombarding the player with reams and reams of text, the player collates that information gradually, by exploring that ecosystem, isolating samples and learning a little bit more each time.

These samples have a mechanical purpose. By retrieving a sample you learn what purpose they serve in the ecosystem, but also how they can serve you. Some change the landscape of the world, allowing you to reach new areas. They might also be used to replenish your power/oxygen.

This is good narrative design because it positions the player as an active force within the game's environment. To uncover the mystery at the heart of this game, you must explore, and to explore you must research the world. None of these elements can be separated from each other.

In short, narrative designers are worth their weight in gold, and when I think of the stories in games that resonated with me the most, they are always invariably the games that make the player's mechanical inputs meaningful to that story.

Now go and play In Other Waters, ya heathens.