Teaching Classic Lit Helps Game Designers Make Better Stories
Teaching Classic Lit Helps Game Designers Make Better Stories
Teaching Classic Lit Helps Game Designers Make Better Stories
By Cindy Frenkel
February 24, 2021
Summary
Awestruck at the scope of Harlan's game, I noticed several elements readily found in classic literature that were intimately woven into his story.
This helped me realize that appreciating classic literature and art could enhance not only the creation of video games but the player's experience as well.
Once I connected the dots between Harlan's game and other epics, I saw echoes of ancient literature repeatedly.
Classic literature has fundamental elements that reappear every day in video games, comics, and movies.
In classic tales you could read about the hero, but in video games, you can become the hero.
It's important to feel the story arc of the classics and see how those masters do it, so you can create your own compelling story and pull the player of your game into your own epic.
Colin Gill, another former student of mine, wrote a video game called Front United.
Whether you're a game writer, developer, or you just love playing video games, the classics are the earliest and best way to learn how to tell good stories, ones that you want to return to over and over again, discovering new things within them, reflective of where you are in your life.
Without strong visuals, a video game would tank.
To quote my former student Rachel Devine, "Building a game that players can relate to, with believable characters is imperative, and flawed characters are more relatable." Devine referenced the hero's journey and how it showed the development of the narrative arc in Star Wars Battlefront II. "The main character, Iden Versio, starts fighting on the side of the Empire-and thinks she's fighting for justice and peace. Soon, she realizes she's on the wrong side and winds up changing course. Although she doesn't leave home in the traditional sense, she does leave the Empire and is transformed," Devine told me.
Reference
Frenkel, C. (2021, February 25). Teaching Classic Lit Helps Game Designers Make Better Stories. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/classic-literature-game-design-development-better-stories/