Narrative Design and Game Writing
Story documents, game design documents (GDDs), pitches, bespoke style guides for games.
Worldbuilding and lore, story development, and character design to ensure story elements are well integrated into gameplay.
Branching narrative, choice design, adventure, quest, and event writing and design.
Co-authored with Ann Lemay, Jennifer Brandes Hepler, and Tobias Heussner.
The Game Narrative Toolbox explores narrative design, the role of the narrative designer, and the entire development team's inclusion in the narrative-design process.
Features exercises at the end of each chapter.
Featuring Betsy Brey, Megan Fausti, Erin Hoffman-John, Elizabeth LaPensée, PhD, Jessica Sliwinski, and Eddy Webb.
Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling discusses how mobile's technical limitations can become strengths, giving you the opportunity to innovate your game's narrative and engage your players in both unexpected and traditional ways. Chapters explore player agency and imagination, non-story games, characters, worldbuilding, dialogue, quest/mission design, games for specific demographics, educational games, branding games, and licensed IP.
Features tips for working through narrative design and story at the end of each chapter.
Freelance Video Game Writing: The Life & Business of the Digital Mercenary for Hire provides advice from autobiographical and practical perspectives. Covering everything from setting up a business to communicating with clients to making sure you get paid, the book covers aspects of establishing yourself in the games industry based on hard-earned life experiences and research.
Features interviews from other games writers and narrative designers, non-writer freelancers, and devs who have hired freelancers for multiple perspectives.
Branching Story, Unlocked Dialogue: Designing and Writing Visual Novels is a guide for understanding visual novels and other choice-based games. The book covers the history of visual novels, different branching structures, plot and character development, designing satisfying choices, how players develop relationships with characters and the story, and how to make character routes and relationships feel balanced.
Features tips at the end of chapters to help devs in their own planning and design.
