Storytelling in Games and Novels

When you look at the parts that make up the storytelling in published novels, the imaginative narratives in collaborative storytelling tabletop games, and story focused video games, there’s not too much of an inherent difference between the three aside from medium. While tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder are more like video games that include both combat and role playing elements, the similarities between video games and novels are a lot stronger.

Whereas in collaborative storytelling where improvisation is key to success, novels and video games cannot be changed very easily in terms of where the story goes. If the reader of a novel isn’t at all changing to the reader’s decisions, but video games don’t necessarily allow for creative outcomes that the game designers have not made. Even if you think you should be able to lure away a monster and hide so you can get into the cave without a fight, if the game hasn’t been designed with that possibility in mind, you won’t be able to accomplish it.

The same goes with the storytelling for games. In both linear and non-linear (games that allow player choice) story games, all options need to be accounted for. In some linear story games, you may watch a unique cut scene if you weren’t able to outrun whatever’s chasing you, but the story won’t continue after it.

Linear story games, like The Last of Us, play out more like a novel than a movie. A movie is designed around the fact you’re going to sit through and watch all of it in one go, with some exceptions for bathroom breaks. When you read a book, the author knows you’re not very likely to read the book cover to cover without setting it down at least once and is allowed to slowly build a story, setting up all the elements without fear of losing the audience’s attention. Characters can pursue objectives outside of the main plot and take time to build relationships with one another. Essentially, they’re allowed to put more time and feeling into the journey of the story rather than the destination.

Look at text-based games, especially those located on choiceofgames.com that most obviously combine elements from novels and games. In some cases, to make these text-based games into video games, all you’d need to add is a visual element and you’d have a visual novel on your hands. Taking it one step further, if you added other features, such as turn based or real time combat to replace the choice-based written combat scenes (such as in Zombie Exodus), you could create a fully fledged RPG.