Games Stories

The reading this week focuses on game stories and why narrative is important, as so far we have only read and researched about rules.

'A Practical Guide to A Hero's Journey' is the first of our readings for this week and looks at how a hero's journey can shape the narrative of a game. 

In this article we look at the value of myths, as within society they teach us about ourselves, morals and how we should behave. Throughout history myths and stories have been used to encourage tribes and communities to be brave while hunting and fighting, and to believe that their deaths during war are good for the survival of their comrades. The same can be seen today with suicide bombers believing what they are doing is for the greater good and that they will go to their heaven and be with Allah.

Narratives like these can be used to encourage entire countries to blindly follow the same ideologies. Germany after WW1 had severe problems with hyperinflation. Adolf Hitler took advantage of the people's struggles to create a narrative about the Jewish population being the reason for Germany's downfall, along with stories of the German people being descendants of the Aryan race and being superior to their Jewish neighbours. Racial policies and narratives like this can be easy for rallying communities together in blame and hatred.
Similarly soldiers in armies like the US Marines who are willing to fight wars in foreign countries for politicians political gain, but believing themselves that what they are doing is protecting their people.

Acknowledging how myths, stories and narratives have been used throughout history to bring communities closer for better or for worse, and encouraging people to give their lives for a cause can teach us the importance of good storytelling to grab peoples attention and reel them in.

'Link' from 'The Legend of Zelda' games - Source