Technology & Innovation - Issue 11

Achievement UNLOCKED We can bemoan the amount of time students spend playing video games – or, as Morgan Owen points out, we can embrace the lessons they have to impart around storytelling... B y the time a gamer has won the final boss battle and saved the world from ruin, they’ll have been on a long narrative journey. They’ll have made friends and foes, experienced victory and defeat. The player is embedded in the story – not just as a passive spectator, but as an active protagonist. In an era of shortening attention spans, ever more digital distractions and a growing list of reasons as to why we might all occasionally want to escape reality, it’s hardly surprising that many young people now prefer gaming to reading. Games allow us a degree of control in a world that sometimes gives us none. As games become yet more immersive in the future, books may struggle even further. Yet fighting against this is futile, when there’s a better option – embrace it . Because video games are just another form of storytelling. The key difference is that in games, readers are being invited to take part in the action. Fluidmasterpieces The majority of games take place in fantasy worlds, complete with casts of characters and plots that gradually unfold through dialogue and dramatic cutscenes, while also leaving some room for personalisation. Whether the ending is a happy one or not will often be down to the player’s efforts. There’s typically going to be a story arc that’s destined to be resolved, but those small, player-driven differences help make the story fresh, vivid and exciting to uncover. Where a good book is an immovable piece of art, a good game is a fluid masterpiece. Ever since the days of Choose Your Own Adventure books, readers have enjoyed ‘interactive stories’ built aroundmultiple paths and endings. Games create a unique experience by combining multiple plotlines with audience participation, which is what makes gaming such a compelling activity. Collaborativeworks Everything that makes for a good story also tends to be present in the most widely admired games. Modern titles can be vast in scope and complex in their construction, boasting subplots, distinct acts and arcs. They will have foreshadowing and plot twists. There are many gamers who will have wept at the death of a non-player character (NPC) or raged at the injustice of a villain’s wrath. The stories in some games can touch on poignant or powerful themes, such as tyranny, environmental destruction or the duality of human nature – themes made all the more impactful because the player is involved. They are present and consequential. A game’s writers and designers will lead the player on a journey of discovery, but it’s really a collaborative work. Those making the game rely on the player to be curious, ask questions and explore in order to fully experience the story as conceived. This complexity of choice only adds to the overall immersive effect. Characters andworld- building Games are also a great tool for teaching students about character development, dialogue and world-building. Most role-playing games have a character creation tool that lets players create their own box-fresh pixel person. In The Sims 4 , players choose their character’s appearance and clothing, but can also assign them certain personality traits, likes, dislikes and aspirations. Whenever I start a new story, I’ll usually recreate the characters I’ve made for that story in The Sims . This serves as a useful visual reference, but can also be a way of exploring their personalities. By hitting ‘play’ and letting themflex their Sim free will, I’m allowing for developments that might help make them feel like a full person, complete with flaws and idiosyncrasies. Another fun task is to decorate a Sim’s virtual room as a character would – choosing specific items to represent them and imagining how they’d spend their free time. This activity can be used for world- building too – what does your own bedroom say about your reality? The room of someone living in a dystopian society will be very different to that of someone living in a fairytale kingdom. You could then build out from that initial room to create a house, a street or even a whole town. By building a fictional city brick by click, you can come to a better understanding of how it might actually work, stepping directly into your own story’s setting. Possibility spaces Games like those in Nintendo’s long- running Legend of Zelda series are Tolkienesque in their world-building scope, crammed full of unique trades, objects, creatures, locations, philosophies, mythologies and centuries of accumulated lore. Even a nominal first-person combat “Everything thatmakes fora good storyalso tends tobe present in themostwidely admiredgames” 32 teachwire.net