In video games, every mission is a story. And game stories should be played, not told.

So as a narrative and mission designer, I always ask the same question: how do we tell this story in the unique way only video games can?

This is easier said than done. In development, narrative and game design often feel like two separate concepts. Sometimes it feels like we’re speaking two different languages!

But every story has verbs — the same exact ones we use in gameplay. The key is to get both disciplines to realize this, and start using verbs as a way to get everyone speaking the same language.

While working on Perfect Dark at The Initiative, I introduced a tool that helped us do this called Player Experience Cards. The process was ultimately adopted for all missions in development.

It’s a way to think about story and gameplay beats as one concept, and represent them visually based on the underlying gameplay verb.

You start with a card like this, marking the beat and the main verb. Then you can add other info, like the where the player experiences this beat, what they should be feeling, and the actual stuff they do and learn.

So if the first thing we do in the mission is talk to an NPC, we’d mark the card with that icon and color code it.

We continue through the mission outline, making beat cards for each unique verb or piece of gameplay. 

Depending on the story, though, we can end up with something like this: a lot of walking around and talking.

But with all the beats laid out, I can bring disciplines together to find places where we can inject gameplay that supports or even enhances the emotions of the story.

The process ensures we’re building an active, playable narrative - instead of one we passively watch and consume.

I’ve mapped out beats for linear experiences, as well as branching and open ended ones. I’ve also used it as a space to show off concept art, and gather director feedback.

Planning out missions like this on Perfect Dark proved to be a really effective way to rally a cross discipline team behind a vision, empower them to shape it as collaborators, and ensure that we “get it right the first time” once we go off and build it. 

And no matter the project, since the verbs are always ‘baked’ into the final experience, the audience feels like they’re actively playing out the story as the character - not having it spoon fed to them.

So, how do we tell stories in the unique way only video games can? We do it by weaving story and gameplay seamlessly together. This way, we make sure every mission is a story that’s played, not told.