Game Narrative Structure Diagram

Narrative Structure Diagram Key by Ché Wilbraham

Overview

The above diagram demonstrates a proposed key for representing game narrative structures. Tinkering with ways of illustrating the branches and components of game stories has led me to this format. While I don't suggest that this is the ultimate or perfect approach, I haven't found one that works better under most circumstances.

Components

Generally, I've found that the most important elements of a game / interactive story are included here. The (fictionally) physically represented elements being the people, places and important objects relating to any story situation, linked as relevant to a particular situation or objective. Beyond these, any interactive (story-focused or story-important) circumstance or scene tends to contain some situation that prompts an uncertain outcome, to be determined either by choice or some kind of challenge. Some elements, often even the establishment of the scene, require the satisfaction of some prerequisite. Potential outcomes of the situation(s) lead to effects that will alter elements of the storyworld in some way, before the scene or circumstance is closed out, often leading to or overlapping another. I have found that any story can be described by constructing these scenes into an overview.

Applying the Structure

I have found that this structure works for videogames and roleplaying games alike. I suspect that this is because they have particular kinds of similarly-structured stories - that the circumstances or scenes described within are centred around the actions, efforts, choices and challenges of protagonists. I suspect that there are types of stories that this structure wouldn't be well-suited to, but it works well for the purposes of my investigations.

Scale

The scale of action that each "scene" container describes is very variable. Sometimes a scene might describe a whole half-hour, combat-focused level of a videogame, especially where there is little impact on the overall story structure as a result of player action or choice. Sometimes, a scene can describe a single action lasting (fictional) seconds, such as a particularly story-important individual choice or challenge. This scalability seems appropriate when we consider that checks / challenges / rolls in roleplaying games work similarly - sometimes a roll represents a seconds-long attack, sometimes it represents hours of investigative efforts. The size of the "unit of story" scales up and down to fit what is structurally or dramatically appropriate.

Referenced in

Diagrammatic Report of a short Apocalypse World Session