Storytelling Tools to Boost Your Indie Game's Narrative and Gameplay

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Published 2017-06-23

In this 2017 GDC talk, NHTV University professor Mata Haggis shares his practical tips for creating compelling drama in your indie game and how those tips can bring new life to your overall game design.

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All Comments (21)

@jacobmakob1 7 years ago

Can't believe how much this guy crams into one half hour talk
@MrKraignos 7 years ago

The part at 24:48 where he explains that "the player can still progress while the character fails" is pure gold !
@SealDev 7 years ago

More people should do the end wrap-up filled with insights section, they were really cool!
@DennisJ42 7 years ago

One of the best talks I've seen in awhile. Very confident, easy to follow, he's a great speaker.
@t3hpwninat0r 7 years ago

I want to make a game by myself with absolutely zero experience, and although it's easy to find learning resources for code and art, I had no idea where to start with storytelling. This talk is amazing! Explains a lot of things I should have already known. Now I can analyse my favourite stories from movies and games, figure out why I like them, and understand how to make my own basic timeline into an actual story enhanced by gameplay mechanics that will feel necessary and rewarding. Thank you Mata!
@dominiquebauer3093 5 years ago

Thanks, I was immediately able to write the beginning of my game while watching the video, definitely learned a lot from this!
@danoncho 1 year ago

Woow, this talk is a gem for education... Sure there's a lot of practice needed to master all of those skills and knowledge, but amount of important information in this talk is insane! Thank you very much GDC and professor Mata Haggis!
@DangerDurians 3 years ago

I learned more about writing here than a year in a creative writing course
@samwallaceart288 5 years ago

I imagine that Bongo Cat is behind the screen switching the slides for him. And Bongo Cat does a bangup job syncing to Matt’s talk.
@daambanaan1872 5 months ago

Amazing. I've learned so much from this. Genuinely great speaker, knows exactly what you need and want to know.
@travellerinthedark 7 years ago

I see Hagrid thumbnail, I watch video.
@appletreepear 7 years ago

This is great, works both as a check-list of what to keep in mind (even if you subvert or play with it) and highlights a few points I haven't thought about much (despite learning them ^^;;) - thinking about internal vs external motivation and playing with consequences of player’s success.
@AndrewDowell 6 years ago

Fantastic, thank you very much Professor Mata Haggis! :)
@JustinPBarnett 3 years ago

Only he could make Tetris sound like an emotional game...wow what a talk!
@ChristopherAOBoyle 7 years ago

Genius. Loved every second of it.
@kabeltelevizio 7 years ago

This is basically the eight sequence narrative. with a bit of the Hero's journey.
@chung-han 3 years ago

learned a lot, thank you for this informative talk
@orochinagi1111 7 years ago

thank you so much for the talk Mata!!
@gazellemarsh2583 2 years ago

This is well explained. Im glad I came across it.
@TheMemoman 7 years ago

I needed this talk right about NOW. This some serendipitous synchronicity. wat.