During the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in 2014, formerBioShockand currentJudasdeveloper Ken Levine outlined his game design philosophy, which he described as “narrative Legos.” Levine has repeated his commitment to this concept several times over the years, claiming thatJudaswill be crafted with it in mind. But even though bothJudasandBioShock 4, which will likely retain some Levine DNA even though he’s not working on it, have yet to be released, there’s still room for other developers to experiment with their own narrative Legos.
Distilled to its essence,the narrative Legos philosophycan be described as putting interconnectivity front-and-center. Explaining the concept at the aforementioned GDC speech, Levine used the example of a traditional fantasy RPG, asking the audience to imagine an orc blacksmith who hates elves, has a crush on another orc, and worships specific gods. In this theoretical RPG, players' behavior in relation to these various factors would impact the orc’s treatment of them. For instance, helping elves would cause the orc to like the player less, offering fewer goods at his store as a consequence, with the opposite outcome arising if the player acted against elves. The philosophy is very similar to those that drive the interactive sim genre, though with a particular emphasis on storytelling.
Levine worked on theSystem Shockseries, which was massively influential for the immersive sim space, so it’s no surprise that he has a fondness for such interconnected gameplay systems.
Why and How Other Game Developers Should Use Ken Levine’s Narrative Legos Concept
The Narrative Legos Philosophy Lends Itself to Ever-Increasing Complexity
“Lego” is an appropriate term for whatLevine described in his GDC talk: through this approach, a player can constantly build larger and more complex structures through seemingly disparate in-game elements, much like how one can create beautiful or deranged creations with a box of assorted Legos. There can be theoretically endless combinations of factors that compound one another, increasing complexity exponentially. Crucially, the player is the one driving this increase in complexity, and the gradual, incremental nature of these systems help keep things from getting too overwhelming.
Sticking with Levine’s orc example from GDC, one can imagine a scenario wherein the player-character nurtures a bond with the orc, perhaps by killing a rival elf. The orc could then offer additional, exclusive side quests to the player, and this quest could contain its own narrative Lego pieces, in the form of, say, a crucial decision that will lead to further damaging or strengthening of the orc-player relationship. Thus, one branching path leads to another branching path, and so on until the developer decides to mark an end point. This framework could then berepeated for several different NPCs.
The Narrative Legos Approach Can Be as Simple or Complex as Developers Want
What is interesting, at least in theory, about the narrative Legos approach that Levine describes is that it doesn’t necessarily require AAA resources or advanced technology. As long as a game world is properly fleshed out, the aforementioned concepts can be implemented—a big-budget shooter likeJudascan give players narrative Legosin the same way that a text-based indie game can. Moreover, the level of complexity is dictated by how many variables, or Legos, the developer includes, and it doesn’t take too many to create a layered story.
So, whileJudasmay not be released anytime soon, andBioShock 4seems even further away, other developers should take up the narrative Lego approach, building games around this elegant and novel philosophy. Too many games neglect what makes their medium special, opting to tell linear, blockbuster stories a laThe Last of Us, and while this is fine, games that leverage interactivity in their narratives deserve more attention.
Judas
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Judas is a sci-fi first-person shooter game made by BioShock creator Ken Levine that’s set on a massive spaceship called the Mayflower.
