Fundamentals of Narrative Game Design

New distance learning course from the Center for Competency Development in Business Informatics of the Higher School of Business of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. The course is dedicated to narrative game design and will be useful both for those who want to work in the gaming industry and for those who want to develop their career in game development. Learn to tell stories in games using game mechanics and reveal the plot through gameplay. Master the basic knowledge and skills of a narrative designer - start a new page in your career.

Who is this course for:

• For anyone who wants to work in the gaming industry, regardless of their current type of activity
• For employees of game studios who improve their skills and want career growth
• For those who want to make their own games and indie developers
• For writers who want to start making money in the field of video games

Course structure

The course is prepared in the format of pre-recorded videos. It will take about 16 hours to complete.

At the end of the course, you will have a clearer understanding of how to develop narrative design for your games.

The course consists of nine main modules< /strong>

• Basics of game design mechanics and loops. You will become familiar with the basic terminology of game design, learn what core gameplay and game loops are, understand reward systems and locks, types of connections between mechanics, and also learn several approaches to generating creative ideas.
• Basics of creating game scripts. You will learn about the specifics of scriptwriting in the gaming industry and what iterations go through game scenario. You will understand what blocks the work of a game writer consists of, what lore is and what methods of presenting a game plot exist.
• 'How games tell stories. You will learn what a game story is history, what types of game stories exist and what functions they perform.
• Narrative design. You will learn what narrative is in theory and in practice. You will understand what narrative mechanics are and study the principles of narrative design.
• Profession of a narrative designer. You will learn who a narrative designer is, what skills he should have and what role he plays in game development.
• Narrative designer tools. You will learn about the functions of setting, theme, hero and conflict in the narrative of a game and understand how to work with them. You will learn how the hero's journey is formed, and also become familiar with best-practices in working on game texts.
• Narrative as a system. You will learn about frameworks and useful models of narrative design .
• Algorithms for a narrative designer. You will learn what kind of documentation is used in narrative design. You will understand how to work on quests, plot, characters, lore and environment.
• Practical cases of a narrative designer. In this block we will analyze the work of a narrative designer using practical cases of three different games genres for different platforms.