Mobile games have become a popular and profitable form of entertainment, reaching millions of players around the world. But how can developers create engaging storylines that keep players hooked and immersed in their games? In this article, you will learn some of the best practices for crafting compelling narratives for mobile games, such as:
Before you start writing your storyline, you need to know who you are writing for. What are their preferences, motivations, and expectations? What are their pain points, challenges, and goals? How do they interact with your game and what kind of feedback do they give? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your storyline to their needs and interests, and create a connection with them.
Understand your players' likes and dislikes. Survey your audience or tap into player feedback. Knowing your audience is like having a cheat code for creating a storyline that resonates!
Another important step is to define your genre and theme. What kind of game are you making and what is the main message or idea you want to convey? Is it a casual puzzle game, a hardcore action game, a social simulation game, or something else? What is the tone and mood of your game, and how does it affect the storyline? Is it humorous, dramatic, scary, or inspirational? Defining your genre and theme will help you establish the context and direction of your storyline, and create a consistent and coherent experience.
Characters are the heart and soul of any storyline. They are the ones who drive the action, face the challenges, and evoke the emotions of the players. To create memorable characters, you need to give them personality, motivation, and growth. Personality is what makes them unique and relatable, motivation is what makes them pursue their goals and overcome obstacles, and growth is what makes them change and evolve throughout the storyline. You also need to give them voice, appearance, and interactions that match their personality, motivation, and growth.
Give your characters unique traits and backgrounds. Let them evolve—it's like leveling up in a game. When players connect with your characters, they're more likely to stick around for the entire storyline.
Plot is the sequence of events that make up your storyline. It is what keeps the players interested and curious about what will happen next. To structure your plot, you need to have a clear beginning, middle, and end. The beginning is where you introduce your characters, setting, and conflict. The middle is where you develop your characters, conflict, and subplots. The end is where you resolve your conflict, subplots, and character arcs. You also need to have a balance of tension and release, twists and surprises, and choices and consequences that keep the players engaged and invested.
The old Disney expression was: Story with a small 's' Details bring immersion, Hotline Miami is a perfect example. Secret endings, illusions to an unreliable narrator, and probably the best gaming soundtrack ever made. If the main narrative is the front man, the micro details are the bassline. If you want richness do a dozen crawls through you storytelling boards to add visual queues.
Delivery is essential for making your storyline accessible and enjoyable on mobile devices. To optimize it, you should consider length, format, and feedback. Keep your storyline concise and focused, breaking it into bite-sized chunks. Choose a format that is clear, readable, and interactive, matching the tone and mood of your game. Provide timely, relevant, and meaningful feedback to the players on their actions and decisions, reflecting the consequences and rewards of their choices. All these elements will help ensure your delivery is optimized for mobile devices.
The final step is to test and refine your storyline. Testing is where you gather feedback from your target audience, such as beta testers, reviewers, or players. Feedback can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your storyline, and the areas that need improvement. Refining is where you make changes and adjustments to your storyline, based on the feedback you received. Refining can involve adding, removing, or modifying elements of your storyline, such as characters, plot, or delivery. Testing and refining are iterative processes that can help you polish and perfect your storyline.
By following these best practices, you can create engaging storylines that will make your mobile games stand out and succeed in the competitive and crowded market.
Beta testing is your playtest. Listen to your players—it's like having game testers for your story. Embrace feedback, iterate, and refine. A great storyline is a continuous work in progress.
a) Stay informed about industry trends in storytelling. b) Explore opportunities for cross-platform storytelling. c) Leverage social media for additional narrative content or teasers. Crafting engaging storylines involves a strategic approach, considering audience preferences, genre coherence, character development, plot structure, delivery optimization, and ongoing refinement.