Challenges of single character stories

[coyotecraft]

This is particularly challenging for games when you're only writing dialogue and not action. Without someone to talk to it's hard to convey the character's traits and motivations.

A couple ways to get a character to talk when there is no one to talk to.

• A camera; the character is creating a video log. Obviously only useful in modern and beyond settings.
• Praying; we can see sincere confessions, what they're hoping for ect...Similar to the camera but works for fantasy settings.
• Narrator; the character, in a different time, recounting the events as we see them. Usually used at the start of a game or beginning and end of chapters. "Then I was a boy..." "...little did I know what was about to happen."

Personally I don't like any of the above methods for game writing because because you're telling the player what's going on and I'd rather show them. Showing means letting the player infer what's going on which I think is better for immersion. The player will be more engaged than if they were just passive listeners. Unless, of course, it's a story for a younger audience then by all means spell it out for them.

So that just leaves the character's thoughts. How does a character think?

• observations; to the effect that it shows us what a character knows. Or what a character doesn't know.
• Planning; It shouldn't be hard to figure out what a character's motives are. You can outline the game objectives this way too, but don't have the character problem solving on the player's behalf.
• Reminiscing; Not a flashback, something subtle that tells us something has happened before. This can also clue us in on their emotional state.