I give regular talks at conferences & universities, covering a range of topics in game & narrative design. Below is a selection of videos, as well as a list of past talks.
A chat about the challenges of narrative design in mobile games, and my transition from PC/console to mobile.
The way mobile games are played results in shorter attention spans and an unwillingness to read text. But research shows that players are still curious about the world and its characters for a sense of purpose, motivation and gratification. In this talk, I look into designing narratives for a mobile audience.
Video games have often been regarded as power fantasies. Yet many releases contradict this assumption and center gameplay around powerlessness, like the survival horror genre. This talk seeks to deconstruct the role of power in video games, analyze the various mechanics of disempowerment and suggest how actively taking power from the player may serve as a tool for making better games.
The way we make and play games has been constantly evolving, based on technological and cultural factors. For a while, the term interactive storytelling was used synonymously with branching narratives. But how to tell an engaging interactive story in our times of Let’s Plays, increasing AAA budget demands and new technologies like VR and AR? Let’s have a look at some vastly different modern solutions beyond the branching storyline, from the lore of Overwatch to the story system of The Novelist.
A comparison of storytelling in novels and video games and how we approached adapting one thing into the other while creating "Ken Follett's: The Pillars of the Earth".
Past Talks