Games are not Movies, they are Games

Movies have a lot to teach games. Movies, like games, are a medium that are a composite of other mediums. Music, writing, photography, theater all are part of movies and yet it is its own thing. In the same way games are a composite of so many different arts forms and yet we need to remember that they are not them. It is important to learn from them, but it is also equally important to remember what we are actually making. Games often try to be movie and it just as often it only makes them a boring game.

In movies, the central conceit is “Show, don’t tell”, which basically means don’t tell the audience something but show that thing happening. Don’t have the characters say “We sure are best friends who would never betray each other”, show that bond. Show them joking with each other, trusting each other with secrets or sharing knowing glances. Games have a different central conceit, “Do, don’t show”.

Don’t show the player they should be afraid, make them vulnerable. Don’t show the player they should feel powerful, let them level mountains themselves. Don’t show the player they are powerless, let them try everything they can and let them see how little it does.

All too often during the emotional climax of a game it will take control of the game away from the player and show a movie. –BioShock spoiler start– Think how powerful the moment when you beat Andrew Ryan with a golf club in Bioshock is, now think about how much more powerful it would of been if you did it and it didn’t do it for you. They did that to an extent, but they did what they needed to for that sequence they perfectly did immediately after it. The game tells you to do something you don’t want to do but there is nothing else for you to do but obey. You get to feel the shackles, strain against them and ultimately fail just like the character in the game is doing because just like they are trying exert control on the world around them you are too, and both are now feeling how little freedom they truly have.

Put the player in a room with him, have him give the player the golf club and then have him command you to do kill him and then not let you out until you beat him to death. Give Ryan a large speech for him to run though while they player tries to figure a way out, realize they don’t have a choice, and then come to terms with that. The point of the sequence was to show that you were powerless to disobey, but by taking control away from the player you are only showing that the character is powerless to disobey and so you just put an emotional barrier between the character and the player. –BioShock spoiler end–

Give the player control. Yes, if they can look around then a lot of your shots won’t be framed as nicely as you want them to be. Yes, that means their attention will wander. But if they are wandering in game taking control away from them would then mean that they are now wandering around in the real world and not intently focused like you want. You didn’t force them to pay attention you just forced them to sit though something. Why are the moments we most want the player to identify as the character the only moments where the player isn’t the character?