"Writing for games is easy."

a memepoem

Writing for games is easy.



You just need a compelling story

with a clear plot

but not too simple —

enough twists and turns

that the player keeps playing,

but not so many

that they can't keep track.



And you need relatable characters

who feel real,

emotional,

and make decisions motivated

by their unique personalities —

so long as their actions

move the plot along

and don't contradict the gameplay

or make the pacing feel

off.



You just need to tell the player

what's going on

and how to play the game

without beating them over the head

with lengthy exposition —

but still frequently remind them

what's going on

and how to play the game

in case it's been a while

since they last picked up the controller.



And don't forget about

environmental storytelling

and all the ways you can

tell stories: like

documents,

notes,

letters,

emails,

graffiti,

audiologs

left strewn about,

but not so obviously

that it seems gamified —

and without knowing

the layout or the environment art

because it’s not done yet

and will change again anyway.



Speaking of change,

you just need

coherent missions 

and gameplay goals

upon which to hook the narrative 

while you’re guessing

what the final design

of a mission 

will actually entail.



You just need to tell

relatable stories

that stick with players for

decades —

so long as the stories

are within the dialogue limit

of your UI

and the word count limit

of an average player's

attention span.



All you have to do

is make sure the story

aligns with the gameplay

and keep track of everything

throughout development

that ever changes

so that when things get cut

or updated

the story still makes sense.



The only thing

you really need to worry about

is making sure you have

an encyclopedic knowledge

of your IP's entire canon

but write the story in a way

that assumes the player

has never heard of this IP before

while also making sure

players who know the IP

are delighted by callbacks.



And it's a cinch

to make sure

that anything you’ve already recorded

in voiceover and performance capture

never changes

so you don't have to spend money

to rerecord any of it.



And don’t even sweat

the pressure to make sure

you’re writing so well

and so fast

that no one would ever suggest 

using AI instead.



You just need to find time

to do the actual writing

while you’re in meetings

6 out of 8 hours of the day.



It’s really not a big deal

to secure the budget

for a sensitivity reader

and narrative QA

to make sure 

nothing is broken

in any sense of the word.



All you really need

is to work in conflicting feedback

from sixteen different stakeholders

and player feedback panels

and make sure

all the narrative

is representative

of all the different pillars

and priorities

that change

every day

throughout development

until launch day.



See what I mean?

Easy!