Table Of ContentNarrative Tactics for
Mobile and Social
Games
Pocket-Sized Storytelling
http://taylorandfrancis.com
Narrative Tactics for
Mobile and Social
Games
Pocket-Sized Storytelling
Edited by
Toiya Kristen Finley, PhD
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2019 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Printed on acid-free paper
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-8078-0 (paperback)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-1386-1393-5 (hardback)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot
assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and
publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication
and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any
copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any
future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information stor-
age or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copy
right.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222
Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that pro-
vides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photo-
copy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Names: Finley, Toiya Kristen, editor.
Title: Narrative tactics for mobile and social games : pocket-sized storytelling /
[edited by] Toiya Kristen Finley.
Description: Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, 2018. | Includes
b ibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018010535| ISBN 9781498780780 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN
9781138613935 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Narration (Rhetoric) | Rhetoric and psychology. | Video games--
Psychological aspects.
Classification: LCC PE1425 .N38 2018 | DDC 808/.036--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018010535
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
contents
acknowledgements ........................................................................vii
contributors ...................................................................................ix
introduction.................................................................................xiii
Section I
storytelling in mobile and social games
1 keeping the player at the heart of the story .............................3
Toiya Kristen Finley, PhD
2 from musical mechanics to emotional beats: story
for nonstory games ...............................................................23
Elizabeth LaPensée, PhD and Betsy Brey
3 livable and believable, despite the limitations:
worldbuilding .......................................................................39
Toiya Kristen Finley, PhD
4 not just tutorial hosts: characters .........................................63
Toiya Kristen Finley, PhD
5 more than pretty words: functional dialogue.........................95
Toiya Kristen Finley, PhD
v
vi contents
6 i seek the grail (in five minutes or less): designing
and writing quests for mobile games ...................................119
Jessica Sliwinski
Section II
storytelling for different demographics and genres
7 to each their own: writing for demographics .......................151
Megan Fausti
8 how the folk tale got its leopard: writing for educational
games .................................................................................165
Erin Hoffman-John
9 playing with values: branding games ..................................183
Toiya Kristen Finley, PhD
10 the continued adventures: writing for licensed
mobile games ......................................................................201
Jessica Sliwinski
11 buy gems to woo your lover: free-to-play narratives ............227
Eddy Webb
Index .........................................................................................243
acknowledgements
I would like to thank all of the developers and companies who gave
permission to Narrative Tactics in Mobile and Social Games’s contrib-
utors to use screenshots in their chapters. Being able to look at visu-
als next to our analysis is extremely beneficial to our readers. I’m
especially grateful to Kenji-san of IGDA Japan and Allan Simonsen
for getting me in touch with contacts.
To Myra Finley (publication’s on your birthday!) and Lakeview,
thanks for your continued support, even if you’re not quite sure what
the heck it is that I do. :)
To Sean Connelly, I’m grateful to you for greenlighting the project.
To Alex Kain and Richard Dansky, thanks for your support during
the initial stages and your vote of confidence. To Jessica Vega, thanks
for your hard work in keeping everything on track and on schedule.
To Heather Albano and Rachel Ginsberg, thanks for being awe-
some beta readers and providing your expertise and great feed-
back. Meghan Connor, your graphics help at the last minute was
project-saving!
And special thanks to this book’s contributors—Betsy, Elizabeth,
Jessica, Megan, Eddy, and Erin—for sharing your insights with the
rest of us.
vii
http://taylorandfrancis.com
contributors
Betsy Brey is a PhD candidate specializing in game studies at
the University of Waterloo’s Department of English Language and
Literature. Her research focuses on the narratological impacts of
game mechanics, how game stories are created throughout gameplay
processes. In particular, she researches mechanics and storytelling
in roleplaying games. She works with the University of Waterloo’s
Games Institute, where her research has been funded with a Mitacs
partnership. She is also the editor-in-chief for First Person Scholar, an
open-access, multidisciplinary game studies publication.
Megan Fausti is the narrative designer for Battle Chef Brigade and
an advocate for weirder, more compassionate games at Adult Swim
Games (ASG). During her time at ASG, she’s worked on everything
it has published since Oblitus, for a total of more than 30 shipped
games across PC, VR, console, and mobile. In her free time she loves
videogames, matcha lattes, and nature documentaries.
Toiya Kristen Finley, PhD, a Nashville native, is a writer and an
editor. She holds a doctorate in literature and creative writing from
Binghamton University. With nearly 70 published works in fiction,
nonfiction, comics/manga, and games, she has 20 years of experi-
ence writing in a range of genres, tones, styles, and voices. In 2011,
she cofounded the Game Writing Tutorial at GDC Online with Tobias
Heussner and served as an instructor in 2011 and 2012. In video-
games, she has worked as a game designer, narrative designer,
game writer, and editor (or some combination of the four) on several
ix
