The Player’s Agency In Mystery Storytelling

Abstract: Many games today lack the player’s agency in storytelling. This can be a sign of bad game design or just that the developers don’t want the player to miss any piece of the story, leading to the unfolding of narrative not being in the hands of the player. In the process the player’s agency is lost through cutscenes that force the player to see the story unfold in front of them instead of being actively involved. This article discusses how mystery storytelling techniques can give the player more agency in the unfolding narrative. This places a lot more responsibility on the player to understand and connect narrative information and in turn converts the player into an important part of the unfolding of the story.