Insights from 'Mosa Lina's' Creator & Spotlight on Storytelling in Games
"It’s the most successful game I ever worked on"
Welcome to the first ever edition of the Indie Game Innovators newsletter, I’m pleased you’ve taken the time to read it. Hopefully you’ll find it interesting/useful and any suggestions you have for improvements feel free to comment below 🙂
This Week 👋
An interview with the game developer behind Mosa Lina.
3 upcoming games that I think you should be excited for.
My recommended Indie Game Developer video.
What makes a good game story.
Music Spotlight featuring one of the best video game albums in the last few years.
Developer Spotlight 🌟
Recently, I had the pleasure of a brief conversation with Josh (Stuffed Wombat), the talented game developer behind the intriguing title "Mosa Lina". We briefly got to cover a range of topics, exploring his journey into the world of game development, some details about his current project, how he finds motivation, and what tools he uses.
Getting into the GameDev Industry
I’ve been making games for a very long time. Like, as a kid I would tell interactive stories to my brother and friends, then I was making boardgames and running pen and paper campaigns. I tried often to start making video games but could never find a tool that clicked for me, until I was caught skipping school by the IT teacher who then forced me to attend his class where he was teaching Scratch.
That worked for me and I made a couple of games, but I was also drawing comics and writing and wanted to direct movies. But video games was the medium where I got the best results for the least work. It was also something I could do alone in my apartment without having to interact with other people. I then spent like 7 years or so making free browser games, failing to make any money, living off of shitty jobs, my family’s money and unemployment benefits, getting really depressed and sad. I’ve only been “professional” since the pandemic, where I got a really generous loan to develop qomp, which then luckily made enough money to continue.
About Mosa Lina
I am currently on a month long break from Mosa Lina. It’s the most successful game I ever worked on and the compulsion to keep updating it drove me to the edge of burnout.
Mosa Lina is a game about randomness. You get random tools to solve puzzles, so there is no intended solution for you to follow. You really have to get creative yourself, because I never even bothered to check if the level is beatable at all :)
Development has been pretty okay. A classic case of “loosing direction in the middle of the project”, but I’ve been around the block enough times by now to not get too scared by that anymore. Just gotta push through and cut the scope.
Finding Motivation
I want to make new things. Stuff that nobody has ever thought of before. I want to combine things that shouldn’t be combinable. This is the most fun. To work outside of established borders and conventions, to be able to really craft new systems and concepts. There is a kind of satisfaction in there for me that comes very close to a religious experience. Seeing two things connect, seeing them actually work… it’s very hard to describe but I love it.
Tools Used to Design and Develop Games
I use Construct 3 to develop my games. I use Aseprite to make my visual assets. I use Audacity & bfxr to make & edit audio (but in commercial projects I always work with people who actually know what they are doing for that). I use a loose stack of paper, random txt files and no documentation at all for organisation.
You can get Josh’s game “Mosa Lina” on Steam here. And you can follow him on Twitter/X here.
Interview conducted by Indie Game Innovators.
What Makes a Good Game Story? 📖
“The way we experience story will evolve, but as storytelling animals, we will no more give it up than start walking on all fours.” - Jonathan Gottschall.
The game narrative is an essential part of the player experience, yet often for developers one of the most challenging things to successfully establish. To try to understand what makes a good game story, I reached out to Dr. Mata Haggis-Burridge, an award winning game designer and writer with experience in both AAA and indie game development.
Firstly, we need to understand why storytelling is important?
“That's a huge question! Stories are how we understand the world. It's a base part of human psychology, tied deeply into the evolution of intelligence. We understand that one event leads to another, and suddenly we have a story!
As game developers, we must understand that we are creating stories, whether we intend to or not. I once spoke with a team that makes space-based shooters, and they insisted their game didn't have a story - but they had spaceships, humans in peril, alien forces, pollution, inverted crosses, and environmental decay. Without intending it, they had created a story with the visuals and interactions. Players will then be experiencing and interpreting who they are in the game, why they are fighting, why they are rescuing, and what victory might mean. In other words, even if we creators don't intentionally put a story into our game, players will intuitively put one into it.
The goals of game narrative are to complement and enhance the player's experience. When done well, the impact is unforgettable - and that is also why stories are important.
As players, we will probably forget countless hours of gameplay. Jogging up a hill in Far Cry or dodging the club of the 200th angry ogre in God of War will all merge into a vague blur. But when the big story moments hit us, they bring a sense of joy, fear, or catharsis that makes all the blurred moments worthwhile. Stories tie video games into our deeper human need for connection. As players, we want to be pulled into a world that engages and recognises our efforts, and as creators we want to entertain and engage with our audiences. Games are part of society creating a mirror to understand itself, and stories are a fundamental part of that.
This is also why diversity in video game content is crucial: representation of society necessitates representation of diversity. A good mirror doesn't only reflect part of the world, but everything. For video games to reach their potential as a creative medium, they need to reflect all things and all people. Without diversity, our stories are weaker and our medium is weaker.
To make things simpler: stories give games meaning. To explain this, I use the example of racing games. They often have no plot, but they are still about cars, on tracks, with buildings and dust, and trees, and engine noises, and so on... But why? If it's purely about racing, i.e. moving something as fast as possible along a route, why use cars and have all those other elements? It's because these recognisable and relatable elements add context, from which players derive meaning. Driving around a track and winning or losing a race is a very simple story already, and storytellers in games work with this understanding to enhance and lift the meaning of interactions to a higher level, making the play activities more engaging, compelling, and meaningful.”
Okay so we’ve established its importance, but what actually goes into successful storytelling?
“A well-executed narrative symbiotically merges with all other parts of the game, elevating the work of the artists, designers, programmers, musicians, and more. As a coherent goal, these pieces come together to form an emotional and engaging journey for the player. This can be an immense amount of work! It requires countless hours of conversations, sketching, prototyping, writing, rewriting, and then more hours of conversations and sketching! Getting every team member to understand how their work contributes to the vision of the game, part of which is the player's journey as a narrative, is a task that only truly finishes when the game is shipped.
There are a lot of classic skills that storytellers need to create successful narratives using video games. You need to be a good writer, which means understanding plot, tension, character arcs, psychology, and more. Beyond that, you also need to be able to explain all of these things in different ways to different team members, each of whom may have a very different mode of communication, e.g. flow diagrams, physical acting, or sketches. Another skill, which I think is more essential for video game storytellers than in other mediums, is the ability to expand and reduce the story on demand: people will want one-line versions, one-pagers, a timeline breakdown, a per-level structure, and many more forms. Each will be written with a purpose, so you need to understand 'what does this version of the story need to do for this colleague'? You need to understand the basics of every team member's job!
Unfortunately, writers are often hired late onto a project, and we may be left patching together various pieces that don't quite match. The magic of hiring a great writer is that we can often work minor miracles and bring things together. It's not quite the same magic as deeper involvement with the team, where the writing inspires the design and art, and the design and art inspires the writing in a symbiotic loop, but nonetheless a skilled writer can still bring meaning to an otherwise very dry and mechanical experience.”
So, what actionable tips would you recommend for developing an immersive story in GameDev?
“There is a huge variety of great resources out there for anyone who wants to find them, but if you want to get started... Get started! Look up local locations for 'game jams'. These are short events, usually 1-3 days over a weekend, where teams get together to make quick games. They're very welcoming to all levels of experience, and, depending on the game, one writer could work on multiple games. You'll very quickly get an idea of what's needed (clue: it involves lots of flow charts and typing into spreadsheets), and what isn't (clue: it's not writing a screenplay, handing it over, then walking away). You might even find your game becomes your job for the following years! Alongside many smaller game jams, there is also the annual Global Game Jam, with locations all over the world.
If you resolutely want to get a bit of experience before jumping into a team, look up basic tutorials for Twine or Inky. Twine is more visual, but that has some limitations, Inky is more 'programmer-y', but more flexible and powerful when you know it.
To get a picture of how the bigger game industry does things, check out talks from GDC on the subject of narrative - there are a few playlists online (some including talks from me), and they're full of great and inspiring examples of how the narrative challenges of different games have been tackled. No two games are the same, so it's good to watch a variety.
And, of course, play great games! I'm a huge fan of Outer Wilds, What Remains of Edith Finch, Firewatch, Gone Home, and more. I also love big titles like God of War, Assassin's Creed, and Spider-Man. If you don't love games, it's going to be tough to be excited to work on them for potentially years of your life.
Finally, my friend Greg Buchannan has one of the best sets of resources about writing for games on his website. Check it out here: https://www.writinginteractive.com/breakingin”
Big thank you to Mata! If you would like to find out more, here are some links that might interest you: Mata’s Twitter/X, Mata’s Substack.
Upcoming Games 🔥
"Militsioner" - Developed by Tallboys, players are immersed in a dystopian village reminiscent of Kafka's narratives. The game's standout feature is a massive 50-foot police officer who vigilantly patrols the village. The objective is to navigate an escape from the village, carefully manoeuvring under the giant officer's gaze. The game introduces a dynamic mood system, offering diverse ways to engage with the colossal policeman. Keep an eye out for "Militsioner," arriving soon on PC. Find out more here.
"Loose Leaf" - Kitfox Games' new PC game, allows players to run a tea house with detailed brewing simulation, serving a diverse clientele including witches. Players can manage ingredients, temperature, and brewing techniques, gradually unlocking new tools and recipes. The game also features elements of fortune-telling and tarot card readings, allowing players to interact with and befriend witch customers. Find out more here.
"Flock" - Developed by Hollow Ponds. A multiplayer game where players ride through the skies on giant birds, collecting smaller flying creatures. The game emphasizes exploration and discovery, with the creatures charmed through the bird's natural song. "Flock" is expected to launch in Spring 2024 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox (including Xbox Game Pass). Find out more here.
Recommended Watch 🎥
Whether you’re interested in indie gaming, or working on your own project, a Devlog by Lost Relic Games is always an entertaining watch.
Music Spotlight 🎵
For music this edition I chose to feature Dome Keeper, Vol. 1: The Engineer (Original Soundtrack) by Cameron Paxton. You can listen to the full album here.
With a haunting but beautiful sci-fi/post-apocalyptic theme, this soundtrack is the perfect ambience for its game “Dome Keeper“. One listener remarks that it “captured the feeling of isolation in a bittersweet way“. Definitely worth a listen!
To End 🚀
Hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter! If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see in the next edition leave a comment.
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