Conversations in games can provoke player introspection and critical thought, holding space for reflection and transformative experiences.
Games can be transformative experiences, and designing with that possibility in mind is important for digital thriving.
This strategy explores how to engage introspection through provocative, open-ended conversations and offers strategies on holding space for players, both at key moments and in downtime.
Note: We use the term provocative here to indicate that we are provoking critical reflection and introspection in the player, not that we are trying to provoke a negative reaction or spark an argument.
Designing dialogues for reflection
Branching dialogues are one of the more common opportunities developers have to direct a player’s attention to a certain topic and directly engage them in considering that topic. Here is one template for building such dialogues:
1. Set the tone through the greeting
This may be a broad question (“What brings you out here tonight?” or “What’s your favorite type of art?”), an introduction to the character’s context (“Oh hey, I was just looking at the stars.”), or diving right into the topic at hand through the introduction of a story or fact.
2. Develop around something specific
Go from the initial broad tone to a story that’s very personal to the character, introducing some interesting piece of information or exploring some deeper societal ill or wonder.
3. Expand the discussion into a broader existential question
As with all good storytelling, the specifics of the story are used to explore themes and messages and take a stand — using specificity to explore broad truths. The specifics are a metaphor for the broad.
4. Ask the player what they think
Each dialogue option is a chance for the player to directly respond — to contribute their own opinion or thought process. By asking a direct question, these brief interactions subtly nudge players toward explicit introspection. Each choice can provoke a direct response from the character, a reaction to encourage continued engagement in the question.
Ultimately, the choices the player is given throughout a dialogue don’t have to majorly shift the game state — they are just brief responses from the character to acknowledge the player’s decision. Instead, it’s the job of the branching dialogue to get the player’s attention, engage their sense of wonder, and then direct those efforts to fill in the gaps toward the existential quandaries that face all of us.
Asking the player to engage in this way is also an explicit invitation to reflect — choosing a dialogue option forces them to consider the matter through their response and elicits a deeper sense of engagement through active participation.
The goal is to leave the player in a state where they’re still thinking about the topic or line of thought as they continue forward in the game.
Leaving space for connections
The game doesn’t have to change drastically or directly respond to the player’s choices or opinions. The real magic here is in trusting the player to fill in the gaps.
This can be augmented in other ways throughout the encounter (and beyond into the rest of the game) by leaning into apophenia — the human propensity to find meaning and patterns in chaos.
- Surreal art and environments — Abstract images and sculptures, environmental effects, and randomized visual elements can provoke a response from players based on their current mental state rather than communicating something specific.
- Recurring symbolism — The appearance of objects that recur throughout the game — or are mentioned in dialogues — can take on symbolic meaning, recalling ideas and conversations in different contexts.
- Gaps in the audioscape — Leave gaps in the music too — compositions can have sparse arrangements or seem to be conspicuously missing a part or instrument, and in their place are unintelligible whispers, samples, and effects.
As with the dialogue, it is left to the player to decide what it all means and to add in their own head-canon, nuance, and specificity.
Building these moments in larger games
You needn’t build your whole game around these moments — they can just as easily be applied as a small part of a much larger and multifaceted game. Here are a few quick ideas of how and when to add them into more mainstream multiplayer and first-person shooter (FPS) games:
- Splatoon is a multiplayer game series with a free-roam, single player city (Inkopolis) that features asynchronous, multiplayer messages and serves as a menu, hub, and also a downtime area. A space such as this could potentially feature a weird, fourth wall-breaking conversation happening down one of the alleys.
- A more modest multiplayer game might have a sculpture or memorial park serve as a diegetic menu with high score details, but also showcase art objects and nice scenery.
- Open-world games could have poetic interludes that players find by following lines of verse like breadcrumbs through a temporarily non-hostile space along a predesigned path, ending in a vista.
Recap
- Leave gaps — Resist the normal or expected flow of interactivity, give players open-ended visual art to look at, and leverage “apophenia” — the human desire to find meaning in chaos.
- Use conversations — Ask players what they think, allowing for as wide an array of player opinions as possible, but keep actual responses vague and short.
- Slow down — Opting to slow players down or resist interactivity can actually be very productive, giving players time to digest the narrative without immediately thrusting them into deep mechanical challenges or tough choices.
The main takeaway here is that a big part of holding space is not taking up more space than necessary.
Now what?
Checking In on the Player’s Well-Being
Here are several ways that NPCs and the game itself can directly check in on players’ well-being.
Holding Space in Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between was designed from the ground up as an exploration of holding space for players to reflect.
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