I often see Twine being recommended to beginners looking to create a proper #NarrativeDesign portfolio, and while it’s very good advice I would like to clarify some expectations that might go with it.
A lot of newcomers to the craft seem to think that interactive story means player choices and consequences. While it’s true for a certain kind of projects, it’s certainly not the epitome of narrative design.
When I look for a designer (not a writer), your ability to write branching dialogue or stories doesn’t tell me much about your narrative creativity. If well done, it tells me you have the computational brain power to handle a few well chosen variables.
Which is good! But it’s like the minimum requirement, not something that will get you noticed.
A more important skill is the ability to invent systems or mechanics able to convey a particular story or world.
(By “invent” I mean design and implement, no need to necessarily reinvent the wheel.)
(By “invent” I mean design and implement, no need to necessarily reinvent the wheel.)
Think for example of how Edith Finch offers a new set of interactions for each mini-story and character.
Each new project will require you to ask yourself what narrative means would best serve this particular story.
Each new project will require you to ask yourself what narrative means would best serve this particular story.
So your portfolio should demonstrate that you already know to ask yourself that question, by showing a few different narrative devices created for different stories.
How can you do that? At the very least you can show design documents explaining how a narrative feature would work (I passed a design test for Arkane and my proposed feature was a type of ammo, the truth darts, that were making guards reveal valuable information in their sleep)
Creative uses of branching stories in Twine can be interesting, like the way Depression Quest greyed out some options, to express how depression works. But there’s only so much you can do with that kind of tool.
Ideally very small personal games developed alone or with a bunch of friends are the best way to show how creatively you could tell someone’s story, with mechanics that meaningfully reflect your themes. After all, a narrative design portfolio is a game design portfolio.
As examples, personal favorites of my own portfolio include a running game that is actually about puberty and self-consciousness as a woman in the street ; a memory game about not being loved by one’s parents ; an “escape room” game about isolation and losing touch with reality..
As you can tell, personal projects are also the chance to express who you are and to give full budget to the storytelling part of the gameplay... which of course might not happen often in professional projects :D
So definitely take the opportunity to explore whatever narrative design could mean for *your* stories. The answer cannot always be “player choice and branching dialogue”.
