Thread by @Gaohmee

Game design does not talk enough about a principle that is core to so so so many experiences. I’d even say it might be at the core of most games, but it sounds a little esoteric. You know when we say immersion, wanting impact on the game world etc?

It’s a desire to be witnessed.

The desire to be witnessed is a fundamental human desire. A longing for being acknowledged in our actions, our existence and our humanity. We crave to be represented. We crave to see things we can relate to. We crave things we can project ourselves upon.

I actually believe that what we often call escapism in fact shows up in design as a manifestation of the desire to be witnessed. A world where we matter and feel like we have control and can’t be truly hurt, all often opposite to our lived experience.

It’s a design principle I like to keep in mind just in the back of my head. It’s esoteric of course, but it serves as a lense in how to think about many design decisions. What implementation of this mechanic takes being witnessed by the world into account most?

When I think of parameters for players to feel like being witnessed I think about the following aspects:

What are fundamentally and universally human desires, cravings and behaviors that do not get acknowledged enough in people’s lives? What makes them feel heard and special?

Things like having your whole existence acknowledged, including flaws and mistakes.
Things like having your actions matter to people around you.
Things like the fundamental playfulness of actions without real, painful consequences like when we played as kids.

What desires and powers and influence is something we deny people in everyday life? What makes them feel important? How do we wish others react to us?

We call these things “fantasies” more commonly in design but I like to think about “being witnessed” instead for a few reasons.

Calling them fantasies implies that they need to be fantastical. Fantasies are also very often culturally tied to masculine or gendered fantasies that I think aren’t always worth pursuing or encompass enough fundamental humanity as we craft worlds.

For example, if I’m designing a hero’s story from the perspective of wanting the player to feel witnessed, I find my mental approach to it to be more holistic compared to when I think of it through the lens of heroism, which is often tied to machismo and harmful stereotypes.

Using the “being witnessed lens” for a hero story allows me to wonder what it would mean to just allow players to feel useful to the people around them. Like they can change things we can often not change in real life. Have influence and powers to support the desire to help.

I know it sounds a little esoteric, but if you’re a designer, I’d like to challenge you to think about it for a second. Switch up the perspective to see what using the “being witnessed” lens to design something does to your thinking and design processes. Because I found it useful

Anyways... I adore making games. I believe their unique magic comes from this exact principle. You can call it immersion or interactive storytelling or whatever you like.

But I think games are magic because they fulfill our fundamental human desire to be witnessed.

PS: Please let me write articles about this.

Addendum: People are replying with “but this is just player agency” and it is not.
Player agency encompasses far less than what being witnessed does. Player agency requires active input and action from player while being witnessed encompasses passiveness too.

THIS is what I mean when I spoke about the aspects of gendered or masculine storytelling. Being witnessed is a more holistic way of thinking about this and encompasses more experiences. There’s a whole article I could write about how being witnessed is a core of Animal Crossing.

Being witnessed is an extension of our more prevalent framework of player fantasies or player agency. It allows to encompass more passive approaches to play as well, it includes principles of play that are deemed more “feminine”. I believe it’s a more holistic lens.