Ah, the dreaded writing test.

Probably the least fun part of a narrative design career—lengthy, stressful, and too often unpaid.

But if you’re going to do it, you might as well get a gig out of it. Here’s your guide to making that happen, featuring advice from the wonderful, talented Alexis Kaegi (Ashe Cove, Neopets, forthcoming Inkle project).

Number 1: Ask to be paid

I know, I know. It feels uncomfortable to advocate for yourself. But just think, do you want to start the working relationship feeling exploited or feeling fairly reimbursed? Start as you mean to go on!

Now, admittedly, this doesn’t ALWAYS work. When I was a freelancer, I would phrase it something like this:

I’ve had this work and I’ve had it fail. In the situations where they do not agree to pay for the test, I consider if doing the free test is worth it to me. Is it a great opportunity? Is it a project I’m excited by? Then I might do it. If it’s not exciting and it’s not paying, there’s a chance it could be more productive to just craft some user-generated content on a games platform or make a short narrative-focused indie game instead.

Number 2: Do your research

Let’s say you’ve decided to do the test, paid or unpaid. The next step is to glean as much information as possible from your prospective employer as possible about what they’re looking for.

Ask questions like:

• “What’s the tone?”

• “What are you looking for in this test?”

• “What are some good comps for your game?”

• “What dialogue do you admire from other media?”

• “Is there anything to definitely avoid?”

Questions aren’t cheating, they’re good practice. If you get the job, they’d expect you to ask a whole lot of them anyway.

Of course, you should also research and play the studio’s games, if they are available—and make sure that you don’t questions that could be easily resolved with a quick Google.

Alexis recommends getting granular: “Adapt to their style and tone as much as possible (including word count/line length and dialogue pacing).”

Number 3: Bring something fresh to the table

Don’t go completely off-brief but “weave in fresh worldbuilding where you can; even if you’re not sure it would fit their future story map,” says Alexis.

Why? “This is where you can show your chops as a creative thinker.”

I will note, this worked well when I reviewed Alexis’ test for Ashe Cove—she proved early on that she could take on the lore and build it out, something we sorely needed.

Number 4: Get edits

Another trait you’ll need to succeed just in general is accepting help from others. Sorry introverted perfectionists (calling myself out), it’s the truth! If this test is really important to you, why wouldn’t you run it by someone (or multiple people) you trust?

Now, this shouldn’t be just anyone. Preferably, it should be someone who has knowledge and experience in the field of narrative design so they aren’t confused by the whole process. If you don’t know anyone like that, a writer you respect will do, but you might have to explain some of the context around the test. If you STILL don’t have a person like that in your life (totally understandable) then try asking for help online, like in a Discord related to game writing. It’s annoying to get critiques but it’s even more annoying to not get a gig.

Number 5: Take your time

Prospective employers will invariably tell you that the test should take you “no more than three hours” or some such skimpy estimation. That’s no doubt a well-intentioned statement, but the reality is that when you want the job, you’re going to give the test your all, in terms of hours and effort. I’ve probably taken upwards of 20 hours to do a test I really cared about, and Alexis relates.

“I know the general advice is not to spend too much time on them, but I always do. It’s worked out for me but if it hadn’t, I know it would have felt like a big time and effort suck. I’m not sure if I would recommend that or not, but it is now a habit of mine!

I did let the last test people know it took me way longer than their estimation. (2.5 days rather than 3 hours…) I feel it’s important to be honest about that lest I make it look like I could do that amount of work in a few hours.”

Honestly is the best policy, and the fact that tests take so long is also why I advocate to get paid. It makes the whole thing easier to stomach. Regardless, expect to take a few days to complete a test, at the very least.

Number 6: Treat it like a sample

As Alexis notes: “I remember reading in Anna Megill’s book about thinking of these tests as future writing samples, so that’s been a helpful perspective for me. You’ll always have something new at the end of them (just scrub off the serial numbers, etc.).”

This is another great tip not only for justifying the length of time it takes to write the test, but also to ensure its quality. Is this something you would genuinely release on Itch.io under your own name? If so, there’s a higher chance it’ll impress your prospective employer. If, on the other hand, you wouldn’t publish it, they might not either (or they might not be a good fit for you).

Don’t be hard on yourself if that’s the case—I once wrote a Twine test I was very proud of only for it to be completely misunderstood by the prospective employer. I’m still proud of it today and will probably resurrect it as an independent project!

Number 7: Don’t take failure too personally

I haven’t always succeeded with my writing tests, and I HAVE very much taken it personally, but the longer I’ve been in this career the more I realize… it’s all subjective. The stories I love might not be the stories the person on the other side of the hiring desk loves, and vice versa. It doesn’t make your work and your taste any less valid. If you take one thing from this, let it be to keep going. I promise your writing is valid and valuable. If it doesn’t feel like it right now, it will one day. Just keep working at it and making it the best it can be according to YOU.

In other news…

• Check out:

  • New York Games Week Oct. 4-11

  • InErGa the Conference for Interactive Storytelling in Games in Leipzig, Nov. 27-28

• And this cool job opp from Failbetter.

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Hello, fellow narrative designers!

A few exciting bits and pieces of personal news:

• The Game Writer’s Almanac for Fall 2026 is now available in the ROSE&CO. shop. I’ve been having such fun printing and sending them out across the world!

• I am preparing to moderate the Q&A for a Library Futures Event about Video Games in Libraries on Sept. 23rd at 1pm ET! Chris Baker, Colin Post, and Marisa Marzilli will share initial takeaways from two major research projects on this topic and consider some of the big questions librarians and game developers face in preserving gaming history, while I field questions from the audience/ask some questions of my own.

• Also, I’ll be a mentor for the Fall 2026 Game Incubator held by the Columbia University Gaming Group! I’m so excited to help out the team I’m paired with. I’ll share more as the incubator progresses.

Onward!

Layoff Resources

• UVW-CWA has a Hardship Fund that impacted workers can apply to for financial support. You do not have to be a member to apply for relief.

• Check out Amir Satvat’s amazing ASGC, a free resource featuring job listings.

• The fabulous Laura Habers posts lists of narrative design gigs on LI.

• The IGDA and WIGI have a lot of good free resources and programs.

Jams + Events

• Kelly Bender is hosting a free online talk on AAA quest breakdowns on September 19th at 11am ET!

• The Bare-Bones Jam runs from September 30th to October 31st. “Have you ever wanted to create a game, but felt overwhelmed by the visual aspects? Or wished you didn’t need to edit the UI? This jam is for you!”

• Spooktober Visual Novel Jam runs from September 1st to October 1st—there’s still time to join!

• September Seattle Indies Social takes place on Sept. 21st at 6pm local time. Great opportunity to mingle and meet new friends!

Opportunities

• Made a point-and-click game? Submit it to the showcase being co-hosted by Amanita and Rusty Lake!

Resources

• The amazing Kelly Bender also published a free slide deck with portfolio tips!

Jobs

• Quest Designer at Demiurge Studios Remote. “Demiurge Studios is seeking a Quest Designer with open-world experience.”

• Quest Designer at Fool’s Theory Remote. “We are actively seeking skilled individuals to join our team to work on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past expansion, developed in cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED.”

• Game Writer at Leti Arts Remote. “The role focuses on crafting dialogue, narrative content, and supporting story elements that align with gameplay systems and the project’s cultural/folklore themes.”

• Narrative and Worldview Designer Singapore-based. “Responsible for the product's worldview setting and meta narrative copy.”

• Narrative Designer at Nexters Remote possible. “We are waiting for an experienced Narrative Designer to strengthen the team of our flagship product, Hero Wars: Alliance.”

• Narrative Designer at Hero Center Netherlands-based. The listing is in Dutch, so I can’t say much on this—apart from the fact that it clearly requires fluency in Dutch.

• Narrative Designer at Finitude. Remote possible. “Join us as a Narrative Designer to build a 13th-century world that players want to lose themselves in.”

• Game Writer at Frontier Cambridge, UK-based. “We’re looking for an experienced Game Writer to join our internal writing team on Elite Dangerous.”

• Narrative Designer at Ribat Studios Remote friendly, Morocco-based. “Fixed-term services contract, scoped through the vertical slice with extension likely. Remote works with a few hours' overlap with Morocco (UTC+1).”

• Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern Remote. “As a Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern, you will be the primary architect of our game’s universe during the crucial Scripting Phase.”

• Narrative Designer at Asobo Studio Bordeaux, France-based. “You will join the team behind the “A Plague Tale” franchise, which is currently working on a new, unannounced project.” Note: The listing is in French, so French fluency is required.

• Narrative Designer at Velan Studios Toronto, Canada or Troy, NY-based. “Are you a Senior Narrative Designer with a passion for RPGs and classic fantasy worlds?”

• Senior Writer at KRAFTON Montreal, Canada-based. “This game is an AAA third-person action-adventure RPG experience, with a rich narrative and strategic gameplay.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at Gameloft Montreal, Canada-based. “Gameloft Montreal is seeking a new Senior Narrative Designer to join the Dungeons & Dragons team.”

• Lead Quest Designer at Activision Blizzard Poland or Sweden-based. “Elsewhere Entertainment is looking for a Lead Quest Designer to join the development of a new IP.”

• Lead Writer at Rebel Wolves Remote possible. “We’re currently working on an AAA dark fantasy RPG - the first title of a planned saga set in our own brand-new universe.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at Mad Head Games Remote within EMEA. “Currently, we’re developing Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival - a first-person action horror survival game based on the beloved franchise.”

• Senior Narrative Game Designer at Triternion Remote possible within EU. “Following the huge success of our debut title Mordhau, Triternion is expanding as we begin production on our next game.”

• Manager, Narrative Writing - League of Legends at Riot LA, US-based. “As a Narrative Manager on LoL PC, you will report to the Narrative Director, partnering to build and support a world-class team of storytellers.”

• Associate Narrative Director/Narrative Director at Sharkmob Sweden-based. “We are looking for an Associate Narrative Director/Narrative Director to join the directors group working with Exoborne.”

• Narrative Director at EA Montreal, Canada-based. “Battlefield is a storied franchise renowned for uncompromising combat gameplay and all-out warfare, for over two decades.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Hello my dearest paid subscribers,

I cannot thank any of you enough for your financial support, which has helped me develop this publication far more than I ever thought possible. As a token of my appreciation, you will now receive physical zines for subscribing at a paid tier! One physical issue per paid subscriber.

What I need from you now is some shipp…

Read more

Welcome to Narrative News, your must-read source for all things narrative design! Every month we publish one feature at the beginning of the month and one roundup of jobs, resources, and opportunities mid-month.

For as long as I’ve known her, my friend Nyssa Shaw-Smith Gendelman was working on Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, a game about being a Communist secret agent. I didn’t know what shape the game would take, but I knew she was brilliant and when it came out, I dove into it immediately, finding myself immersed in a gritty, absurd, colorful world of questionable ethical/outfit/lifestyle choices.

Then, only two months later, ZA/UM laid off Nyssa and many of her co-workers. I wanted to speak with her about both things. Mainly, I wanted to talk about the work she did on this incredibly well-written game and get her craft insights, but I also wanted to ask how it feels to put out something your proud of and then immediately have to deal with feeling the grief and stress of a layoff. Unfortunately, this is not at all a rare occurrence and Nyssa thinks its commonness will seep into the very fabric of this era’s games—an aesthetic of anxiety, if you will.

Which, if you ask me, is pretty darn apt aesthetic for a spy game.

Note: This interview has been condensed for length and edited for clarity.

RB: So, I played Zero Parades and I had to play multiple endings—I so enjoyed being in that world. Congrats on an amazing accomplishment.

NSSG: Oh, thanks so much. It actually really means a lot to me that you play the ending multiple times.

RB: Actually, on that, do you have any rough idea of how many like endings there are?

NSSG: It's hard to actually calculate specifically how many endings there are. When we were originally concepting it, we considered whether you should be able to have any combination of the three of six potential characters that you can bring along [to the ending confrontation]. And we realized, for purely practical reasons, we needed to make it so that some of them conflict with each other and cancel each other out.

If you’re looking at it from an even higher level there are also four ranks that you can get at the end. [Your handler] Melita gives you your rank based on how well you did in the eyes of the Opera [the Superbloc’s intelligence service]—not necessarily in the eyes of the player. That’s something I really like—you can be told that you've done a good job and feel like you did an absolutely terrible job, or you can be told you did a bad job and be like, actually, I'm happy with the choices that I made. But then you've also gotten non-standard endings, like game overs. You can die in a bunch of different ways. I think we have achievements for most, not all of them. So I'd have to count those too. Unfortunately, I did not do the math on any of this.

RB: Well, you know, it's interesting that you mentioned that you had to constrain the amount of combinations you can have for the crew you assemble, because I think it's an example of limitations being good creatively. It felt realistic that a lot of the spies didn’t want to work together, and challenging in a fun way.

NSSG: We were just looking at it logistically in terms of how much longer we had to make the game. We were not going to be able to do every single possible version of the crew, with every single outcome. It would just be too much. When we realized we had that limitation, it was like, okay, well how can we make it so that that's coming out of character choices? Because we didn't want it to feel arbitrary.

So it had to really be motivated by like, well, Holocene is not going to work with anyone from the old crew because he's incredibly paranoid. Similarly, Ramses won't work with Holocene ‘cause he thinks he's nuts. We really wanted it to feel to the player that we were not just saying, well, you can't do this because we didn't have the bandwidth for it. We wanted it to really feel like they were working with the personalities of these characters and trying to manage their specific needs and building a crew around that because that's such a huge part of spycraft—management of assets.

RB: What were some of you and your team’s inspirations?

NSSG: One of the most obvious inspirations was John LeCarre. His work comes from a very grounded background because he was someone who actually worked in espionage. But the tone and the detail work in his books was something that was a huge influence for us, and the types of characters that he features, who are pretty much all roundly losers and fuckups.

And just generally we did a lot of looking at historical Cold War espionage stories. We really wanted to find, not necessarily like the weirdest stories, but the most human espionage stories. I think we were less concerned with, like, spy gadgetry—because a lot of the anecdotes that you do find about espionage are, like, you know, they put a camera in a pigeon—but we didn't want to be really focused on things like that, because that can feel, if you lean into that too much, it can start to feel a little James Bond and we really wanted to keep it grounded.

We leaned into the anecdotes that you read about people trying to pull off relatively simple things, like dead drops, making contact with an asset—almost all of it ends up being communication. It's not car chases. It's literally people struggling to talk to each other. And we really wanted to find stories about that more so than: there’s a knife in my shoe.

RB: You mentioned losers and fuck ups, which leads me to one thing that struck me about the game was the main character. In narrative design, you often get asked to make a really bland main character so that people can imprint their personality on top of them. How did the team decide to make Hershel Wilk such a specific character?

NSSG: Hershel's really interesting because we had a lot of her personality right from the beginning. Specifically, she was a character that was brought to us in the initial pitch by Justin Keenan, our narrative director. And I think she was someone who'd been living in his head for a long time. But we all clicked with her. There are facets of her personality that each of us could relate to.

There's a lot about her particular circumstance of having made these horrible choices and having regrets about them and feeling like you've failed personally and professionally and it haunting you. Trying to atone for that, and trying to atone to your friends for screwing up their lives. Those are, I think, very strong universal emotions. It's especially cool to be able to explore that in a game where you’re really in someone's head and through the skill system can see so many individual facets of her personality and self.

RB: Were there any characters that changed a lot in function over the course of development?

NSSG: A lot of characters stayed very consistent from their first concept, but some had pretty significant shifts. Un and Deux were both initially concepted as being involved in totally different quests, and had nothing to do with each other. But the questline that Un was a part of was scrapped entirely, and the quest that Deux was a part of was overhauled, and both of them ended up being cast adrift from their original purpose.

At the same time, we’d originally concepted Squatters in the Palace of Culture as an environmental, exploration-based task -- you weren’t going to interact with any living characters at all, just the building itself. And we’d been thinking, eh, something’s not quite working here, there’s an element missing. Maybe we could drop Un and Deux in there and see what happens?

Once we did that, everything sort of clicked. There was more evolution that happened from there, making sure everything fit with the new situation, developing a new relationship for their interactions with each other and the world, but in hindsight we were like: oh, of course, they’re perfect for that. It’s hard to imagine them any other way now.

RB: One of my favorite parts was the simple humor of offering a monkey a gun. Why do you think that was such a needed counterpoint in a game with heavy themes and heady intellectualism?

NSSG: The King of Trade is such a good example of the tone balance that we tried to hit, as a comic character right in the middle of a very heavy questline (Karolina’s recruitment). I think at one point we were like, “Is this too silly? Are we going to give the player tonal whiplash by going from these really devastating interactions with K to a scene where you’re haggling with a monkey?” And I think what we realized was that you actually need a little bit of unexpected levity there to give the player a breather, especially as you’re about to go into one of the darkest sequences in the game. It catches you off-guard, it forces Hershel out of her own drama for a second.

That’s a phenomenon that we wanted to explore with the way we approached humor and absurdity, which is this weird way that sometimes you’ll be having the worst moment of your life and it’ll be punctuated with something ridiculous. You’ll be in a horrible car accident while the dumbest novelty pop song plays on the radio, and it’s like, “Damn. I’m going to die with ‘Rasputin’ by Boney M stuck in my head.” It’s a reminder that no matter how wrapped up you are in your suffering, the world is just going on out there. And for a character who’s actively trying to impact the world, like a spy, I think thematically that’s an especially poignant reminder of how powerless she really might be.

RB: Did you find a lot of things solidified right toward the end of development? How important was the editing pass?

NSSG: We were lucky in that a lot of our core ideas solidified fairly early on in development, but the last year was definitely when it all really came together. We basically started editing while we were still writing, and it was a rolling process in many ways -- we were always throwing ideas back and forth, ‘Is this good, is this working, am I getting this character’s voice right, how can we make this better’. Having a close-knit writer’s room isn’t necessarily common in games, but getting to share that process of shaping the game together, from the beginning of production right until the end, was an amazing experience.

It was really important to Justin Keenan and Patrick O’Rian, our narrative director and lead writer, that the plot be as tight as possible -- espionage can be a tricky genre to plot, because there are so many moving parts: different factions, politics, historical baggage, secrets and lies. The writing team spent a lot of time finessing everything to get it just right, and we got pretty ruthless with some of the cuts -- and basically every time it made the game stronger. I think we’d gladly have kept editing and tweaking for even longer if we’d been able to, but then, that’s kind of the curse of all writers.

RB: What was your experience with the layoff and how do you think widespread layoffs affect not just devs but the games we make?

NSSG: My most overwhelming feeling with being laid off was just grief that I wouldn’t get the chance to make another game with my team. I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to work with so many insanely talented people, and that we had the creative freedom we did. And I’m still in mourning, a bit, that I won’t be able to be a part of whatever they do next. I miss my friends!

In a weird way, the other strongest feeling was... relief. I didn’t even entirely realize until it happened just how much anxiety I’d been carrying—for years—around the fear of being laid off, just because of the way things are in the industry these days. That’s a difficult mindset to be making art in. And when I did get the news, there was a part of me that was finally able to relax, because, well, at least I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Which is a little sick.

There’s a lot of anxiety reflected in Zero Parades—you literally have an anxiety meter— and I think more and more, we’re going to be seeing games coming out that reflect the fears and stresses of the people making them. It’s a really scary time to be making games, and trying to build a somewhat stable career doing that can feel kind of impossible. That’s one reason why I feel so strongly about labour organising, and why we worked so hard at ZA/UM to form our union. At a time when things can feel hopeless, that support and solidarity and persistence I’ve been seeing from other game workers keeps me going.

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

Welcome back, fellow narrative designers.

I have a few things to flag before jumping into the job listings and resources. The first is something I’ve been working on over the last couple weeks and I sincerely hope there’s interest because it’s been so much fun…

Say hello to the Game Writer’s Almanac! A physical 16-24 page zine that comes out quarterly and features a round-up of Narrative News’ best articles plus new content, all smashed together in an aesthetically-pleasing pastiche of an old school farmer’s almanac. Below, a peek at the cover.

How can you secure one of these? And more in the future? Any paid subscribers will receive them automatically (once I collect addresses) and in the next issue I will post a digital storefront link for all paper publications to come. Yay, physical media!

In a similar-ish vein, I want to send a big shout out to Digital Games in Libraries, a new effort that, you guessed it, seeks to get games (indie ones, specifically) into libraries. I think this is really important, for both libraries and games. For one thing, if you speak to the general public, especially those over a certain age, they think all games are nasty brutish war simulators. They don’t know what stunning pieces of interactive art exist out there—and getting those pieces of art into libraries would add a sheen of legitimacy to them. Plus, kids could play these non-war simulator games and discover a whole new world of creative expression.

On the other side of things, libraries are STRUGGLING. What could juice up their relevance more than the addition of games, a thing which the young (and thus relevant) unequivocally adore?

Anywho, if you feel as passionately about games and libraries as I do (and I hope you do), considering registering for the online virtual forum that takes place October 29th and 30th this year. What could be a better activity for autumn than becoming involved with academic advocacy?

Layoff Resources

Reposting from last month… might have to make this a staple.

• UVW-CWA has a Hardship Fund that impacted workers can apply to for financial support. You do not have to be a member to apply for relief.

• Check out Amir Satvat’s amazing ASGC, a free resource featuring job listings.

• The fabulous Laura Habers posts lists of narrative design gigs on LI.

• The IGDA and WIGI have a lot of good free resources and programs.

General Resources

• How We Got a Publisher for ‘End of Ember’ by Rising Tide

• Watch of the Month:

Conferences and Events

• The largest event in games, Gamescom, is starting soon! Remember the key rules of big events: buddy system, prioritize quality over quantity, and drink water.

  • And if you don’t like busy show floors, you can always just skip the conference and hit up side events like…

• The Narrative Game Design Meetup happening pre Gamescom

Jams + Comps

• inkjam runs until August 24th. This is an annual jam that celebrates the ink scripting tool for narrative designers (made by Inkle, one of my faves).

• IFComp submissions are due by August 28th.

• The annual Spooktober Visual Novel Jam runs Sept. 1 to Oct. 1!

Jobs

Associate Content Designer at ArenaNet Bellevue, Washington-based. “We are looking for a Contract Associate Content Designer to help define and implement high-quality gameplay content and systems in our upcoming title, Guild Wars 3.”

Freelance Narrative Writer at Brotherwise Games Remote. “We’re seeking narrative writing freelancers for work on our record-breaking Cosmere RPG game line.”

Freelance Game Writer (Romance) at Crazy Maple Studio Remote. “Join our Paid Creator Program on a work-for-hire basis!”

Script Writer at Drama Studios Rennes, France-based. “You write and produce the narrative content of UNRECORD: mission and quest text, character and faction material, lore, and dialogue.”

Narrative Designer at Owlcat Games Remote possible. The studio “is currently working on titles Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.”

Narrative Designer at Grimlore Games Remote possible. “As a Narrative Designer, you will help us craft a unique, innovative campaign experience and an unforgettable story.”

Quest Designer at Fool’s Theory Remote possible. “We are actively seeking skilled individuals to join our team to work on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past expansion, developed in cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED.”

Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern Remote. “As a Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern, you will be the primary architect of our game’s universe during the crucial Scripting Phase.”

Screenwriter - ReelShort (Contractor) Bay Area or LA-based. “As a ReelShort Screenwriter, you will be responsible for reading web novels and adapting them into compelling screenplays.” Okay, not games, but adjacent. Same with the next two.

Writer - ReelShort, Elastic Heart Studio LA-based. “As the Writer, you will be responsible for working with the Head of Studio and Head Writer to conceptualize projects and create 60-80 approximate one-minute-long episodes per project.”

Writer/Senior Writer, Vertical Drama at DramaWave LA-based. “DramaWave is looking for exceptional writers to develop original and adapted vertical dramas across both premium live action and AI production.”

Narrative Writer/Story Consultant (Casual Games for Women) at Lilith Games Remote but able to overlap with Chinese working hours. “Lilith Games is a leading global game studio headquartered in Shanghai, China, known for titles including AFK Arena, Dislyte, and Farlight 84.”

Narrative Designer at Parasight Kraków-based. “Parasight is an independent game development studio and the creator of BLACKTAIL, the critically acclaimed action-adventure game inspired by the legend of Baba Yaga.”

Narrative + Quest Designer at Muffin Games Remote within North America. “We're looking for a hybrid Narrative + Quest Designer to serve as the right hand of our Narrative Director.”

Narrative Designer at GSC Game World Remote possible. “Required Qualifications: 3+ year of relevant experience on equivalent position; Experience with Unreal Engine.”

Narrative Designer - Trading Card Game at Fanatics Seattle-based. “This is not a role focused solely on writing text. It is a role about building worlds.”

Narrative Designer at Lightspeed Studios Tokyo or Osaka-based. “LightSpeed Japan Studio is a game development studio dedicated to crafting original AAA action game titles for global audiences. Led by industry veteran Hideaki Itsuno.”

Narrative Designer at Tencent Shenzhen-based. “Collaborate with design teams to develop a compelling storyline, characters, and world for an AAA shooter game.”

Narrative Designer at Chillbase Almaty, Kazakhstan-based. “We are creating One State which is a unique Social RolePlay game with no direct references on the mobile market.”

Storytelling Editor (FTC) at Larian Guildford-based. “We're looking for a Storytelling Editor to join the team, ideally with a background in Narrative Design and with a deep interest in RPGs.”

Narrative Designer at Jam City San Francisco-based. “We are looking for an experienced Narrative Designer to bring their expert writing and game design skills to our hit mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.”

Narrative Writer (Contractor) at Scopely Shanghai-based. “Scopely is looking for a Narrative Writer (Contractor) to join our Slate Development Group in Shanghai, China on a hybrid basis!”

Narrative Designer at TapBlaze LA-based. “At TapBlaze, we're looking for a Narrative Designer to help shape the future of Good Pizza, Great Pizza, Good Coffee, Great Coffee, and future titles in the Good, Great universe.”

Senior Writer at Mob Entertainment Remote possible within US. “Mob Entertainment is a startup multimedia studio that is best known for our hit indie horror game ‘Poppy Playtime’.”

Senior Narrative Designer at Gunfire Games Remote. “This is a contract opportunity for an experienced narrative designer who thrives in a collaborative game development environment.”

Lead Narrative Designer at Couch Heroes Remote within Europe. “We need a Lead Narrative Designer who can own the story of our MMO and build the team that will deliver worldbuilding, quest narrative, dialogue, and the systems.”

Storytelling Director at Larian Guildford or Dublin-based. “As the Director of this department, you are the creative filter. Only the best pitches, outlines and concepts get your greenlight.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

I love having friends, but I’ve never been a fan of the making friends part. I want to just skip the awkwardness and get to the part where we’re comfortable enough around each other to order Taco Bell at midnight and discuss the best type of bean. I suspect that’s not an uncommon feeling, or there wouldn’t be such a distaste for the essential career task that is networking.

It’s practically a dirty word. Say “networking” and you immediately conjure thoughts of rejection and sweaty palms. Even worse, it doesn’t seem to work. Where are the job offers and opportunities promised me by the inspirational LinkedIn posts that say it’s all about “who you know”? I went to the mixer, for heaven’s sake!

They’re not there because it’s not about who you know. It’s about who you genuinely care for and who genuinely cares for you in return. That’s right, we’re talking real friendship here.

But how do you make real friends in the games industry? There are still many barriers to entry, including but not limited to:

• Living in a rural area

• Having a disability that makes it hard to go places

• Being at your worst in a brightly-lit conference room

• Being at your worst in confusing Discord channels

• Deep-rooted misanthropy

Dear reader, would you believe me if I said I had an answer for every single one of those issues? Would you further believe me if I said I had even created a Tiger Beat-style quiz to help you find the form of networking least painful to you?

Well, it’s true. I created these graphics as part of my Narrascope talk this year, and wanted to pluck them out and make them into an individual newsletter because I think building community is exceedingly important, especially now. The corporations won’t save you, my friends. You know who will? Other human beings who love you.

Let’s get going!

The Quiz

The Results

Now that you’ve done the quiz, you can scroll to your suggested networking type—or peruse them all. I mostly dabble in posting and publishing and local scenes, but everyone’s preferences are entirely unique, and there are options for all.

Conferences

Exhausting but fruitful.

Like many in games, I’ve gone through the GDC gauntlet a couple of times and come out the other side. I’ve seen amazing talks and I’ve seen mediocre ones; I’ve connected with people and I’ve felt desperately alone; I’ve been inspired and I’ve been repulsed; I’ve had fun and I’ve had panic attacks. The bottom line is: it’s intense. Some people love intense things and non-stop socializing. If that’s you, you will love the big conferences like GDC and Gamescom. If that’s you half the time, you may like smaller conferences like Narrascope and Digra. If that’s not you at all, read on.

Tips:

• Volunteer to defray costs

• Make a list of people you want to meet (and shoot for the stars)

• Bring an emotional support friend

• Be safe and be gentle with yourself

• Prioritize convos over talks

Examples:

• GDC (SF)

• Gamescom (Cologne)

• Narrascope (usually East Coast)

• Digra (various international locations)

• Super FESTival (Toronto)

• AdventureX (London)

Local Scenes

Find long-term support and community.

Anyone who has followed this publication knows how much stock I put in local scenes. I even published a recent post that collected a large number of worldwide indie game communities, check it out here. The benefits are boundless: friendship, a third space apart from work and home, and artistic collaboration.

Tips:

• Work into things slowly, unlike a conference you have plenty of time to get to know people

• If one doesn’t exist where you are… make one!

Examples:

• GUMBO (Brooklyn)

• Glitch City (LA)

• Pixelles (Montreal)

• Spellkollektivet (Sweden)

• GameBCN (Barcelona)

Online Networking Events

Network from home, anywhere in the world.

This one’s for all the devs who do not live in urban hubs (I feel you, former village-dweller here). There are online-only events that you can attend, and they’re super worth it. In my experience, because the attendees are all seeking connection that they can’t usually get in their local area, the friendships tend to bloom faster.

Tips:

• Snacks and soft pants

• Focus on quality of connections over quantity

Examples:

• GIG (24hr online event)

• IGDA-F programs (meet people from around the world)

• Online workshops or classes

Game Jams

Form deep connections fast.

This is a two-for-one. Make long-lasting working friendships AND bolster your portfolio in a condensed time period. The downsides? Tiring and not always possible if you have a taxing full-time job. But if you can? These are so, so worth it—and you get to make friends from all walks of life from all over the world.

Tips:

• Yes, people are looking for narrative designers to join their teams

• But also: don’t be afraid to lead a team and recruit talent through the jam discord channel

Examples:

• Game jams on Itch.io

• Global Game Jam

Discords

Community that’s always at your fingertips.

Guys, this one is not for me. I need to see people irl to gather social cues or my anxiety pops off. Plus, I’m always confused and looking for previous context about what is going on in these neverending streams of chatter. BUT this one could be for you, especially if you want friendship but also don’t want to be seen/perceived. I asked my friend who likes Discord for the below tips.

Tips:

• Participate in discussions

• Some discords have live events

• Every community is unique – so explore!

Examples:

• Game jam discords

• Game community discords

• Modding discords

Posting + Publishing

Become known, and build relationships at the same time.

This one is good for the misanthropes. Maybe you like to write, but you don’t really want to converse. Sometimes it happens! Often, even! Lucky for curmudgeonly yappers, platforms exist where you may offer your wares. Bluesky/the terrible X for short, snappy humorists; Substack for people who like to expound at length; TikTok/YouTube/Twitch for those who favor oral storytelling; and of course, LinkedIn if… well, if you can handle LinkedIn.

Tips:

• Produce interesting but sustainable content

• Do it regularly

• You can engage with your readers on your own terms and in your own time

Examples:

• Substack

• LinkedIn

• Bluesky/X

• TikTok

• YouTube

• Twitch

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Hey fellow narrative designers,

Well, the announcement of another 3,2000 ‘redundancies’ from Xbox in an already oversaturated jobs market is pretty bleak.

If you were affected, I am so deeply sorry. This does not reflect on your skills and talents. It reflects only on the lack of foresight of those ghastly corporate decision-makers.

You may feel like you’re just trying to survive, unable to do much else. That is completely natural. Remember that surviving is important and hard work in itself, and something to take pride in—even (ESPECIALLY) if it means moving back home or working a job not in your field. You are doing your best with what you have, and that is admirable. I can only hope for all of our sakes that the hiring market gets better, because there are far too many talented, hard-working people struggling due to no fault of their own right now.

With that said, let’s proceed to the jobs, opportunities, and a bunch of layoff resources.

Layoff Resources

• First off: this is exactly the type of thing we need. The relatively newly formed direct-join union United Videogame Workers has created a Hardship Fund that impacted workers can apply to for financial support. If you’d like to contribute, just become a member of the union. The fund comes from membership dues.

• Check out Amir Satvat’s amazing ASGC, a free resource featuring job listings and other career guidance.

• The fabulous Laura Habers posts lists of narrative design gigs at a regular cadence over on LinkedIn.

• The IGDA and WIGI have a lot of good free resources and programs.

General Resources

• Check out this pay-what-you-can workbook on designing characters by Edit Ballai.

Jams + Comps

• GMTK Game Jam, probably one of the best known game jams in the world, is starting July 22nd. It’s not narrative-specific, but I’d still highly recommend leading a group or offering your narrative wares to a team. Could be a wonderful experience that leaves you with a great sample!

• IntroComp submissions are due by August 1st. “IntroComp is an annual competition where participants develop excerpts of interactive fiction, gain feedback from audience reactions, and (hopefully!) use this feedback to release a fantastic final product.”

• August 1st is the last day to register your intent to enter IFComp, the largest yearly interactive fiction competition.

• NFTS Game Poems Jam starts September 7th. “Join us in celebrating Videogame Poems as an emergent short-form personal expression that challenges traditional boundaries between art forms!”

Jobs

Screenwriter at ReelShort (Contractor) Culver City, CA, US-based. “As a ReelShort Screenwriter, you will be responsible for reading web novels and adapting them into compelling screenplays.” *Okay, not games, but mobile. I’ve seen career crossover.

Live Action Microdrama Screenwriter at COL Group Glendale, CA, US-based. “This role goes beyond traditional screenwriting.” *Same as above, might be worth checking!

Freelance Game Writer (Romance) at Crazy Maple Studio Remote. “Chapters Interactive Stories is seeking experienced content writers, romance authors and narrative game designers to join our Paid Creator Program.”

Freelance Narrative Writer (Cosmere RPG) at Brotherwise Games Remote. “This role is optimal for a creative freelancer who has experience in TTRPG narrative writing, and an interest in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere setting.”

Writer at Larian Studios Warsaw, Poland-based. “Write and test complex branching dialogues that have player agency throughout and fulfill the narrative requirements set by Design, Writing, and Narrative Leads and Directors.”

Narrative Designer - Trading Card Game at Fanatics Seattle, WA, US-based. “This is not a role focused solely on writing text. It is a role about building worlds.”

Narrative Designer/Writer at Surco Games Remote within US, Contract. “Last Call is a character-driven sci-fi bartending game in the lineage of VA-11 Hall-A, Coffee Talk, and Strange Antiquities.”

Narrative Designer - Contract at Wizards of the Coast Renton, WA, US-based. “We are a high-talent, welcoming team seeking someone who is a curious, adaptable, and creative team member.”

Narrative Designer at Ravensburger Seattle, WA, US-based. “Shape the story and narrative content for the Disney Lorcana TCG.”

Senior Narrative Designer at Disney Experiences Glendale, CA, US-based. “If you are an imaginative creator with superb game development skills, and have a love of Disney/Pixar, 20th Century, Marvel, and Star Wars properties, you’ll want to check out this opportunity!”

Senior Narrative Designer (6-month contract) at Gunfire Games Seems remote. “With a legacy built on titles like Darksiders III, Chronos, and the Remnant series, we continue to push the boundaries of game development.”

Senior Writer at CD PROJEKT RED Boston, MA, US-based. “CD PROJEKT RED is seeking a highly skilled and visionary Senior Writer to work out of our Boston Hub.”

Senior Writer at Remedy Helsinki-based. “As a Senior Writer at Remedy, you will work with the Writing Team to create stories, characters, dialogue, collectibles, game text, and provide any other writing support the project may need.”

Senior Narrative Designer (FTC) at Dambuster Studios Nottingham, UK-based. “Dambuster Studios - creators of the number one BAFTA-nominated smash hit Dead Island 2 - has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Narrative Designer.”

Senior Narrative Designer at EA Guildford, UK-based. “We are seeking a Senior Narrative Designer to join the Battlefield team to help drive the narrative experience of Battlefield forward.”

Senior Scriptwriter [Assassin’s Creed] at Ubisoft Quebec City, QC, Canada-based. “As a Senior Scriptwriter on the Assassin’s Creed Franchise at Ubisoft Quebec City, you will play a key role in shaping the narrative vision of the game.”

Lead Writer at Fusebox Games UK-based. “We’re looking for an experienced Project Lead Writer to lead the narrative delivery of one of our live projects.”

Lead Narrative Designer (TFT) at EA Guildford, UK-based. “We are seeking an experienced Lead Narrative Designer to join the Battlefield team on a fixed-term basis to provide maternity leave cover.”

Lead Narrative Designer at Couch Heroes Remote within Europe. “You will report to the Game Director and take ownership of a narrative discipline that is just beginning: one narrative designer is in place today.”

Storytelling Editor (FTC) at Larian Studios Guildford, UK-based. “We're looking for a Storytelling Editor to join the team, ideally with a background in Narrative Design and with a deep interest in RPGs.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

It may seem like a frivolity in this current economic climate to report on advanced narrative design careers—it’s hard enough to get a footing in the first place—but I frequently get asked about this topic by emerging narrative designers. Since I have no expertise in navigating the more advanced stages of a narrative design career (I’ve been a narrative designer for five layoff-ridden years. I’d say I’m mid-level), I decided to ask two people who decidedly do.

The first is Chris L’Etoile, who I was privileged enough to work alongside on a recent project. Chris has been writing for games since 1999, when he started out as a content designer on Asheron’s Call at WB Games. He has a CV that simply boggles the mind. Some of his illustrious credits include: Mass Effect (1 and 2), Dragon Age: Origins, The Elder Scrolls Online, The Outer Worlds, and Aliens: Fireteam Elite (1 and 2) among many, many other fascinating released and unreleased projects.

The project we worked on together (myself as a narrative designer and he as a consultant) turned out to be one of the unreleased ones, but working with Chris was one of the highlights of the project. Humble and soft-spoken, he would let everyone else in the writer room speak first then, finally, when asked directly for his thoughts, would come out with ideas both technically feasible and dripping in pathos, originality, and whimsy. Chris’s career has traveled down many intriguing paths, but never down the path of leadership, mostly staying in the realm of independent contributor (IC) and consultant. I believe you can see the 20+ years of consistent game writing practice in the quality of his work—he’s an artisan, the equivalent of a master woodworker. But was that always his intention? I asked him. I’m appending his response whole-cloth because well, he knows how to write a beginning, middle, and end.

“You probably won’t like the answer. :)

On one hand, I prefer to keep my hands dirty, actually design, write, and implement the content in the game. In my observations, the further up you get in the leadership hierarchy, the less time you have to spend on actual narrative tasks. You’re coordinating, scheduling, containing scope, managing and tanking for your team. You set up the canvas and paints, but usually have to leave the portrait to someone else’s brush.

On the other hand, I never thought I’d be particularly *good* at those managerial tasks... and to date, my leads have seemed to agree. Even [redacted], as steadfast a friend and industry ally as I’ve ever had, bluntly told me (when I applied for what became [redacted]’s position) that he didn’t consider me team lead material.

It was only after working under a CD who I saw making very clear mistakes that I thought maybe I’d actually be able to do it after all. At the least, I know that I have the experience to avoid the mistakes they made. That’s not much, but it’s a place to start.

Unfortunately, at this point I’m stuck under a glass ceiling. I have no experience as a lead or director, and I can’t *get* experience as a lead or director. No one’s going to hire someone with no formal experience at the job, and none of my jobs in the last 10-15 years have lasted long enough to earn an internal promotion.

TL;DR: I like to write, and I lack confidence. :)”

At the time of asking, Chris was between jobs, but now—less than a month later—he has a position again as, you guessed it, a narrative designer. It seems a rather absurd title for a man of his experience but, title aside, it’s clear that his skill has clear value even in these terrible days of AI mayhem. He’s twenty years in and I don’t see him slowing down anytime soon.

But, as he explained himself, it’s not a path for everyone. Some narrative designers, though they love writing, take a path that leads them away from the day-to-day joy of their craft in exchange for creative control, upward mobility, and a LOT of meetings. For this side of things, I spoke to another person I regard highly: Manny Hagopian.

I knew of Manny from his offbeat comedic stylings on LinkedIn, but first saw him speak in-person at the New York Game Awards at a fireside chat about writing comedy for games. He piqued my interest with not only his comments on comedy writing, but on writing in games in general—something he knows a fair bit more about than most of us can boast.

He’s been in the industry over 13 years but in that (relatively) short span of time has written and led on some of the most notable hits of the last decade. Titanfall (1 and 2), Apex Legends, and Star Wars Jedi (Fallen Order and Survivor). This is rare in the industry, and yet if you have the instinct to call it luck—well, you only have to talk to the man to see it’s not (or, at least, only the regular amount of good luck it takes to ship games in this industry, mixed with the astute creative instincts needed to really stick the landing). He’s had flops like the rest of us, but damn that’s a good batting average.

All that to say, he’s talented. And, like Chris, he’s blunt. When I asked him about whether being a director meant less creative work he responded immediately in the affirmative.

“A hundred percent. It sucks. I think I think there are people that are really good at balancing and being able to still be creative, but it's not your job to be creative. That's where you get, I think, friction with some directors. You could get a director who's never been creative and is trying to be creative and make the rules, and that develops a bit of friction because you're a writer and your director doesn't know how to write. I know narrative directors who never started as writers. So it's like, why are you giving me notes when you don't know how to do this? Why are you in this role? And really, it's because the person who should be in that role doesn't want to be in that role because they want to write. They want to do the creative thing that they're really, really good at. So it takes a lot of willpower and focus. To be a director, a good director, you have to put that thing you really, really enjoy aside and allow the other to do it and help them get better at it and be a good leader to make sure that they're being listened to and getting everything they need. I mean, it's about being a parent. You used to be a kid, used to be able to play, now you have to watch your kids.”

But is there a hidden joy to directorial work? From what Manny said it seemed more like a sort of satisfaction if you manage to keep the boat afloat and sailing in the right direction. Often, it’s less about creative choices and more about nurturing people. Speaking about his time as a director, he said:

“A lot of my time was spent on emotional conversations. I've been in one-on-ones where the person I'm talking to is in tears, not because of the game, but just because of life, you know? You turn into a person who listens to them, who can support them. And it's really emotionally draining, but it's your job. You have to make sure that you're there for your team because if your team doesn't have that support or any form of protection… Even if you can't protect them forever, you're still meant to be that for them. If you're not, then nobody wants to work with you.”

First off, hats off to this man. Secondly, that gives you a good sense of a large part of the work of leadership. If being a listening ear and a champion of writers sounds good to you, then you might just be director material. Or, I suppose, if you simply want the higher paycheck and to climb higher up the corporate ladder. Which I can’t judge (who doesn’t need a little extra scratch?) although I do wish more people considered whether they could be as empathetic and supportive as Manny in a directorial position, rather than just pursuing the pay bump with little idea of what it takes to be a good leader.

So, there you have it. A refreshingly honest look at two impressive careers in narrative design that look quite different but share in significant accolades and credits. Which seems more appealing to you? Sound off in the comments, she said, millennially.

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Hey fellow narrative designers,

I attended Narrascope 2026 this past weekend and am happy to report that it was a smash success in every respect. Beautiful location (University at Albany), great people, and fascinating talks. I threw my own hat in the ring with a talk entitled Rising Action: Building a Career in Narrative Design which featured tips on a variety of subjects, from portfolios to networking. I’ll be sharing bits and pieces from the talk via this newsletter over the next little while so Narrative News readers won’t miss out on anything!

In the meantime, on to the opportunities and job listings.

Jams + Comps

• Neo-Twiny Jam 2026 runs until July 1st. “Create a tiny Interactive Fiction piece in 500 words or less!”

• ParserComp 2026 submissions are due by June 29th. “ParserComp is for previously unreleased, parser-based text games: games which take a free-text input, parse it, and produce an output which typically is more text.”

• IntroComp 2026’s intent to enter deadline is June 30th. “Entrants must submit an excerpt of a new, never before seen work of interactive fiction that is not yet complete.”

• GMTK Game Jam 2026 runs from July 22nd to July 26th and is absolutely massive. Not narrative-focused but go offer up your narrative expertise! I promise it’s wanted.

• You can register your intent to enter IFComp by July 1st.

Resources

• Video of the month alert! Writing Villains Like a Boss by Ali Nouraei.

• Pixar knows its stuff when it comes to storytelling.

• Yiyi Zhang is putting out some great tips on job hunting via LinkedIn. Check out this resume breakdown.

• Why narrative designers can learn a lot from plays by Tyler Hutchison.

• Sesame Workshop out here doing research on designing VR games to promote youth well-being.

Opportunities

• Nick Akerman has put out a call for submissions for NewGame+, a book series “designed to extend the experience of play beyond the screen.”

Jobs

• Writer Internship at Larian Studios Barcelona-based. “At Larian, a Writer is not just a dialogue writer, but a scene designer, a collaborator, and at heart - a player.”

• Game Writing Intern at Game Excite Germany-based. “We are looking for a motivated intern to actively support us in the area of game writing for at least 3 months, if possible even longer as a permanent member of the team!”

• Technical Narrative Designer at Spiel Remote possible (Polish HQ). “We are a UE5-focused game development studio creating an immersive automotive game.”

• Content Designer (WoW Classic) at Blizzard Irvine, CA-based. “Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a talented and experienced Content Designer to join the World of Warcraft Classic team.”

• Game Content Designer at Aquila Interactive Remote within Sweden. “Aquila Interactive is seeking an experienced Game Content Designer to help build and expand the content of our grand strategy titles.”

• Content Designer at Paradox Stockholm-based. “As a Content Designer on Stellaris, it is your mission to conceive and implement captivating narratives, allowing players to explore their fantasies on a galactic scale.”

• Quest Designer (Contract) at Fool’s Theory Poland-based. “We are actively seeking skilled individuals to join our team to work on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past expansion, developed in cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED.”

• Story Associate (Contract) at Fusebox Games Remote. “Fusebox is looking for a Story Associate on a 6 months contract to work with their Senior Writers on various upcoming projects due to ongoing growth in the business.”

• Game Writer at Templar Media Alpharetta, GA, US-based. “As a Game Writer at Templar Media, you’ll play a key part in shaping the story and narrative experience of our current and upcoming titles.”

• Writer at Cosmico Games Stockholm-based. There’s no job listing summary on the website, but the link redirects to the contact page.

• Narrative Designer at ARVORE Remote. “We are ARVORE, a startup in the virtual reality content creation scene. Based in São Paulo.”

• Narrative Designer at Fanatics Collectibles Seattle-based. “We're seeking a Narrative Designer to help bring the world of sports to life within a trading card game.”

• Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern Remote. “As a Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern, you will be the primary architect of our game’s universe during the crucial Scripting Phase.”

• Narrative Designer at Rebellion UK-based. “We’re looking for an experienced, dynamic Narrative Designer to work on a varied slate of exciting new projects in development right now!”

• Narrative Game Designer at Handy Games Germany-based. “For our current in-house game project, which is set in a gothic-inspired science fiction world with a focus on story and combat, we are looking for a talented Narrative Game Designer.”

• Narrative Game Designer - Universes Beyond at Wizards of the Coast Hybrid at one of the US locations. “The Magic Studio has an exciting opportunity for a Narrative Game Designer on our emerging Universes Beyond product line!”

• Narrative Designer at Ravensburger Seattle-based. “Shape the story and narrative content for the Disney Lorcana TCG.”

• Senior Writer (Cyberpunk 2) at CD PROJEKT RED Boston-based. “In this role, you will be responsible for crafting captivating narratives, compelling dialogues and innovative quests for Cyberpunk 2.”

• Senior Story Designer at ArenaNet Remote. “ArenaNet is looking for a Contract Senior Story Designer to help define and implement high-quality gameplay content and systems in our upcoming title, Guild Wars 3.”

• Senior Narrative Designer (Cyberpunk 2) at CD PROJEKT RED Boston-based. “This role focuses on narrative-driven emotional design, and visual scripting.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at EA Guildford-based. “We are seeking a Senior Narrative Designer to join the Battlefield team.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at TapBlaze LA-based. “TapBlaze is looking for a Senior Narrative Designer to shape the stories, characters, and worlds players return to every day in Good Pizza, Great Pizza, Good Coffee, Great Coffee.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at LUDIA Montreal-based. “We're building a new casual mobile F2P game from scratch on a major license.”

• Lead Narrative Designer (TFT) at EA Guildford-based. “We are seeking an experienced Lead Narrative Designer to join the Battlefield team on a fixed-term basis to provide maternity leave cover.”

• Narrative Director at Skybound Entertainment LA-based. “You’ll lead narrative across Quarter Up titles, shaping story, dialogue, VO, character authenticity, and worldbuilding from concept through launch.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Welcome to Narrative News, your must-read source for all things narrative design. Every month I publish one feature at the beginning of the month and one roundup of jobs, resources, and opportunities mid-month. Thanks for reading!

When I first moved to New York in 2022, I was all alone.

Well, except for one large, cranky feline companion—my beloved Colby Jack Lebowski.

Desperate for human interaction, I searched for indie game dev communities in NYC and I hit upon GUMBO.

My hopes weren’t high when I first walked in. In this day and age, how likely is it to find real community? People who say '“let’s hang out” and mean it? And yet, that’s exactly what I found.

GUMBO is a non-profit co-working space for game devs. At almost any hour you’ll find fello devs milling about in slippers with mugs of tea ready to share in gallows-humor chuckles about the state of the industry and excited yapping sessions about new indie games. It’s cozy and inviting and has saved me multiple times. First, when I’d just moved and was lonely and heartbroken, then when I got laid off the first time (sad), and then a second time (devastating). When I lost my apartment. When I lost my cat. It was in those darkest moments that I found the meaning and crucial importance of real community, and I’ve been proselytizing it ever since.

In that pursuit, I recently put out a call on LinkedIn to hear about more communities like this. I know quite a few in the US and Canada, but I wanted to know about communities around the world. In response, a lot of wonderful people weighed in to highlight their beautiful game-making communities. I’m collating all the responses here plus a few others I dug up, but I know there are still many that I’ll miss—that’s why I’ll keep updating this post as when I get new intel on indie game communities. If you know of one I missed, please pop into the comments and let me know! Keep in mind, I’m mainly thinking of places that are for indie devs and offer some chance of socializing/making friends. This is not a list of funding opportunities or even co-operative studios (though those might incidentally pop up in the list).

Without further ado…

Global

There are International Game Developers Association (IGDA) chapters all over the world, check and see if one is active near you! There are also Women In Games International (WIGI) chapters worldwide.

Argentina

• ADVA

• IC-Cube*

Australia

Adelaide:

• Catalyst Games*

Sydney:

• Game Plus*

Melbourne:

• MASS*

Belgium

• Gent Game Nest

• Games Brussels

• Spawnpoint Hasselt

Brazil

• GameJamPlus*

• Indie Hero

Canada

Montreal:

• Pixelles*

• Gamerella

• Indie Asylum*

Toronto:

• Hand Eye Society

Chile

• Video Games Chile

Czechia

• Gamebaze*

Denmark

• Copenhagen Game Collective

Finland

• Espoo Game LAB

Germany

• Saftladen*

• The Rabbit Indie Games Residency*

Iceland

• Game Makers Iceland

• Icelandic Game Industry

India

Hyderabad:

• GDAI

• IMAGE COE

Ireland

• Imirt

• Ardan

Japan

• iGi

Netherlands

• Dutch Game Nest

• Game Bakery

New Zealand

Auckland:

• NZGDA

Dunedin:

• CODE

Nigeria

• Africa Comicade

• Kucheza

Norway

• Spawn Point Trondheim*

• Work-Work*

Pakistan

• Saiyara

Peru

• FemDevs Peru

Senegal

• Game Hub Senegal*

Singapore

• SGGA

South Africa

Johannesburg:

• AB4IR*

• Animation SA*

• ITTHYNK Gaming*

• Tshimologong*

Spain

Barcelona:

• Game BCN

Madrid:

• FemDevs

• AEVI

Sweden

• Game Habitat*

• Spelkollektivet*

UK

Guildford:

• Rocketdesk* (Not only for game devs, but apparently there are plenty there.)

• Games Innovation Zone*

London:

• Game Dev Local

US

Austin:

• ATX Game Makers

New York:

• GUMBO*

• NYU Games Center Incubator*

• Coexist Gaming*

• NYC Games Social

• Tech Valley Game Space (Albany)*

• Buffalo Game Space*

• ROC Game Dev (Rochester)

• CNY Game Devs (Central New York)

Boston:

• Boston Indies

Bay Area:

• Jeffrey Doka’s garage?!* (One man’s garage. Very cool.)

LA:

• Glitch City*

Philadelphia:

• Philly Game Mechanics

Seattle:

• Seattle Indies

UK

Guildford:

• Rocketdesk* (Not only for game devs, but apparently there are plenty there.)

• Games Innovation Zone*

London:

• Game Dev Local

Online + Miscellaneous

If there’s nothing near to you, consider:

• Itch.io Jams

• Mod communities (like Fallout: London Development Team)

• Online volunteer game studios (like Cave Bear Games)

• Engine communities (like Unreal Mexico City)

• Digital networking opportunities (like GIG, Questline, and Game Devs of Color).

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Hey fellow narrative designers,

A late mid-month roundup this month as life events OCCUR at an alarming rate. Nothing interesting or fun, I’m afraid, but sometimes life is like that. I am trying to listen to my bodily and emotional limitations and give myself some grace for dropping a few balls now and then. Rest is so necessary.

On top of the aforementioned life events, AI fatigue is getting to me. Myself and all the other creatives I know are so over it, so aware of its many limitations and dangers, and yet the hype and pressure to use it is only ratcheting up. We saw something similar with NFT games before that bubble burst. I hope we hurry up and get to the bursting part!

In other news, I will be speaking at Narrascope in June, and I am quite excited about my talk. I’m packing it with very practical advice and solid examples on the ABCs of building a career in narrative design. If you’re attending, hit it up then come and chat with me after. I love making new narrative design friends.

Time to get down to business… on to the links!

Jams + Comps

• Interested in making some bad interactive fiction? Well, here’s just the jam for you! Submissions due May 30th. Believe me, that’s plenty of time to make a bad game.

• Neo Twiny Jam limits you to making a Twine game of up to 500 words total. It runs through June 30th.

• ParserComp is open for submissions until June 29th. “ParserComp is for previously unreleased, parser-based text games: games which take a free-text input, parse it, and produce an output which typically is more text.”

Events

• Narrascope is right around the corner! As mentioned, I will be speaking there but even if you don’t want to see me yap, there will be so many fascinating talks by so many game narrative nerds. Attend in Albany, NY from June 12th to 14th or register to attend online.

Resources

• Check out this cool article by Stuart Maine on How to be a freelance writer for video games!

Opportunities

• The NYU Game Center 2026 Incubator applications are open until June 5th. Benefits of the program include the $15K of funding and coworking space. Team must be majority NY residents.

Jobs

• Narrative Design Intern at Tapblaze LA-based, paid. “This is a 12 week internship where you’ll work directly with the game and design teams to ideate, write, and refine in-game dialogue, event arcs, and character moments.”

• Game Script Writer at Jalan Journey Singapore-based. “Inspired by JudgeSim, “In Confidence” is a narrative-driven simulation game where players step into the role of a youth counsellor at a fictional early intervention centre.”

• Associate Quest Designer at Activision Poland-based. “If you’re an early-career designer who values collaboration and creative problem-solving, we’d love to hear from you.”

• Writer at CD PROJEKT RED (The Witcher 4) Poland-based. “In this position you will write documentation, craft compelling stories, engaging dialogues, and immersive narrative experiences.”

• Content Designer - Narrative & Systems (Open World) at Gameloft Bucharest-based. “Bringing a cozy life-sim fantasy to life through content, by tightly integrating narrative, systems, and world-building.”

• Game Narrative Designer at Yotta Games Remote. “Set and write the Portrayed Game World according to the game producers’ requirements.”

• Technical Narrative Designer - Gears of War at The Coalition Vancouver-based. “As a Technical Narrative Designer you will help us ideate, prototype, implement, and polish innovative story-based experiences.”

• Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern Remote. “As a Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern, you will be the primary architect of our game’s universe during the crucial Scripting Phase.”

• Narrative Designer at Cozy Game Studio Remote. “We are looking for a Narrative Designer/Writer for a 4-month contract (preferably freelance) starting in May.”

• Narrative Designer at Torpor Games Berlin-based. “The Narrative Designer will take ownership of key narrative design and content development for Suzerain: Project Vanguard.”

• Narrative Designer at Arvore Sao Paolo-based. “You will have the opportunity to work on innovative immersive and narrative-driven XR experiences.”

• Narrative Designer at Lightspeed Studios Japan-based. “Led by industry veteran Hideaki Itsuno, the studio operates across two locations in Tokyo and Osaka.”

• Narrative Designer at GSC Game World Remote possible. “Familiarity with branching dialogue systems and non-linear storytelling techniques.”

• Narrative Designer at Final Strike Montreal-based. “Final Strike Games is an independent game-development studio with a passion for creating world‑class multiplayer, shooter, and live‑service games in Unreal Engine.”

• Game Narrative Designer - Mecha BREAK Guangdong-based. “Package and adapt IP content for in-game use.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at Bohemia Interactive Czechia-based. “The story of Arma 4 doesn't write itself — it's built on systems, structures, and people who know exactly how to pull players into the world.”

• Senior Quest Designer at CD PROJEKT RED Warsaw-based. “If you have experience with visual scripting, interactive storytelling and a talent for directing complex projects, we want to hear from you!”

• Senior Narrative Designer at CD PROJEKT RED Boston-based. “CD PROJEKT RED is looking for a Senior Narrative Designer to join our Boston office to work on Cyberpunk 2, the next mainline Cyberpunk 2077 game.”

• Lead Narrative Designer at Dambuster Studios Remote within the UK. “As Narrative Lead, you are a key member of the studio’s leadership group, responsible for the day-to-day leadership and delivery of the Narrative team’s output.”

• Lead Narrative Designer at EA UK-based. “We are seeking an experienced Lead Narrative Designer to join the Battlefield team on a fixed-term basis to provide maternity leave cover.”

• Narrative and World Lead at Eleventh Hour Games Remote. “As a Narrative and World Lead for Eleventh Hour Games, you will be the architect of the interconnected systems of story, quests, characters, and lore.”

• Narrative Director (Assassin’s Creed) at Ubisoft Montreal-based. “As a Narrative Director at Ubisoft Montreal, you will define, structure, and evolve the long-term narrative vision of the brand.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

The first time I met Devinne Moses in person was on one of those sunny but sharply cold GDC days at the Yerba Buena Park. He was sitting with a friend of mine and I popped in to their conversation circle.

He had an aura of peace and calm about him which is rare at GDC (and in life generally). I was impressed. Shortly thereafter I found out that this laidback individual was also in the midst of an unbelievable project: putting out 12 narrative games in 12 months. I was shocked, I was amazed, I was awed—and maybe a part of me wondered if he’d really make it all the way to the end.

I watched as every month, he put out a new game (most alongside collaborating artist Estelle Stanilescu), never fizzling out or making excuses. It was an incredible, Herculean feat. Yes, these are short games, but… you try making 12 short games in one year! I spent the majority of the last year writing one short story.

When the project was finally complete I knew I had to reach out to Devinne and ask him to write about his experience for Narrative News, and he agreed! Below is a short review of his 2025. He kept dev logs so there are excerpts from each month included. It gives an interesting glimpse into the experience. If you’d like to dive into the games as well, you can find them on the Vine Moss website. They are also being published on Steam under the title Imagine We Were Human in June as one streamlined package. Wishlist available now.

January 2025 - In Time On Distance

A series of speed date conversations between two people willing to try and connect

From the Retrospective: “In Time, On Distance is the first ever game I charged money for, which is equally terrifying and fulfilling. I am incredibly proud of this game and what it means in the grand scheme of things for me and this studio, and I am constantly reminding myself of how much patience and effort is required for this long journey ahead.”

I set the bar for my studio with In Time, On Distance, especially with all the features I created for games down the line. I created a dialogue management system, established an art direction pipeline, and wrote many, many dialogue lines.

February 2025 - Doppelspeak

The ebb and flow of a difficult conversation, a study of what’s spoken and concealed, hidden or revealed

From the Retrospective: It’s hard to make the right decisions and find time to address all aspects of game development within a month - this medium is vast and fruitful but a daunting beast when it comes to the different challenges and pathways a developer can come across.

This was my sophisticated way of saying, “This is a dumb idea and I’m so behind.” Doppelspeak provided me with more hurdles than I could count, with bugs that kept me coding late into the night. Even then, I found a way to release the second game of the year, and this early test of resilience was just what I needed to face the upcoming months.

March 2025 - MND Anatomy

Amari Mallory’s mind-bending night, post dinner date

From the Retrospective: “I was extremely excited by this story and its cast of characters, but that excitement didn’t translate to an easy or consistent flow of dialogue lines.”

Delaying narrative tasks became a consistent pattern throughout this journey. I had to challenge my perfectionist habits and write through narrative paralysis while balancing a project’s other design tasks. I ended up with a witty and endearing story as a reward for my perseverance!

April 2025 - Hold On

A game poem on hugging and holding on

From the Retrospective: “This Vignette Break was a gentle, abstract meditation on loss that disrupted my intensive development process and brought welcoming energy for the journey ahead.”

Hold On was planned as a shorter, textless game to mentally reset after what felt like a sprint through three text-heavy narratives. To design and direct a game filled with heart and very few words was undeniably refreshing - like soup for the soul!

May 2025 - Remember Me Before Andromeda

A collection of memories and musings from a regretful man, told from the stars above

From the Retrospective: “I can’t wait for these games to get weirder, more polished, and more mechanically intricate as the year goes on…”

This is the sound of a refreshed, inspired developer! May’s game was a departure from the text-heavy games before it. These mini interactive moments - drawn from personal memories - felt engaging and genuine, and my emphasis on experimentation brought new energy to the rest of the year’s games.

June 2025 - Seconds Between Summer

A gentle swim through time, past and present

From the Retrospective: “The distinct narrative structure of this game required a different method for tracking… I utilized a tried-and-true tool to accomplish this goal: the spreadsheet.”

Seconds Between Summer acts like a point-and-click mystery game à la The Case of The Golden Idol. With several clues to track, plus different environments, characters, and a first-time collaboration with an artist, using a spreadsheet (rather than my go-to software Twine) was as much of a necessity as it was a welcomed change to my writing process.

July 2025 - After Wonder

An anniversary night made possible through a wondrous arcade cabinet

From the Retrospective: “There were a fair share of stumbling blocks for this game… I should have set the story in place before building out the arcade cabinet, but I let my interest in the shiny new game UI take precedent over the familiar but essential narrative components.”

During production, After Wonder’s story drifted in and out of focus because of my excitement for other aspects of the game. This resulted in rushed writing, narrative pivots at the end of the month, and overflowing stress I could have prevented with proper planning. I love this game, but it took a lot of my July to get it ready for release.

August 2025 - Liminal Strangers

A game poem about unspoken desire for connection in close spaces

From the Retrospective: “We move so fast. We pass comfort in strangers. We walk through the same unknown spaces. Slow down and say hi to someone new.”

This game was another rest stop between three-game sprints, yet it stands out as the most visually ambitious project of the group. I digitally separated 150+ background pieces across three different levels of digital paint, pixel art, and hand-crafted felt from our collaborating artist. This wistful quote captures a strong thematic throughline for Vine Moss Games, and I wanted to pull out all the stops for this textless mosaic.

September 2025 - Incoherence

A collection of small encounters for a man limited in language

From the Retrospective: “I’m proud and happy with the short stories I got to share in INCOHERENCE, but I know I had a lot more intended for the game’s narrative than what was released.”

I remember how stressed I felt during this project last September. I missed my internal narrative deadlines, and I spent a few days in October catching up and trying to revive the overarching narrative I had planned for this game. It honestly didn’t come together in the end, but I learned to make peace with what I made and release it to the world. The world has been very kind to it since.

October 2025 - No Room For Sharks

Anna’s attempt at escaping her nightmarish family through a series of rooms

From the Retrospective: “this game is about a woman that flees her family, yet her family returns in her dreams much too often, hurling insults and inflicting emotional wounds… each family member was an opportunity to craft a truly menacing character that pushes the protagonist’s buttons in different ways. It flips the script on familiar horror games, and allowed me to approach writing in a different way than I have been so far this year.”

This quote still rings true. No Room For Sharks is the darkest game I made in 2025, and it was a unique challenge to design and write cruel, disturbed characters like these. Each dialogue line was carefully crafted, and I hope players felt a bit of a chill as they came across each family member.

November 2025 -Within Rotation

Chance Encounters... A Turn Away

From the Retrospective: “Meet 8 strangers… distinct in their personality archetypes. Discover unique conversations as Within Rotation shines a light on universals experienced in life: fate and friendship.”

I loved creating strong personalities for the previous game so much that I kept the trend going and made a bunch more! This game was energizing for my writing, and it reminded me that fun-loving characters often brought fun to my entire development process

December 2025 - We Disentangled One Day

A game poem about unraveling an entrenched relationship

From the Retrospective: “The final vignette break and final game of the year is here. We Disentangled One Day shows the unraveling necessary after a relationship runs its course.”

By this point, after an entire year of rigorous game-making, I didn’t have much to reflect on for this game. Whether it was exhaustion, the winter season, or letting this game simply speak for itself, my initial thoughts on this game are lost in the past. If anything, I very much like We Disentangled One Day now!

There’s so much I could talk about regarding these games, this massive decision to embark on this journey, and my growth as a creative person. It wasn’t all perfect - as some of the devlog excerpts highlight - but I will always be proud of the step I took to make strange narrative games about what makes us human.

Vine Moss Games helped me travel and attend different conferences and expos, meet so many designers and supporters of experimental narrative work, and share my story to students and veteran designers alike - Narrative News readers especially! Thank you Rose for the support and the space to reflect on these games, and I hope everyone reading feels a little more inspired to take that risk and make the narrative game(s) you want to see in the world!

Thank YOU, Devinne! I am certainly inspired, even though I know for a fact my pace is a mite slower than yours. I think one of the lessons I’ve taken away from Devinne’s journey is to make more small things. Better to have a bunch of small finished projects than one large, sprawling forever unfinished beast.

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers. We’ll be back mid-month with resources, jobs, and opportunities listings.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an unannounced AAA game. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Cell to Singularity, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice a month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Hello all!

The job market in games, particularly for narrative designers, continues to be awful, with layoffs of many extremely talented and experienced writers (including some very talented former colleagues from Pixelberry, where I started my games journey). Even Brenda and John Romero say they’ve never seen it be quite this bad, and they were around for the 80s crash. But, on that cheerful note… at least there are quite a few new job and internship listings this month. Here’s hoping that one of the jobs or opportunities below is a good fit for you!

jams + comps

• (No) Dialogue Jam accepts submissions until May 1st. This year, you can make an interactive fiction game that features only dialogue, or NO dialogue at all. Intriguing.

• Make sure to read and vote for your favorite Spring Thing entries!

events

• Narrascope, the one and only North American narrative-focused games conference, will run June 12th to 14th in Albany, New York. Shameless plug: I will be speaking! On making a career in narrative design, what else?

• If you’re in New York, check out this IGDA talk: Marissa Koors on game editing, April 21st.

• Note: Ludonarracon will not be a spring event this year! We’ll have to wait until October.

resources

• Kelsey Beachum talks about writing Outer Wilds (the best game ever?) on The Examined Game podcast with Steven Lake.

• Check out Danny Homan’s views on entering the industry in these wild, AI-crazed times.

• In case you weren’t aware, Amir Satvat has created this amazing game jobs resource that updates every few days. A new version just came out and it. is. helpful.

opportunities

• Black Tabby, the geniuses behind Slay the Princess, are starting a publishing arm! And from the sound of it, they’ve got a great ethos about publishing.

jobs

• Narrative Design Intern at TapBlaze LA-based. “This is a 10 week internship where you’ll work directly with the game and design teams to ideate, write, and refine in-game dialogue, event arcs, and character moments.”

• Game Writing Intern at Gamexcite Germany-based. “We are looking for a motivated intern to actively support us in the area of game writing for at least 3 months, if possible even longer as a permanent member of the team!”

• Quest Designer Intern at Guerrilla Games Netherlands-based. “The discipline at Guerrilla has four pillars: narrative design (not writing), level design, visual scripting, and encounter design.”

• Writer at Digimancy Remote but EU hours. “It's a paid, fully remote position on a B2B contract for at least the duration of the project (2+ years).”

• Game Script Writer at Jalan Journey Singapore-based. “Inspired by JudgeSim, ‘In Confidence’ is a narrative-driven simulation game where players step into the role of a youth counsellor at a fictional early intervention centre.”

• Game Writer at GSC Game World Remote EU or UA possible (with business trips) “We are looking for a talented Game Writer to join our narrative team and help craft compelling stories within the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe.”

• Voice Over (VO) Writer at Hazelight Remote possible within CET +2 “We’re looking for a freelance Voice Over (VO) Writer to collaborate with us on an ongoing, flexible basis.”

• Quest Designer at Blackbird Interactive (12 mo. contract) Remote within Canada. “Blackbird Interactive is looking for an experienced Quest Designer to help build and deliver high-quality narrative content for an established science fiction universe.”

• Narrative Designer & Writer (Contract) at Icefall Interactive Nelson, Canada-based. “Work with multidisciplinary team members to help define and deliver on the creative vision.”

• Narrative Designer at ARVORE (VR startup) Remote within Sao Paolo. “ARVORE seeks a creative NARRATIVE DESIGNER to design the narrative elements of our experiences and to champion story within the development process.”

• Narrative Designer at Tentworks Interactive Bengaluru, India-based. “This role will be responsible for creating the narrative structure, writing screenplay, dialogues and assisting with implementation of cutscenes / quests inside the game engine (Unity).”

• Narrative Designer at Mad Head Games Remote possible. “As Game Writer, you will be responsible for content development of significant scope and complexity.”

• Narrative Designer - New Project at Magic Tavern Remote. “As a Narrative Designer at Magic Tavern, you will be the primary architect of our game’s universe during the crucial Scripting Phase.”

• Scriptwriter (Assassian’s Creed) at Ubisoft Quebec City, Canada-based. “As a Scriptwriter on the Assassin’s Creed Franchise at Ubisoft Quebec City, you will help shape the narrative heart of the game.”

• Senior Creative Writer (World of Tanks: HEAT) at Wargaming Warsaw, Poland-based. “Wargaming is looking for a Senior Creative Writer with outstanding English skills to join our team.”

• Lead Writer at Guerrilla Games Amsterdam-based. “Our writers are driven to push the boundaries of storytelling in games.”

• Lead Writer - Project Vanguard at Torpor Games Berlin-based. “The Lead Writer is the primary creative authority for writing on Suzerain: Project Vanguard.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at Duolingo Seattle-based. “We’re looking for a Narrative Designer to add delight and depth to our characters.”

• Narrative Lead at Turtle Rock Remote within North America. “This role is ideal for someone who is extremely creative, well organized, and hands-on in all narrative related aspects.”

• Lead Narrative Designer at Virtuos Shanghai-based. “Lead and mentor a pod of narrative designers across projects.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

I adore a good craft book.

I love to hoover up narrative tools that can improve my writing and design skills. However, most of the time I find that I am reading a book where one good kernel of advice is stretched out over a hundred or so pages. The page to wisdom ratio is not ideal. Imagine my delight at seeing the release of The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope—over a hundred short essays on games writing, collated by one of my favorite all-time narrative designers, Jon Ingold.

It was, as the kids say, a must-cop. So, cop I did—and it did not disappoint. I’ve already instituted a few nuggets of wisdom in my writing practice, and plan to re-read the essays for inspiration regularly. Plus, it’s interactive. At the end of each essay there are branches leading you to other related essays. It’s a delightful mechanic that feels so fun you can’t believe more books don’t employ it. Classic Ingold. As I said, I’m a massive fan.

Then I once again realized I have a newsletter and can simply ask one of my favorite narrative designers for an interview—and he agreed! It was an interview that left me positively beaming. Read on to gather even more pearls of narrative design wisdom.

Ed. note: Interview edited for clarity and length.

The book you collated, The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope, has kind of an addictive quality to it. You can't really just stop at one essay. It's so similar to how I feel about Inkle games. Do you have any tricks for keeping people reading compulsively?

I think the reality, if we're honest, is it's mostly about not overestimating the attention span of your audience. When we were outlining the idea for the book, partly I wanted to make sure that none of the contributors were doing too much work because I wasn't expecting anyone to make any money and writers do too much unpaid labor anyway. But partly I wanted to show by example that it's possible to say something interesting in a very short space of time.

I think also, quite honestly, there's a kind of balance when you're writing anything, whether it's an article, whether it's a game—between how much you can convey and how much trust you've earned from the reader in the first place. I think that balance is quite often somewhat more conservative than people realize.

A screenshot of Sorcery! (an Inkle game)

Text is something we engage with primarily on a visual level first. You see a wall of text, and your brain says that's going to take me about this long to read, and that's before you actually go into the words. You do it very quickly, but it does happen.

When I'm writing, I'm always thinking about the presentation of the text that's coming up and trying to keep things so they fit on a single screen or a single panel or in just one box. The number of lines is hugely important to me because it's about the rhythm and how much you're asking of the reader in this given moment. I never stop thinking about pacing, timing, momentum, and that kind of sense of ‘have I earned the player's attention in this paragraph?’

I think you feel that as the player. You feel very respected and that's common to all of the games that I love. You feel like, ‘oh, the designer has put a lot of work into this and they've thought about every single moment. So I'm going to play and read every single moment just as intently.’

I often think about improv theater as a kind of model for the interaction design. So if you're doing an improv scene with someone, you can't just start talking for 10 minutes and leave the other person hanging. That's extremely uncool. But you also can't offer nothing. You have to offer just enough to throw the Frisbee back to them. And then they catch it and then they throw it back to you. And the fact that the Frisbee keeps going is the thing that makes improv interesting. It's not what individual people actually say. And I think it's the same thing with games. It's the fact that it keeps trading back and forth that is the delightful aspect of it, not actually the virtuosic performance of the writer or the incredible play of the player.

That leads to another question I was going to ask. Are there things like that—like improv, or maybe tabletop games—that are good practice for a narrative designer?

Having spoken to about a 100 narrative designers recently about this kind of thing… I think it's very dependent on the person, in reality. There are narrative designers out there who really think about cinema and film and the language of film. When I was in the AAA industry about 20 years ago, everyone was like, well, you need to watch these seven movies and then you can be a narrative designer. And I was a bit like, well, okay, fine, but like actually for me, books are incredibly important and I think about them a lot.

80 Days—a classic story with an interactive steampunk twist.

I don't think there's a particular art form which is inherently good for games, but I do think that thinking about other media is how we get to think about games better. Because games are such an amorphous amalgam of different things that if we just play games [for inspiration]—it doesn't work. We need to be thinking about media where the writing part is more crafted and valued and considered so that we can see how to bring those elements into games. If we just start from games, we build space invaders and forget to put a new story in it.

This is a bit of a funny question, but have you ever seen the 'Narrative of video games’ article on Wikipedia? It cites a lot of people saying that games are not a compelling medium for storytelling. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that partly because that page needs some quotes to counterbalance that opinion.

Firstly, I don't think there has ever been a medium, which isn't a compelling mechanism for stories as long as it's told in the right way. You can tell a really compelling story on the back of a box of cereal, if you know what you're doing.

As for what kind of fascinated me about [interactive fiction] from quite an early age… it’s the sense of creating a very real instant in time. I like the idea that what we're doing in game stories is we're sort of luring players into believing that in this moment anything can happen.

An instant in time in Heaven’s Vault.

I get the most excited when you're in a conversation with a character in a game, you’re five or six choices deep, and then a prompt will come up where you really want a particular outcome. It’s being on the cusp of the moment that I find really exciting.

When someone is enjoying a game of blackjack, or a game of poker, they are feeling exactly the same feeling. I want this card to be an ace. I hope it's an ace. I think it's going to be an ace. And that moment when you turn the card over and you find out whether it is or not. Only, I would argue that narrative gives us an enormous spectrum of ways to do that, whereas cards give us a small spectrum of ways to do that. So narrative is just an extension of the same thing.

I'm pretty cowardly as a player and left to my own devices I will pick the safe options. But I do feel with your games that I am gently guided into doing more interesting things, is that accurate?

I think in terms of what we're trying to do across the games in general, it’s moving people away from this idea that when you go into a game world, you're you. Personally, I find that boring as hell because we're stuck being ourselves all the time anyway.

For me, the point of stepping into another person's shoes is to see what they see and to feel what they feel. And if that's just constantly being a good and wonderful person and having everything fall into place around you, what the hell kind of world is that? I think that's even possibly kind of dangerous to encourage this idea that if you just play by the rules and you're good, then everything will work out fine because, well, it isn't true. And it definitely doesn't speak to the problems that are in the world that are real and we should recognize.

Overboard! encourages you to bend the rules.

I'm much, much more interested in saying, here is a person in a time, in a place, in a situation, and you are going to have to do the best you can at being that person. And that will come with challenges and risks and rewards and moments where you get to do something thrilling that you could never do in real life and moments when you're completely stuck and trapped because that's the reality of life for that person. Expelled! and Overboard! are both quite feminist games, essentially, with a strong thesis about how women, especially in the early half of the 20th century, really have to play the system quite cleverly to succeed within it.

When you’re planning a game, do you start with a meaning, like the feminist meaning in Overboard! or Expelled!?

I've never been able to start with a meaning and generate a story from it. It ends up too constructed, too forced. I kind of lose the thrill of it. I think for me, one of the joys of writing is discovering the meaning in everyday things. So, for writing something like Overboard!, I started with the idea of wanting to do something that was kind of Agatha Christie-like. I thought a boat was a good setting because it was compact and limited. I like the title. And I like the idea of this character who is very much a kind of 1940s femme fatale Lauren Bacall kind of character, but humanized and the joke is that everybody thinks she's this devil in a dress, but actually she's just making it up as she goes along and she's in a state of panic the whole time. And I thought that was funny. Then you just start writing that and seeing where it goes. After a while, you look at it and find the meaning emerging. And then you can reinforce that, and you can go back through the narrative and make sure that everything is supporting the thesis that you've discovered.

Similarly, when you plan things out, do you organically let the branches flow or are you more of a planner?

I'm the first one. I'm very organic about it. I usually have a sense in my head of where I can't allow the branches to go. I cannot allow you to stab Miss Mulligatawney in Expelled! because I need her to still exist. Okay, fine. So that's off the table. But in terms of the moment to moment, what I tend to do is I try to just be in the moment and say, well, what do I want to say? What would this character want to say? What's reasonable, what's realistic, what's fun? What expresses the different emotional reactions that someone might have? How do I give the player the sense that there's variety but focus in the choices that they have? And then what does the other character say in response to that? So I tend to organically explore the space of the conversation, but not organically explore the shape of the plot, if you see what I mean.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for your responses! [Additional gushing about how 80 Days by Ingold and Meghna Jayanth changed my life redacted].

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup at least once a month.

I didn’t make it to GDC this year, but thankfully the talented and thoughtful Jake Kriegman, narrative designer at Cold Iron Studios, was able to attend—and was happy to share some nuggets of wisdom. Thank you, Jake! I know we are all excited to feast on some concise bullet points.

But first! I need to shout out a few timely and interesting resources:

• Early-career games people, IGDA’s Questline program is currently open for applications. The deadline is March 27th. This program was formerly known as the Virtual Exchange, and is one hundred percent free. It pairs participants with an industry mentor and provides lots of cool talks and networking opportunities. I myself attended and the connections I made have lasted to this day! If you’re thinking about applying, definitely do.

• Related, the IGDA Game Writing SIG, headed up by Andrea Saravia Pérez, has created this amazing useful resource aggregation sheet.

Now, on to the GDC news!

Jake’s overall GDC takeaways

• The energy at GDC was mostly positive. Despite uncool shit like taking over the Yerba Buena Gardens and not doing a good job communicating that it was open to the public, folks that I spoke with reported having a fantastic time.

• Fantastic time aside, it seemed that everyone had it in the back of their mind, and often the forefront, that so many of our fellow devs were unable to attend this year. Attendance was down about a third (20,000 in 2026 vs 30,000 in 2025) which could be for many reasons but surely the finger needs to be pointed at ongoing international conflict and safety concerns due to people’s identity and/or ethnicity.

• For those of you thinking of going to GDC for the first time next year, prioritize depth of connections over breadth. Handing out your business card to 500 people will have meant nothing when they all throw it in the trash. Connect with people on a human level and you’ll find that networking (derogatory) feels less transactional, is easier, and is more rewarding. People don’t always remember what you talked about, but they always remember how they felt. Make sure that they felt valued.

Narrative Design Talks

Page to Booth: Table-Reading and Performance Recording Live Demo

Alexa Ray Corriea (Gearbox), Sam Maggs (Critical Role), Ben Starr (Independent), Jennifer Hale (Independent), Khris Brown (Vox Point LLC), Amanda Rose Smith (Independent)

• If you are anywhere involved in the chain of delivery for voice over, this talk is a MUST WATCH. It was a fantastic walkthrough step by step of how to diligently prep for table reads and subsequent recording sessions. Crucial to save everyone’s time and money.

• Best practices and etiquette for voice over sessions:

  • No arguing.

  • No interruptions.

  • No laughing (unless it’s supposed to be funny).

  • Take notes, and wait for feedback until the end.

  • Be judicious about who attends.

• Writers and directors, make sure you have time to connect prior to recording to go through the lore and design of the game.

• It’s so, so important that every single piece of feedback to the actor from the room is channeled through the director. An actor’s performance is heavily influenced by their comfort and it’s everyone’s job to make sure they are accommodated!

• Jennifer Hale and Ben Starr had fantastic performances reading a smutty Clive X Femshep script, but it was really clear just how much better their performances were when they were both reading together rather than separately as so many actors often are.

Turning a “Dead” Genre into a Breakout Hit: The Story Behind ‘Dispatch’

Nick Herman and Dennis Lenart (AdHoc Studio)

• AdHoc Studio’s Dispatch was a smash hit this year, and the talk reflected that as latecomers were turned away at the entrance due to the room being full.

• Nick Herman and Dennis Lenart walked through how they made key decisions, their failures and successes, and a little bit of the history of the studio.

• Typically in Telltale games story choices were about life and death. AdHoc wanted to create something that was more about hope than loss.

• Dispatch had many different art styles (even being a FMV game at the start) but landed on something that felt stylistically grounded to make the world feel real and relatable.

• Gameplay needed to be a ‘low-friction design’ which meant removing things like required QTEs, visible RNG that they tweaked on the back-end to feel more rewarding, and no right/wrong/failure states. AdHoc also removed silent options, as they knew from data that those options were chosen 1% of the time, typically because the timer ran out.

• If you want to dive more into Dispatch’s origin story and decisions but can’t wait for the GDC vault to open up, I recommend listening to the Game Maker’s Notebook Podcast Episode with Nick Herman.

Creating Player Expertise [Microtalks]

Monica Fan (Pipework Studio), Ian Schreiber (Independent), John Ryan (Independent), Michael Jones (Independent), Lauryn Ash (Stealth Startup)

• I walked in a little late to this one, but what I caught from Ian Schreiber were some great slides about preventing cognitive fatigue in players. Simplify mechanics, and don’t teach things you don’t need to.

• Lauryn Ash’s lessons on tutorials spoke to taking a player-driven approach to triaging information based on importance and urgency. Players should always know why they failed. One day she may release her game tutorial matrix back into the wild (help us out, Lauryn).

• Monica Fan’s points were very cogent. Tutorials don’t turn players into geniuses, and it’s all about finding the sweet spot between mastery and variety of skills that ensure a game isn’t too boring or challenging. Her final words were fantastic: “Ask less, give more, go deeper.”

• John Ryan spoke on narrative coherence, which he defined as keeping the player informed and invested in a game’s narrative. To focus the player’s attention, it is extremely important to create safe zones away from moment to moment gameplay. The genre’s expectations play a large part in how this can be done. Testing is very important to see why/when players get lost or disengaged.

• Michael Jones gave a fantastic talk about using audio to facilitate player expertise (despite tech issues preventing that audio from playing)! Through SFX that draws players to something they must interact with, to musical motifs that communicate environmental shifts or pacing changes, Michael showed how audio in Double Fine’s Keeper plays a vital role in developing player expertise.

Writing Games for a Distracted, Polarized, Media-Illiterate World

Adam Dolin (Independent), Alexa Ray Corriea (Gearbox)

• We live in a world that gets more and more polarized by the day, and one in which belts are being tightened and risks are being discouraged. Here are just some of the many, many takeaways from this fantastic talk about how to survive this climate:

  • Figure out what you want to say.

  • Let players participate in the meaning, rather than lecturing them.

  • Don’t try to please everyone.

  • Use data to defend your values (check out Adam Dolin’s core value quiz, better on mobile).

    • The talk cited this study about players who experienced Kara’s storyline in Detroit: Become Human had greater cognitive empathy for gendered violence victims.

  

  • Trust your audience to be capable of nuance.

  • Trust yourself and ignore any ‘discourse.’

  • Teach players to read between the lines.

  • Lean on the writer’s toolbox of skills (subtext, satire, analogies, etc.)

  • Evaluate your own ability to reflect critically on the games you play.

The Digital Red Pen: From Draft to Edit to Triage

Joshua Rubin (Subverse Interactive Narrative), Marissa Koors (Ape Law LLC), Diandra Anne Lasrado (iwot games)

• This talk was fantastic in displaying how editors are such a helpful but underutilized asset for narrative in games that can be leveraged to safeguard the player experience.

• In what certainly can be referred to as ‘Narrative QA,’ editors reduce the cost of re-records, act as a second brain for leads/directors, and help shape the details of the player’s experience and make those experiences meaningful.

• A good bit of this talk was also spent on how to fix narrative when you don’t have editors, here are some rapid-fire takeaways from that:

  • Cut exposition, focus on emotion.

  • Align the player and character motivation (better to change the character motive than the player).

  • Inject curiosity (and emotion in the process) with tools such as found narrative objects.

  • Write backwards, “players can’t X until Y until Z until etc.” Often this is easiest as a “who dun it” mystery.

Ed. note: Well, that was great. Maybe I don’t even need to go to GDC anymore! Maybe I just read Jake’s notes forever (if he’ll let me).

Narrative News will return with a new issue at the beginning of April. Until then—enjoy the nice spring-y air!

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

I judged a Columbia University game jam and all I got was Impressed

Actually, I also got a t-shirt, a keychain, and a sticker so thank you for that, Lion Jam!

I don’t know what I was expecting when I headed to the Lion Jam, because all I knew was that these students were likely very smart (Ivy League) but also potentially not pursuing games careers specifically (no games program at Columbia). What I found was an astonishing level of creative talent and a remarkably seasoned set of young developers many of who made their own engines?! I suppose I should’ve focused on the Ivy League part. Both the winning title and the runner-up had delightful depth of narrative theming, so I’d like to shout them out.

First up there’s SteelDusk, a beautiful mech game that employs Undertale-style battle mechanics and has a cool backstory.

Coming in second place was Eunice, a visual novel inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club that centered on a fascinating conundrum: would you still fall in love with someone if you knew your time together would kill them?

In fact, I’d recommend you check out all the games from the jam.

Is it time to finally get that MFA in games?

Ah, the perennial question: should I go back to school?

We’ve all been there. Wondering if it’d be worth to invest time and money into a specialized degree. Well, I bring answers. A wide array of them.

I’ve tapped into my network of games friends and colleagues to provide a collection of thoughtful quotes about why they chose the path they did, and whether or not they’d recommend it. It may not provide you with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but at least it’s food for thought!

Thank you very much to all who responded to my post on LinkedIn or my interpersonal pestering.

I attended a games program!

I chose to pursue an MFA in Game Design to improve my game design skills. I felt that my Computer Science degree didn’t prepare me for the games industry because it lacked design skills. Also, I knew that getting an MFA would open the door to teaching game design, which is more stable than a regular game development job.

I’m happy I got my MFA because it gave me structure and direction for approaching game design and another career opportunity in games.

I would only recommend a MFA if you are interested in teaching a subject in games and/or want to have an in-depth and academic overview of your game niche. My gaming niche was a mixture of narrative and game design and game programming hence a MFA was the way to go.

To me, education is important because it provides structure and direction for the subjects we want to pursue in games.

-Valencia Coleman, Gameplay Engineer and Adjunct Professor

MFA, Game and Interactive Media Design at Savannah College of Art and Design

I chose Game Design and specifically Narrative Design because writing was always my passion when I was a kid, but I've loved video games since then too. I've always wanted make games and share experiences with other people. Especially after I played Mass Effect and learned just how much narratives can impact play-throughs.

Something I'd recommend? That's tricky. I hate that gaming became a "have a backup plan" job, but it essentially has. I've never had a full time job in the industry and my jobs keep changing time and time again. It's not the steadiest industry and I've had more job scares than job successes. It's a real downer of an industry right now, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you've got a steady back up plan or until something changes.

-Lawrence Marable, Narrative Designer

MS, Game and Interactive Media Design at Full Sail University

I entered the game development industry first, then I got a degree in game design. From this perspective, I can say that while I did learn some new things in school, none of them were really that necessary to design games or to get a job (that being said, it was almost 10 years ago).

It definitely helped prepare me to teach game design at the university level (although my non-gaming MS is the one schools always ask about). I don't regret it, but I also don't see it as necessary.

For people who are only now entering the industry, I would say that a degree can be helpful, but it's just a small part of the work they will need to put in before their resume is strong enough to be noticeable to recruiters. That work is, in a sense, the great equalizer; even if financial realities don't allow someone to attend college, they can still get in through determination alone.

-Barbara Kciuk, Senior Narrative Designer

BA, Game Design, Wyższa Szkoła Europejska im. Ks. Józefa Tischnera

I don't think I would've made it so far without my degree. Being in a bit of a crucible surrounded by equally motivated and talented people accelerated my learning. And the alumni network opened doors.

-Jarory de Jesus, Founder & Director

MS, Interactive Entertainment, Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy

i got my mfa in game design at the nyu game center - and i chose to do it because i was coming off of spending some time at uchicago where i was studying / consulting regarding games as educational tools and was interested in reentering / growing my skillset in making games in addition to researching / analyzing them. i am incredibly glad i did - being at the game center absolutely made me a more engaged and intentional creator, and it also gave me the opportunity to discover my love for teaching through TAing, and even gave me, unbeknownst to me initially, the credentials i would need to begin my career as a professor in games, which is where i’ve landed now!

i quite literally could not be where i am if not for the game center at present and so am infinitely grateful and glad to have gotten my mfa in games!

-jd (vel) calvelli, Assistant Professor & Game Designer

MFA, Game Design at New York University

I did not attend a games program!

My degree focus on Old and Middle English helped me get my first job working on Crusader Kings. I think having unique niches is more valuable than standardised game education.

-Baudelaire Welch, Narrative Lead/Director

Never went to Uni, studied graphic design at college. Worked as a designer. Wanted to write comics. Got lucky with my first… kept writing. I left school with ‘meh’ results because I hated exams (I was bright enough). Everything I’ve achieved I’ve had to do without further education helping me beyond a 2 year BTEC in graphic design.

Had a burning desire to write… had to do it the hard way and learn around the job, writing comics, then writing games. Got enough projects and reputation under my belt to be considered experienced.

Now written for 2000AD, Rebellion, Steamforged Games, Warhammer, Bandai, Sqaure Enix, Wargaming, Supermassive Games, I’ve written for some big name Hollywood types too.

-Andi Ewington, Game Consultant and Narrative Designer

As you get older you begin to see that some of the doors you thought were open to you were, never really were. I always loved the aesthetic of an ivy-covered institution of higher learning but struggled with my ADHD in an academic setting. For me, being a working writer felt easier and more intuitive. Plus, I needed the money. So, I spent most of my twenties as a journalist before deciding to follow my dream of writing for games.

I admit to ogling the NYU Games MFA page many times, but with the aforementioned ADHD and the eye-watering cost, I vowed to try as hard as I could to become a narrative designer without an MFA, and if I didn’t manage to nab a job in a few years, I’d reconsider. Thankfully, I did land a job. Many, in fact. I jumped from QA to content design to where I am now—a narrative designer on a AAA game. In the end, I see my journey really never could’ve been any different— and I wouldn’t have wanted it to be. I’m not cut out for academia, but I can always visit an Ivy League, grab a coffee, and pretend to be Rory Gilmore for free.

-Me (Rose Behar), Narrative Designer

games degrees did not exist before, and by the time they existed i was already doing stuff. also i didn’t finish college because it cost money and i was spending time in class working on my first game. i realized my time was better spent actually working.

-Sam Eng, Game Developer

[Ed. note: no, he didn’t specify when ‘before’ was, this is Sam we’re talking about.]

There were a few reasons that I picked this direction. My love of games is what got me down the path of programming and computer science. But when it came to higher education, I decided to stick with a less narrow degree since even back in 2001 I knew the games industry was rough. There also weren’t as many good options for game degrees back then. Though I do remember looking into Digipen briefly.

When I graduated in 2005, I was again thinking practically and got a run-of-the-mill web development job. But after a decade of that I was feeling creatively unfulfilled. Luckily I had built up enough of a nest egg at that point that I could dramatically reduce my web development hours to dedicate time on my own to learning game development. It also helped finding a supportive community of other game developers here in New York.

At that point I did consider doing an MFA at the Game Center, but decided it wasn’t worth the cost given how many resources there were online and within my community. Also at this point I had figured out that I’d much rather work on my own games than get a job in the industry, working on someone else’s game. So the potential employment benefit of a degree wasn’t really there for me.

-Jonah Wallerstein, Game Developer

Resources

• Manny Hagopian posted a really cool look at an internal video he made to help get across the idea of the story of Highguard.

Opportunities

• Baby Ghosts is running a Cooperative Foundations program that offers two months of cooperative studio pre-formation education and development support for those in Toronto. Applications are still open until March 6th! Sounds like an amazing opportunity.

• Free webinar alert! “D6 Learning is inviting you to a live online event on Writing Short Stories for Video Games with experienced writer & narrative designer Anthony Jauneaud, whose credits include Night Call, A Plague Tale Requiem, Dordogne, Harmony: Fall of Reverie, and Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes.”

Jobs

• Narrative Design Intern at Balio Studio Belgium-based. “Only candidates currently enrolled in a school curriculum related to video game creation will be accepted.”

• Junior Narrative Designer at Volka Cyprus-based. “We are looking for a talented and motivated Narrative Designer to join our team and help expand the world of Taonga.”

• Writer at INTERIOR/NIGHT Remote within UK. “INTERIOR/NIGHT is looking for a writer based in the UK to join our narrative team.”

• Writer at Cubicle 7 Remote. “We’re looking for freelance writers who know and love The Laundry Files.”

• Story Writer at Melbot Studios Remote. “Melbot is looking for a seasoned comedy writer, ideally with experience in episodic indie animation and narrative design (It’s a lot to ask, but hey, if it’s you, we’re golden).”

• Story Writer at Eleon Co Remote. “Our team is hiring a full-time contributor to a video game writing team.”

• Narrative Designer at Jam City Remote. “We are looking for an experienced Narrative Designer to bring their expert writing and game design skills

  to help build a new game within our Narrative studio.”

• Narrative Designer at Respawn (Star Wars Jedi) Hybrid in a variety of North American locations. “Reporting to the Lead Dialogue Designer, we're looking for a Narrative Designer who will embrace our philosophy.”

• Narrative Designer at Stillfront (BitLife) Miami-based. “Is your sense of humor a bit off-the-wall? We're looking to expand our writing team at Candywriter.”

• Narrative Designer at Smoking Gun Interactive Vancouver-based. “As a Narrative Designer with Smoking Gun Interactive, you’re a talented, passionate individual with at least 3 years of industry experience in narrative design.”

• Narrative Designer at EA (Iron Man) Montreal-based. “In this role, you will work in close collaboration with the Narrative, Art and Mission teams.”

• Narrative Designer & Writer at Icefall Interactive BC-based. “Are you passionate about writing stories, creating compelling characters, constructing memorable scenes, and servicing the needs of the game before all else?”

• Senior Writer at TARA GAMING (The Age of Bharaat) Remote. “You will craft compelling dialogue, narrative documentation, and codex entries with minimal supervision.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at Dambuster Studios UK-based. “You will take ownership of important narrative projects and drive them forward, ensuring a high-quality result.”

• Lead Writer at CD PROJEKT RED (Project Sirius) Boston, US-based. “CD PROJEKT RED is seeking a highly skilled and visionary Lead Writer to join our team working on Project Sirius, a multiplayer game set within the world of The Witcher.”

• Lead Narrative Designer at Dambuster Studios UK-based. “Dambuster Studios - creators of […] Dead Island 2 - has an exciting opportunity for a Lead Narrative Designer.”

• Lead Narrative Designer at Virtuos Shanghai-based. “Lead and mentor a pod of narrative designers across projects.”

• Head of Narrative and Design at Protagonists! Remote (within EU). “We're assembling our founding team and looking for a Head of Narrative & Design to own the quality and fun of our games.”

• Narrative Director at 2K Brighton, UK-based. “Hangar 13 is seeking an experienced Narrative Director to lead our Narrative team and collaborate across disciplines.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an upcoming AAA project. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Manny Hagopian’s Nexus Theory

Last month, I popped over to the symposium part of Game Critics Awards (in the cold and sleet, no less) for the chance to see a few interesting talks. One, in particular, piqued my attention: ‘The Daily Show: TV Comedy is Different from Games Comedy,’ with Manny Hagopian, former narrative director at Respawn, alongside Daniel Radosh and Devin Delliquanti from The Daily Show.

While there were some interesting insights about comedy writing (including “a pun is not a good joke”), I was most fascinated by a games narrative theory put forward by Hagopian. He noted that great narrative design lies at the nexus of narrative, gameplay, and player. “Once you sync those,” he said, “you can accomplish anything.”

That may sound like pretty vague advice, but he gave an extremely helpful example from a game he’d worked on: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. At the beginning, Cal Kestis, the player character, can’t use his powers. Both Cal and the audience want to be able to use his Jedi powers, but he is in hiding from the Empire and cannot. The player and the player character are both frustrated, which at surface-level may seem contrary to how you’d like your player to feel, but it’s crucial to the next step of player-player character unification because it all builds to a single moment.

When Cal’s friend Prauf is in danger and Cal must use his powers to save Prauf, the player’s desire, the character’s desire, and the gameplay sync seamlessly. The player wants to be able to use the Force, Cal wants to be able to use the Force, and the player finally gets to use the Force—and for good reason.

From then on, the player and the player character continue to be in sync. The player has bought in, emotionally, and they share Cal’s struggles and successes as their own.

Designing for this kind of emotional-syncing moment is clever for multiple reasons. Not only is it a good way of thinking about fulfilling player fantasies, it also seems like this approach would encourage a more cross-team collaborative approach to design.

Anywho, just had to share! I know I’ll be tossing this into my narrative toolbox for future pitches.

Resources

• For those who weren’t able to make the free workshop, you can now view Trope Informed’s talks on Dialogue and Agency in Games online!

• In other exceptionally exciting content drops: ZA/UM has released a devcast on narrative!

Opportunities

• If you haven’t been able to nab a GDC pass but you’d like to, IFTF has some free conference passes to give out! Apply here before Feb. 7th.

• Exciting IF opportunity! During London Games Week there is a new side event called Strange Play taking place from April 18th and 19th at Theatre Deli in central London. Right now until February 15th, they are accepting submissions for experimental games to showcase, primarily narrative led games.

Jams and Competitions

• If you’d like to submit to the Spring Thing interactive fiction competition you must register your intent by March 1st.

• Submissions for the Text Adventure Literacy Jam open on March 1st.

Jobs

Contract Writer (3 months fixed) at KRAFTON Amsterdam-based (potentially remote possible) “We are looking for a Contract Writer to support the team working on PUBG: Black Budget, our new extraction shooter.”

Freelance Game Writer (romance) at Crazy Maple Studio Remote. “Chapters Interactive Stories is seeking experienced content writers, romance authors and narrative game designers to join our Paid Creator Program on a work-for-hire basis!”

Freelance Narrative Designer (3 month contract) at Ash Games Remote. “This is a narrative-heavy role ideal for someone who thrives in structural design, branching dialogue, and building lore-rich universes.”

Narrative Technical Designer at Cloud Imperium Manchester-based. “As a Narrative Technical Designer based in Manchester you will be a member of the Social Team helping in pushing the story side of Squadron 42.”

Narrative Designer at Jam City Remote. “We are looking for an experienced Narrative Designer to bring their expert writing and game design skills to help build a new game within our Narrative studio.”

Narrative Designer at Grid Games North Holland-based. “You will work closely with the Creative Director and the Design Team to ensure our world feels grounded and believable, staying true to established lore and world logic.”

Narrative Systems Designer at Epic Cary, NC, US-based. “Epic Games is looking for a character-focused Narrative Systems Designer to join our dynamic team.”

Narrative Game Designer at HandyGames Giebelstadt, Germany-based. “For our current in-house game project, which is set in a gothic-inspired science fiction world with a focus on story and combat.”

Mid/Senior Narrative Designer at Asobo Studio Bordeaux, France-based. French fluency necessary. “Sous la supervision de Clémentine, Lead Narrative Designer, tu évolueras au sein d’une équipe composée d’un Level Designer, d’un Level Artist et d’un Level Builder.”

Senior Narrative Designer at People Can Fly Montreal-based. “Take ownership of narrative structure, systems, and content from concept through implementation and iteration.”

Senior Game Writer at Frontier Cambridge, UK-based. “We’re looking for an experienced Senior Game Writer to join our internal writing team.”

Senior Narrative Designer at Stormind Games Remote. “We are on the lookout for an enthusiastic Senior Narrative Designer to join a highly motivated team.”

Senior Narrative Designer at Dambuster Studios Remote within UK. “Dambuster Studios - creators of the number one BAFTA-nominated smash hit Dead Island 2 - has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Narrative Designer.”

Lead Narrative Designer at Dambuster Studios UK-based. “Dambuster Studios - creators of the number one BAFTA-nominated smash hit Dead Island 2 - has an exciting opportunity.”

Lead Narrative Designer at Longdue UK-based. “We are seeking a talented Writer to help craft an immersive, multi-layered RPG experience for our computer RPG in its early stages.”

Principal Narrative Designer - Unpublished R&D Product at Riot Games LA, US-based. “As Principal Narrative Content Designer on the MMO team, you will help prove an innovative game concept in the early stages of development.”

Narrative Director at Hangar13 Brighton-based. “This is a unique opportunity to contribute to prestigious, story-driven IP alongside a team renowned for delivering world-class cinematic game experiences.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Cell to Singularity, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

A Day in the Life of a Narrative Designer

What does a narrative designer on a Triple-A project actually do every day? I can’t speak for everyone, but I can share the details of what I do. Mind you, due to the game I’m working on still being in development I will not share any real examples of its content — instead, I’ve made custom examples that show generally the sort of apps that narrative designers use, the format of our scripts, and the sort of schedules we have. Hopefully this will be instructive as I know there is a real lack of practical information on WHAT narrative designers do all day and HOW they do it. As I mentioned, I can’t speak for all narrative designers, but at least you’ll be able to see one writer’s day-to-day experience in this industry.

Subscribe now

Part I: Meetings

My day begins with meetings. There are the half-hour or less types: stand-ups, team-wide update meetings, playtesting kickoffs, 1:1s, and then there are the longer 45 min-to one hour types: cross-team syncs, reviews/line editing sessions, and brainstorms. The brainstorms are the most fun type of meeting — these are our writers rooms. On our game we have a narrative team of roughly five, and most days we meet to either sync or brainstorm. The brainstorm might be on a broad topic, like (fake example) ‘what is culturally important to this faction of space warriors?’ or it might be specific, if one writer is having trouble with an element of their story (‘why does she leave her mother behind when she could easily have brought her along?’) We employ a technique that my manager, the inimitable Rayla Heide, introduced in which we write out a bunch of ideas silently for 3-5 minutes and then take turns pitching our ideas, allowing for new ideas to pop up conversationally and jotting them down in turn. This helps to make sure that the quieter members of the team still have their voices heard.

I’ll often have 3-4 hours of meetings a day (the Principal Narrative Designer and Narrative Director have much more than this). On really quiet days I’ll only have about an hour of meetings. The trick is to cluster the meetings together as much as possible, so that you have some big blocks of time for writing. Which brings me to the next part of my job…

Part II: Writing

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I write every single day at my job. What kind of things do I write? Well, there are two main categories:

Briefs

Think of these like world-building lore you might craft for a TTRPG — it’s very similar (and that’s why the best practice you can get for being a narrative designer is running TTRPG games).

There are two main types of brief, in my experience: the ones written for other departments, which are generally shorter and more purpose-specific, and the narrative briefs, which are longer and provide more detailed lore.

A narrative brief might look a little something like the below, which I threw together using lore about the Jem’Hadar of Star Trek DS9 fame (thanks to the fan wiki). A real narrative brief is much longer, with many more sections, but this shows the essence of it: a simple Google doc (it could also be on Confluence, Notion, or another text-based platform) that provides information about a culture, location, character, or thing.

Most important: the logline and the pillars. These, realistically, are what the other departments in the studio will read and latch onto the most (though some cherished game and content designers might read your lengthy lore section, if you’re lucky). Pillars are meant to triangulate your intentions for the culture/character/thing you’re writing about. They should encapsulate the most important aspects of the brief’s subject. You can have more than three pillars, but only if it’s truly necessary. Best practice is three, without any repetition between the three. Pillars are hard, but extremely important for getting everyone on the same page. Many major studios use pillars, though I couldn’t tell you whether all of them do (if they don’t, they’re missing a trick).

Dialogues

Once you’ve nailed down a character brief (which takes many, many revisions), you’ll consult with your content design partner to turn the lore and story you’ve come up with into a quest. Together, you’ll make a quest brief plotting things out. Just like the narrative brief, this is nothing too fancy — it can just be bullet points laying out what happens at each step of the quest. The content designer may do some visual mapping as well. Once this is in progress, you can go ahead and start writing dialogue. Most studios that I’ve worked at have used Google Sheets for this part of the process.

Sometimes it’s difficult inserting branching options into Google Sheets… there’s no great, industry-wide solution to this. For simple, rudimentary branching it’s fine, but once you get more in-depth you’re probably switching to a custom software or a program like Twine or Ink.

Part III: Implementation

Not all studios require their narrative designers to implement their dialogues in-engine, but it’s always a bonus if you're willing to get your hands dirty and implement your own work. Usually, this isn’t a difficult process.

Generally the studio has purchased or built a dialogue tool for Unity or Unreal and so the only difficulty is figuring out how that tool works, and then making sure you don’t step on anyone’s toes when submitting your changes. I consider implementation a nice break from writing, even if it always takes longer than I think it will. I would note, however, that this is the thing I do least often — probably ten percent of my time, or less.

And that’s it! That’s a day in the life of a Triple A narrative designer: meetings, writing, and occasionally implementing (it’s not a daily occurrence for me). I hope this was helpful, and please feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments. Now, onto the resources!

Resources

• Free workshop alert! Dialogue and Agency in Video Games by Matt Gibbs of Talespinners.

• The amazing Kelly Bender has written an article on ‘How to Apply the Three-Act Structure in Video Games’.

Opportunities

Narrascope, the narrative-focused games conference, is now accepting talk submissions for the 2026 conference. It is also accepting submissions to its games showcase!

Jams

• ShuffleComp runs until January 19th. “ShuffleComp is a musical interactive fiction competition where you make games based on songs, which are submitted by other entrants.”

• Sealed With a Kiss Jam runs until February 1st. “In this jam, you are tasked with creating a fantastical romance narrative game or visual novel.”

Jobs

• Screenplay Writer at Dreamaloid Studios Remote. “Hi! I'm Jamie. I am gathering applications for a screenplay writer on our indie game at Dreamaloid Studios.”

• Story and Writing Consultant at Shiny Shoe Remote. “At Shiny Shoe we are seeking an experienced story and writing consultant to contract with us to craft our next original game after Monster Train 2.”

• Freelance Writer - The Laundry Files at Cubicle 7 Games Remote. “We’re looking for freelance writers who know and love The Laundry Files.”

• Narrative Designer/Game Writer at Cherrypick Games Remote. “The project needs someone who's not just a writer, but understands narrative design as a game design discipline.”

• Narrative Designer at Alkimia Interactive Remote. “Our alchemists are focused on creating a remake of the legendary Gothic game for next gen/PC.”

• Narrative Writer at Uncommon Games Remote. “Animalkind takes place on a quaint, cozy island that has friendly vibes combined with quirky and humorous animal characters.”

• Game Designer and Writer at Foundry VTT Remote. “In this role you will work with our team of incredibly talented artists, developers, writers, and designers to create Ember, a revolutionary digital roleplaying campaign setting, and Crucible, an innovative digital roleplaying game system.”

• Narrative Designer at Microfun Beijing, China-based. “Prior games industry experience is a plus, but not required. What matters most that you're passionate about writing slice-of-life stories and thrive in a collaborative creative environment.”

• Narrative Designer at Jam City Remote. “We are looking for an experienced Narrative Designer to bring their expert writing and game design skills to help build a new game within our Narrative studio.” Note: the role looks Harry Potter-related.

• Narrative Designer - ARC Raiders Stockholm, Sweden-based. “As a Narrative Designer, you will be the key link between the story and the gameplay.”

• Mid/Senior Narrative Designer at Asobo Studio Bordeaux, France-based. Must know French. “We are looking for a Narrative Designer to stage the narrative and bring the levels of our next action-adventure game to life.”

• TFT Senior Writer (Apex Legends) at Respawn Entertainment LA, Vancouver, or Madison, Wisconsin. “Apex Legends is seeking a Senior Writer to join our team as a Maternity Leave replacement.”

• Senior Game Writer - Varsapura at HoYoverse Remote within US. “We are seeking a skilled and dedicated Game Writer to join our talented development team.”

• Senior Game Writer - TFT at Ripple Effect Studios LA, US-based or Vancouver, Canada-based. Working on Battlefield. “Senior Game Writer owns sections of the narrative under the guidance of the Narrative Director.”

• Senior Narrative Designer (Project 12) at 11 bit studios Warsaw, Poland-based. “Your responsibilities [include] designing, writing and implementing story arcs.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at TapBlaze LA, US-based. “You will be the final narrative authority for Good Pizza, Great Pizza and related franchises.”

• Senior Lead Narrative Designer at Certain Affinity Toronto, Canada-based. “Would you like to work on some of the greatest franchises in gaming history? What about contributing to our new original IP?”

• Lead Narrative Designer at Hangar 13 Brighton, UK-based. “As a Lead Narrative Designer you will lead on the shape of the narrative delivery of our next open-world action-adventure title.”

• Narrative Production Lead at Longdue Games Remote. “We’re looking for a Narrative Lead with both creative and production instincts — someone who can shape Hopetown’s story while helping to build the systems and structures that make great narrative work possible.”

• Narrative Director - Unannounced Title at Scopely Remote within US. “We are in the early stages of development on an ambitious, unannounced AAA mobile game.”

• Narrative Director at Gameloft Montreal, Canada-based. “We are looking for a Narrative Director for our studio and our PC/console projects.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Cell to Singularity, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

Readers, over the past month I became absolutely bewitched, besotted, and bewildered with the perfection that is The Séance of Blake Manor by Spooky Doorway. I’m a mystery fanatic and SOBM is something I’ve never played before: a mystery game where the mechanic really is investigation rather than just puzzle solving. It’s a revelation. I’ll be honest, I was wondering how I could inveigle my way into a conversation with the narrative designer of this masterpiece until I realized I ran a narrative design newsletter and could simply ask for an interview. I asked on LinkedIn at a totally unreasonable time and Dave McCabe, in a karaoke bar in London, promptly agreed. I can’t thank you enough, Dave, for making the time and providing generous and thoughtful answers! Readers, you’re in for a treat.

RB: I’m going to start out with a pretty broad question: how did you organize and plot things out in SOBM?

DM: I guess we can start way back at the beginning. We originally did the whole thing as a chapter-by-chapter linear story and then, about a year into production, we were like: this is just very flat feeling. We knew before we even started that we didn’t want it to be a linear thing—we just didn’t have the time and the budget to make it non-linear. But then we went, “well, we’ll just do it anyway and see what happens. Hopefully that will convince them to give us more time and more money.”

RB: Them being the publishers?

DM: The publishers, yeah. We did that and immediately felt that it was much better. There are a lot of things out there in the world that are detective games, like our previous titles are detective games in that you play a detective, but they’re not detective games in any real sense. They’re puzzle games. We wanted this to be more in the vein of a detective game. We wanted you to have agency to navigate the space your own way, follow the leads you want to follow and ideally have more than one thing to follow at the same time so that you have choices. Some of your main investigation, your main way to detect, is going: “out of these leads, which ones do I want to follow and how do I want to use my time?”

So we started with the linear story, then we broke that day into events and figured out which ones had to follow other ones, which ones could happen out of order. We broke them out across the days and then, earlier this year—once we had sign off on adding individual character stories—we plotted those out. We already knew what all went on with each character but we fleshed them out to be a mystery that you could resolve rather than just a statement of facts about their lives. We worked backwards from the confrontation statement to figure out where you would find the clues. All that was done as flow charts on Miro. We used Notion for the original linear kind of writing.

RB: And at that point, had you also decided to use the time system? [Note for those who haven’t played: I’m referring to the time management system wherein investigating a clue or speaking to someone reduces your time, thus forcing players to use their time judiciously.]

DM: About a year into the project, we decided on the time system and we then spent maybe eight months converting the linear story into this non-linear version, or semi-linear. We spent that time turning the core storylines, the main mysteries, into non-linear goals. What if you did this first? How would that ripple out? What would that mean? And so on and so forth. Then from this year on, we started cracking into the cast stories. Expanded them out from, again, non-solvable, not entirely interactive stories, into mysteries that you could interact with and solve.

RB: It’s very interesting that all the very innovative design parts came out of a pivot. I would’ve thought it was designed with those systems from the get-go.

DM: There were a few things we knew from the beginning. We knew we wanted to tell a Gothic horror and we wanted to talk about Irish history and mythology and all this sort of stuff. We knew we didn’t want to have a twist ending, like ‘the ghosts that were summoned were you’, for instance. We wanted to have a mystery that you couldn’t guess in the beginning because it was multilayered and we knew we wanted this interesting place to explore. We wanted to dig into its history and the history of the other guests in some way, and we just iterated our way through to where we are now.

As I say, we reached maybe a year into the thing and went, look, it’s just not feeling very exciting. The space is great and we think we have some interesting characters, but we’re not really letting you play with that space. We’re going: chapter one, resolve this; chapter two, resolve that. It felt more like you were playing through a crime novel but in a very restrictive way. It was still all puzzles. So we went back and talked about what we would do if budget and time weren’t issues. We looked a lot at other media and board games, especially, I mean the core game is essentially Guess Who? Does the culprit have big curly hair, does the culprit have red lips?

RB: Can you tell me more about your board game inspirations?

DM: We took a bit from Cluedo, we played games like Modern Detective and Chronicles of Crime and looked at how they were handling the time stuff and you know, in those games you have a limited amount of time and the things you do take these actions. But yeah we pulled from various things. And Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective as well We wanted to pull together as many bits as we could and see how they tackle it in different ways and then find what worked for us. The hard part is failure in a narrative adventure. We had to find a way that it didn’t feel terrible. Our save system was designed so you could go back to any part of the game for that reason.

RB: I think you and the writing team in general did a good job at making every character’s voice sound very distinct. Any tips for that?

DM: On one hand: take acting classes, take improv classes, play tabletop roleplaying games and ideally run them. On the other hand: we just kicked the characters around a lot. We did have some characters who felt very same-y or wall-flowery or who didn’t have a strong reason for being there. We just reworked them and iterated on them and read the voices out loud and all these kinds of things until we felt they were coming across distinctly enough. And then again, it’s down to testing. Do these characters sound like one another? We brought in some QAs with narrative backgrounds to go through each character and go, do they sound distinct? Do they have a distinct identity? Do we think there are places where their dialogue could be interchangeable and can we change that? We got lots of different opinions and we tried lots of techniques. Voices helped too. We could only do parts of the script because of time and budget, but it helps because once you get those couple of lines right by the actor, the character comes alive in a way. You’re then reading the lines in that person’s voice in your head.

RB: That’s a lot of meticulous work, and you can really sense that when you play SOBM. Thank you so much for your time!

Resources

• Gaetano Leonardi has posted storyboards from his work on Spongebob Squarepants: Titans of the Tide. So cool to see the methods used on published projects! See below.

• Here’s a juicy resource… BBC has a free-to-access script library where you can peruse high quality scripts to hone your own talents.

Jams + Competitions

• The IF Short Games Showcase 2025 is open now until December 31st. “The Short Games Showcase is an opportunity to show off shorter interactive fiction works made in the past year (Jan 1, 2025 to Dec 31, 2025), regardless of whether or not they are previously released.”

• Winter Visual Novel Jam 2025 is open for submissions now until December 31st. “You can use the jam to complete a project you’ve already begun working on, so long as it fits with the jam’s theme of winter.”

Opportunities

• Women in Games NYC will be offering GDC passes to some members this year! If you are a woman in gaming in New York, get in touch! I’d do so regardless, it’s a wonderful organization.

Jobs

• Freelance Game Writer (romance) at Crazy Maple Studio Remote. “Chapters Interactive Stories is seeking experienced content writers, romance authors and narrative game designers to join our Paid Creator Program on a work-for-hire basis!”

• Game Writer at Cloud Imperium Manchester, UK-based. “Cloud Imperium Games is looking for a talented Game Writer to join the Narrative team to craft unique and fun story experiences for Star Citizen.”

• Narrative Writer at VOID Interactive Remote. “We’re VOID Interactive, the kick-ass team behind the best-selling FPS game Ready or Not.”

• Narrative Designer at Octo Games Studio Remote. “Netherlands-registered, fully remote studio making PC/Steam titles with a strong focus on Adult (18+) visual novels and narrative-driven games.”

• Narrative Designer at Grid Games Weesp, Netherlands-based. “Our fast-growing team of multi-national talent is using Unreal Engine 5 to build a revolutionary MMORPG that blends traditional philosophies with trailblazing innovation.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at 8Bit Remote within Europe. “We’re looking for a Senior Narrative Designer to join our client’s team and help define the narrative heart of a new category of narrative-driven RPGs.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at Infinity Ward (Temp) Woodland Hills, California-based. “As a Senior Narrative writer, you will act as one of several key contributors to the story of our games.”

• Specialist/Senior Narrative Designer at CD PROJEKT RED (Witcher 4) Warsaw, Poland-based. “We are seeking passionate storytellers with boundless creativity.”

• Principal Narrative Designer at Creative Assembly Horsham, UK, or Sofia, Bulgaria-based. “As a Principal Narrative Designer, you will be tasked with creating and implementing engaging dialogue and compelling characters.”

• Lead Narrative Designer at 2K Brighton, England-based. “As a Lead Narrative Designer you will lead on the shape of the narrative delivery of our next open-world action-adventure title.”

• Narrative Game Designer at HandyGames Giebelstadt, Germany-based. The studio is looking for a narrative designer “for our current in-house game project, which is set in a gothic-inspired science fiction world.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Cell to Singularity, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.

I know I promised more on portfolio building — and more there shall be — but for this issue I’d like to share an ‘interview’ with my friend Sam Eng on writing his game Skate Story, out December 8th.

This ‘interview’ had to be attempted multiple times because, as anyone who knows Sam Eng can tell you, he’s not fond of a straight answer. However, we persisted and I think his advice and thoughts on writing is extra interesting because it’s the element of game dev that he’s perhaps least fluent in. Don’t get me wrong, he’s annoyingly talented in every way, but, like many very talented game devs he’s found that the story part of making a game proves devilishly hard.

The funny thing is, most professional writers feel the exact same way. And even the most talented of famous writers are capable of getting things wrong. Personally, I find this relieves some pressure. Some hucksters may tell you there is a formula to great writing, and they’d be wrong. There’s a formula for mediocre writing. There is no formula for great writing because great writing is also interesting writing. And finding what is interesting is a challenge that doesn’t have one solution, but many.

In Sam’s case, his interesting story is about a glass skater who descends into hell (which looks suspiciously like dark-mode Brooklyn) in order to complete a pact with the devil to swallow the moon. Sounds cool, huh? Spoiler: it is.

Without further ado, here’s the ‘interview’, culled from a series of different text message convos.

RB: Do you consider yourself a writer?

SE: A writer is just someone who writes. So if you want to write your story then congrats, you’re a writer.

RB: Do you draw mainly from personal experiences when writing?

SE: No I draw from everything. Well, draw from everything I experience… so maybe everything is personal experience.

RB: What’s the best advice you have about writing for a linear game? The advice you wish you knew from the beginning.

SE: I wish someone told me it doesn’t have to be complex, just playable.

RB: Did you follow a particular framework? Three-act structure? Kishotenketsu?

SE: I’ve probably shoved my story into every framework I found online. Three-act, four-act, story circle, Kishotenketsu… I think I was too obsessive and kept trying to follow the rules. Gotta save the cat at the right moment, gotta hit this beat and this beat. But then I kept running into stilted writing and also it wasn’t that fun shoving my stuff into a box. But eventually I realized these frameworks are good “rulers” or measuring devices. They should be treated more as descriptive than prescriptive.

[Sam proceeded to send the following meme.]

RB: How many Seinfeld references are there in your game?

SE: Two to three. Thousand.

Short, but sweet. Check out the trailer for Skate Story below.

Now, on to the regular roundup of narrative design resources, jobs listings, and miscellany!

Resources

• Anna C. Webster has released yet another super helpful video — this time on game writing tests!

• Candle Craft’s latest (and last) installment on game writing covers the difference between ‘good’ and ‘okay’ choices.

Conferences + Meetups

• AdventureX, the UK’s only convention dedicated to narrative-driven gaming is running from November 22nd to 23rd in London.

Jams + Competitions

• “Feeling nostalgic about the golden age of text adventures? Relive those days by participating in PunyComp 2025!” This jam runs from November 2nd to December 1st.

• Submissions for the IF Short Games Showcase 2025 begin on November 23rd and close on December 31st.

• IGDA’s Game Writing special interest group is hosting ‘Arcjam’ from November 21st to November 24th.

Opportunities

• Level Her Up Presents: Intro to Unity & Game Design is a free two-part workshop that runs on Saturday, November 15th.

• The Digra 2026 Conference has opened up a call for submissions. The theme is ‘Intersectional Pleasures.’

Jobs

• Narrative Design Intern at Tapblaze LA, US-based. “We’re looking for a Narrative Design Intern to join our creative team and help bring new stories to life in the Good Pizza, Great Pizza and Good Coffee, Great Coffee universes.”

• Narrative Design Intern at Blizzard Irvine, US-based. “All interns will receive a meaningful project and an unparalleled experience. We’ll provide the tools and resources you need to learn.”

• Narrative Design Intern at Respawn Entertainment (Jedi) LA, US-based. “Reporting to the Lead Dialogue Designer, we’re looking for a Narrative Dialogue Intern who will embrace our philosophy and work with design leadership, writers, designers, and other departments to help us create an incredible experience for our players.”

• Game Writer at Stunlock Studios Skövde, Sweden-based. “At Stunlock Studios, we’re crafting the immersive and thrilling world of V Rising, a vampire survival game that has captivated players worldwide since its launch on PC and Console.”

• Narrative Writer at VOID Interactive Remote. “This role involves crafting immersive narratives, developing memorable characters, and enhancing player experience for their best-selling FPS game, Ready or Not.”

• Narrative Designer at CCP Games Reykjavik, Iceland-based. “CCP Games is seeking a talented Narrative Designer to join the EVE: Frontier team.”

• Narrative Game Designer at Handy Games Giebelstadt, Germany-based. Write on a game set in gothic-inspired science fiction world with a focus on story and combat.

• Lead Writer at CD PROJEKT RED Boston, US-based. “In this role, you will be responsible for crafting captivating narratives, compelling dialogues and innovative quests for a brand new adventure set in The Witcher universe.”

• Lead Narrative Designer at CD PROJEKT RED Boston, US-based. “Seeking a highly skilled and visionary Lead Narrative Designer to join our team in Boston, working on Project Sirius, a multiplayer game set within the world of The Witcher.”

• Senior Narrative Designer (Temporary) at Infinity Ward LA, US-based. “As a Senior Narrative writer, you will act as one of several key contributors to the story of our games.”

• Senior Narrative Designer at Highdive Montreal-Canada-based. “This is a rare chance to work on a new IP. This position of Narrative Designer would be to help craft narrative moments throughout our levels according to the game’s narrative vision.”

• Senior Designer/Writer at Two Point Studios Farnham, UK-based. “Two Point Studios is seeking a Senior Designer/Writer to join our team and help bring our wonderful and charming world to life.”

• Principal Narrative Designer at Creative Assembly Horsham, US-based. “As a Principal Narrative Designer, you will be tasked with creating and implementing engaging dialogue and compelling characters.”

Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.

About the Writer:

Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Cell to Singularity, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.

About the Illustrations:

The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.