The new year is upon us, which means we’re just a few weeks away from the book nearing publication. Before we get there, though, I wanted to announce the winners of our storytelling contest. The top 3 will receive a signed, print version of the book (and an eBook), and the 4th and 5th place […]
“I’ve got something to send you,” said Jeremy, my old producer from Wired.com, while we were chatting on Facebook. He asked for my address, but I forgot that he’d done that. We generally reminisce about the good, old days. We don’t spend much time buying each other gifts. When the package showed up today, I […]
“Video games, however, can ask that we experience not only empathy but agency too. You don’t just feel with characters, you feel through them. You bind yourself to them and become temporarily responsible for their life onscreen. Whatever happens, you’re in it together.” — Tevis Thompson, Half-Lives: The Walking Dead: 400 Days, Sorcery!, and Depression […]
The holidays are upon us, and I’ll be on the road a bit for the next few days so I thought it might be fun to post some fun stuff while we’re collecting your storytelling entries for our contest. (You can see Entry 1 and Entry 2 here, along with my example entries and explanation […]
As part of a contest leading up to our book launch in March, I asked you all to submit your favorite stories about playing D&D, MMORPG, computer game, or really any community game. If you’re too concerned about the rules, you’re missing the point. It’s really pretty simple: Tell us the story you tell people when you […]
I received a Christmas card in the mail today from my middle school math teacher and his wife, although to classify them as simply that doesn’t do justice to our long relationship. Steve was the man who taught me how to program computers (back when I knew how to program computers). I would go to […]
A few nights ago, I came across Framed, an amazing interactive story set to debut in 2014. It’s part comic, part game, and part Choose Your Own Adventure. More than that, it forces viewers to understand that perspective changes everything. [View the story “The Creators of Framed Talk Story Design” on Storify]
As part of a contest leading up to our book launch in March, I asked you all to submit your favorite D&D, MMORPG, or computer game stories. Several folks have asked: How long should they be? How should I do that? What? I thought I’d answer your question with my own story. You don’t need […]
Any talk of community and computer games always leads back to one idea: storytelling. The games I’ve found most engaging haven’t been the ones that use mechanics to get me from place to place. Instead, they’ve been games like Myst, which laid out its narrative environments and allowed me to construct a story using clues […]
Our book comes out in mid-March (get your pre-order copies here), which is coincidentally the 40th anniversary of the release of Dungeons & Dragons. When I found out yesterday about the upcoming anniversary, I started reminiscing about the first time I played the game. I purchased the infamous Dungeons & Dragons red box Starter Set […]
Gaming actually really helps me alot to calm down and get out of the troubling parts of my life, and to clear my mind of things that happen. It’s like you go into a different universe. Caine Stands Up from The Bully Project on Vimeo. Caine Smith’s story is one of the powerful narratives filmed […]
The Wait is Over The Knights of Badassdom Is Finally Here on February 11, 2014.