What do you think?
Rate this book
Narrative Design for Indies: Getting Started
"An approachable, practical field guide for one of the trickiest and most rewarding aspects of game development, "Narrative Design for Indies" is packed with straightforward, actionable advice. Worth your time!" - Chris Bourassa, Creative Director of Darkest Dungeon.
"This book's real strength lies in the fact that it's aimed directly at the indie developer with specific examples to bolster that." - Steve Ince, Creator of the Broken Sword Series.
You want to create a video game? Great!
You want to tell a story? Fantastic!
You want to create a video game that tells a story? What? Are you insane?!
I’m joking, kind of. You don’t have to be insane to tell a good story through your Indie video game, but you do have to be out of your mind. What I mean is, you have to empty your brain of a whole bunch of stuff that Hollywood and Triple-As have told you about games and stories, and fill it up with stuff that’s actually going to work on your teeny tiny budget.
Three Act structure? That’s like trying to shove a giant triangle through a tiny circle.
Hero’s Journey? Yup, that’ll take you nowhere, fast.
Authorial Authority. Now you’re just winding me up!
Whether you’re an Indie developer or a narrative designer wanting to work in the Indie space, Narrative Design for Indies: Getting Started is the first in a series of books that will take you through some tried and true techniques of Indie video game storytelling. Techniques that have been developed to blow minds rather than budgets.
Who am I? And do you know how weird it feels to write a third person description of yourself?
Edwin McRae has been working in the Indie video game space as a narrative designer for many years and is now scrambling his seasoned brain and serving it up as an omelette of hard-earned-wisdom for your educational consumption.
For less than a Hearthstone Welcome Bundle or a few hundred clash of Clans gems, you can find out how to use story in your Indie game to both engage and immerse your players.
You want to create an Indie video game that tells a story?
Cool.
"This book's real strength lies in the fact that it's aimed directly at the indie developer with specific examples to bolster that." - Steve Ince, Creator of the Broken Sword Series.
You want to create a video game? Great!
You want to tell a story? Fantastic!
You want to create a video game that tells a story? What? Are you insane?!
I’m joking, kind of. You don’t have to be insane to tell a good story through your Indie video game, but you do have to be out of your mind. What I mean is, you have to empty your brain of a whole bunch of stuff that Hollywood and Triple-As have told you about games and stories, and fill it up with stuff that’s actually going to work on your teeny tiny budget.
Three Act structure? That’s like trying to shove a giant triangle through a tiny circle.
Hero’s Journey? Yup, that’ll take you nowhere, fast.
Authorial Authority. Now you’re just winding me up!
Whether you’re an Indie developer or a narrative designer wanting to work in the Indie space, Narrative Design for Indies: Getting Started is the first in a series of books that will take you through some tried and true techniques of Indie video game storytelling. Techniques that have been developed to blow minds rather than budgets.
Who am I? And do you know how weird it feels to write a third person description of yourself?
Edwin McRae has been working in the Indie video game space as a narrative designer for many years and is now scrambling his seasoned brain and serving it up as an omelette of hard-earned-wisdom for your educational consumption.
For less than a Hearthstone Welcome Bundle or a few hundred clash of Clans gems, you can find out how to use story in your Indie game to both engage and immerse your players.
You want to create an Indie video game that tells a story?
Cool.
132 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 23, 2017
21 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Edwin McRae
18 books20 followersEdwin is an interactive fiction writer and narrative designer for the indie video games industry.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 23, 2025
A really good book for anyone who doesn't have a formal education in game design.
It will give you a broader understanding of the narrative design role, especially in relation to the artist. And you will be able to better estimate how narrative influences the financial picture of asset creation. It's generally not something that's mentioned in books.
In short, buy it. I'm sure that there's something in there for everyone.
It will give you a broader understanding of the narrative design role, especially in relation to the artist. And you will be able to better estimate how narrative influences the financial picture of asset creation. It's generally not something that's mentioned in books.
In short, buy it. I'm sure that there's something in there for everyone.
January 11, 2019
A good summary book for those getting started in game development. It gives you the tools to either know what questions to ask yourself, or at least the right questions to ask a possible hire.
The most useful parts were summarised in about 4 pages at the back, but the basic game breakdown of Darkest Dungeon, as an example, is also a great process for those needing an insight into how a developer thinks.
The most useful parts were summarised in about 4 pages at the back, but the basic game breakdown of Darkest Dungeon, as an example, is also a great process for those needing an insight into how a developer thinks.
May 1, 2021
Más bien un 3.5 podríamos decir, pero, en realidad, ¿a quién le acaba por importar la nota?
No conocía el trabajo de McRae (y no, no es el de los coches) en el mundo del videojuego como escritor, pero este pequeño libro puede ser un interesante primer paso para alguien que esté buscando información superficial y primeriza sobre qué se supone que es eso del "diseño narrativo" en videojuegos. Además, por desgracia, diría también que podría ser interesante para más de un estudio indie (¡y hasta con experiencia!).
Sienta unas bases muy sencillas de entender y de conectar con ejemplos conocidos por todos en la cultura popular. Sin embargo, cuando baja un poco a tierra con algunos ejemplos de videojuegos, con razón, tira de sus propios trabajos y quizás muchos títulos no sean muy conocidos, pero es lo de menos. Se entiende.
Lo dicho, interesante como primer paso para echar un vistazo a esto de los juegos.
No conocía el trabajo de McRae (y no, no es el de los coches) en el mundo del videojuego como escritor, pero este pequeño libro puede ser un interesante primer paso para alguien que esté buscando información superficial y primeriza sobre qué se supone que es eso del "diseño narrativo" en videojuegos. Además, por desgracia, diría también que podría ser interesante para más de un estudio indie (¡y hasta con experiencia!).
Sienta unas bases muy sencillas de entender y de conectar con ejemplos conocidos por todos en la cultura popular. Sin embargo, cuando baja un poco a tierra con algunos ejemplos de videojuegos, con razón, tira de sus propios trabajos y quizás muchos títulos no sean muy conocidos, pero es lo de menos. Se entiende.
Lo dicho, interesante como primer paso para echar un vistazo a esto de los juegos.
January 7, 2021
Great perspective for an aspiring ND
Finding good resources about narrative design is quite complicated. It almost feels like these resources and communities are barred from the common people, sealed away in game design courses and in the private circles of the gaming industry. Edwin here opened a window into the industry for me. And it was great to gain some first-hand perspective from someone who made it.
This book is precisely what it claims to be: a way to "get started" with Narrative Design in independent game development. And though it does feel a bit short, you will certainly get to the end having learned something.
Plus, I'm sure I will be following Edwin's future endeavours with much, much interest. Would recommend to anyone wanting to understand a bit more about story and Narrative Design in general!
Finding good resources about narrative design is quite complicated. It almost feels like these resources and communities are barred from the common people, sealed away in game design courses and in the private circles of the gaming industry. Edwin here opened a window into the industry for me. And it was great to gain some first-hand perspective from someone who made it.
This book is precisely what it claims to be: a way to "get started" with Narrative Design in independent game development. And though it does feel a bit short, you will certainly get to the end having learned something.
Plus, I'm sure I will be following Edwin's future endeavours with much, much interest. Would recommend to anyone wanting to understand a bit more about story and Narrative Design in general!
January 2, 2019
Excellent book.
September 22, 2024
Hits the nail on the head
No fancy academic theories here, just frank, sensible and insightful advice about how to deliver narrative where it counts. Also contains a lot of good references to how narrative is done right in more recently released games.
No fancy academic theories here, just frank, sensible and insightful advice about how to deliver narrative where it counts. Also contains a lot of good references to how narrative is done right in more recently released games.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews