For former reduces friction for the player. Choices have a tangible effect on how things turn out.

While some video games revel in the density and effort required to discover the narrative in their virtual worlds, others want to make it as easy and accessible to make their story your own. What is broken in the space the game creates, and how/if it can be fixed. How other characters (and the world itself sometimes) reacts to your presence.

The way that levers and buttons interact. Half caught sentences from passing characters. The narrative of video games is not usually told (like in books) or shown (like in films) but overheard. Less obviously, games can also communicate narrative through how they Simulate the world, what needs solving in Puzzles or even the Strategies players need to employ. Games can use Adventure, Action and Role-Playing to communicate elements of story to players. The best examples intertwine gameplay and storytelling, rather than interspersing short films ('Cut Scenes) between levels. Learning from the power of books and films, these games string together interactions not for excitement or competition but for storytelling beats. Narrative video games focus on telling a story about characters, worlds and themes. In this entry we are looking at Narrative games. This is designed for people new to gaming, and aims to identify games with the least barriers. In this series, we are learning how different aspects of video games work by playing games that offer an easy introduction to this one concept. Finally, a few of the games like The First Tree and Sunlight invite you to make a connection to other players, once you have come to terms with a journey on your own. Then there are games we included like Shadow of the Colossus that let you get lost in the vastness of its landscape. Other games in the list, like Thomas Was Alone and Bird Alone offer you the chance to reflect on friendship and the need to nurture relationships. Some of the games, like Never Alone, Journey and The Long Dark place you in a harsh environment that emphasises your diminutive size when faced with the expanse of nature. These games offer us insight into the benefits of appreciating time alone, such as opportunities for self-reflection, self-discovery, and the chance to curate enriching experiences or environments for ourselves. The other games offer their own lens on loneliness and solitary seasons of life. In it, you spend 400 elapsed days waiting for the King to wake up and living at a slow pace. This list was inspired by the experience of playing the unusually solitary (and long) game The Longing and the Twitter thread that followed. “With mindfulness, there are even more benefits to gain from intentional consumption of media,” she says, “games can be tools we use to recover or grow, psychologically, and our time with them isn't wasted if they provide us insights or rest we need.” Garcia’s Screen Therapy project employs Positive Media Psychology research to highlight and interpret meaningful experiences with games and movies. We teamed up with Courtney Garcia’s Screen Therapy channel to curate a list of games that give us a chance to experience being alone in different ways.

In a culture that often assumes that the route to happiness is with another person, it can benefit us to acknowledge that being alone is not always a bad thing.

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