People writing on notepads at office table. Photo Credit: Sarah B on Unsplash
KSU Writing Center’s Game Writers’ Guild, a game narrative club, returns to Marietta’s campus.
Storytelling has been a cornerstone of civilization and has undoubtedly contributed to countless advancements for humankind. Whether those stories are communicated through drawing on a cave wall or playing the latest video game release, narratives has fostered incredible change within society.
KSU students are exploring the creative medium of video games and their narratives through the writing center’s returning club, the Game Writers’ Guild (GWG).
GWG discusses the narrative structure and craft for video games, encouraging students to connect with their favorite stories and replicate those techniques within their own game designs.
In previous years, GWG went on an indefinite hiatus after the former club leaders graduated, leaving the writing center with one less club to staff.
Last semester, however, writing assistants Senti Hamlett and Bailey Peters took a personal interest in revitalizing the club in hopes of promoting the creation of compelling game narratives once more.
The two co-leads collaborated with the KSU Writing Center to reinstall this previously popular club. They began to meet on Tuesdays during last spring semester at the Writing Center’s Marietta campus location.
On top of promoting game narrative design, the club also emphasizes that students do not need programming experience to attend the club meetings. The premise of this student-led group is to discuss storytelling elements through game mechanics, visuals and other atmospheric details, even if you’re a beginner.
On Sept. 15, Hamlett and Peters led the club in a discussion about the unique craftsmanship of game jams, a specific kind of game designed in a short timeframe with limited resources and collaborators.
This topic prompted club members to discuss some of their favorite game jams. Many of which were created in collaboration at the Global Game Jam, an international event that encourages sustainable and innovative video game creation.
Hamlett and Peters also asked students to create a game jam concept with the prompt, “You Only Get One.” Students explored ideas that played with one resource, one life and even one level, spit-balling ideas about how to best utilize a game narrative with so little time to plan and execute.
Club members and co-leads also talked about the positive impacts of video game narratives, as many of the students expressed their interest in storytelling originating from their love for gaming. This passion for video games later opened doors for students to imagine their own story ideas through interactive narratives and other media.
GWG’s return to KSU gives students a space to pitch their video game ideas, receive feedback from peers on game narration and inspire them to pursue video game design.
The revival of GWG has also been an exciting experience for KSU gamers, as students can discuss their favorite games and new releases. These students are fostering an on-campus community around stories that they have played for years, or even those that they have never heard of before joining GWG.
With the help of the Writing Center and the creative minds of the student co-leads, the imaginative world of game design lives on.
