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StaceyPowers

Clever minimalist storytelling in games?

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What are some examples of clever minimalist storytelling in games that make use of player interaction in some way?

For instance, there is a moment in Stray where you can have the cat take a nap in a particular location. When you do, the camera pulls way far away, as if to suggest the cat's dreaming mind journeying away. It plays an instrumental song which, in conjunction with a previous conversation, hints strongly at what the cat is dreaming of, even though it is not shown on the screen or stated explicitly in any way.

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Purposeful level design can be a great story telling mechanic. Watching the world changer over time or the effect of conflict on environments. The way things are built or placed can spark stories from passerby players. Dark souls makes good use of this with destruction and body placement

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There's something similar in Shadow of the Colossus. With seeing a young man bringing a dead girl to a strange empty land which the obvious story behind that single act was that the land is capable of bringing the death back to life. 

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I feel like there were a lot of moments like these in Spiritfarer. A number of backstories about the characters are implied through vague interaction with them rather than stated explicitly. Elena comes to mind in particular, because despite being a thorny teacher, you can interpret quite a lot from her exchange with you even if it's never explained why she's so passive-aggressive, especially with your very last interaction with her. Even the minigames add context to the characters' backstories and reflect their past lives.

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I finally got to play stray and those tiny details the developers tried to put at certain points in the game like the one you mentioned showed how the developers really wanted players to achieve a connection between themselves and the cat they are playing as and seeing how the character develops is Clever and exciting as well.

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