VIDEO GAME WRITING COURSE

Kick things off by meeting your instructor and getting to know the structure of the course. There will be time for you to ask your instructor questions directly too.

• Course structure
• Assignments
• Q&A

See how this course works and how game writing works. You’ll break down what makes a game succeed, rethink pitching, and start analysing games with a sharper, more professional lens.

• Course overview & team culture
• Mechanism, audience, & success
• Pitching as storytelling
• Workshop: Analyse games like a pro

Assignment #1: Class Game Elevator Pitch

Lock in the core of your game’s story — what it’s about, how it unfolds, and why players should care. You’ll shape a clear story spine, test it through simple Twine mechanics, and pressure-test your idea by pitching it.

• Story spine
• Twine game mechanics
• Narrative Design document
• Workshop: Pitch your game

Assignment #2: Game's ND Document

Figure out how you want players to feel and then design everything to support that. You’ll shape player characters, map out what the player needs to understand, and pressure-test your narrative design doc so the experience lands clearly and intentionally.

• How the player should feel
• Conveyance order of operations
• Designing player characters
• Workshop: ND document discussion & revision

Assignment #3: PC's ND Document

Learn how to write cinematic openings that hook players fast — and make your story work across cutscenes, gameplay, and other formats. You’ll pressure-test your narrative design doc and refine it through workshop feedback.

• Writing game cinematics
• Writing across formats
• Workshop: ND document discussion & revision

Assignment #4: PC Introduction

Find your characters’ voice and make every line count. In this class, you’ll explore dialogue for VO, UI, actors, and localisation, tackle barks, and workshop cinematic table reads to bring your game’s words to life.

• Character "voice"
• Barks
• Writing for VO, UI, actors, & localisation
• Workshop: Cinematics table reads

Assignment #5: Home & Events Passages 

Push your story into the tension zone. Explore conflict across genres, define what’s at stake, and use our workshop to tighten scenes so every confrontation drives the story forward.

• Conflict in different genres
• What are the stakes?
• Workshop: Meeting passagesQA test

Assignment #7: Combat Success Path

Failure can also move the story. Learn how to design branching narratives, craft satisfying failure paths, and test your QA combat sequences, so players feel challenged, not frustrated.

• Branching narrative
• Satisfying failures
• Workshop: Combat success path QA test

Assignment #8: Combat Failure Path

Push your story to the edge. Explore villains under pressure, mirror your characters’ choices, and test isolation in pivotal moments. By the end, you’ll have sharpened your combat passages and narrative tension, ready for the final choice.

• Villains as pressure
• Mirror characters
• Isolation in the final choice
• Workshop: Combat passages QA test

Assignment #9: Threshold Passage

Turn fun tutorials into satisfying endgame experiences. This class helps you test, refine, and polish your work, making sure every element clicks and your project feels complete.

• Cohesion
• Fun tutorials
• Satisfying endgames
• Workshop: Threshold QA test

Assignment #10: Endgame

Put the finishing touches on your game script and make it shine. Test, tweak, and refine every detail, so your project is ready to enjoy.

• Putting the octopus to bed
• Successful revision
• Workshop: QA testing for the full game

Assignment #11: Final Game Revisions

Tie everything together and get career-ready. Review what you’ve learned, polish your portfolio, sharpen your interview approach, and walk away with a clear plan for landing a role in the industry.

• Course review
• Successful portfolio, job search, interview
• What’s next

Assignment #12: Ship It: Final Course Project