A story arc is the shape a story follows from beginning to end: it starts with a setup, builds tension through rising action, peaks at a climax and settles into a resolution. A game script is the written document that holds a game’s dialogue, scene descriptions and, unlike a film script, the choices and conditions that change what happens. A storyboard is a sequence of drawings that shows how scenes, shots or gameplay moments will look before they are built.

This lesson builds on three Unit 1 posts: Story Arcs: Five-Point, Eight-Point and Three-Act Structure, Story Development and Scriptwriting for Animation and Games and Storyboarding, Camera Angles and Shots. If you have not read them, start there. Here we focus on what changes when the audience is also a player.

Steps in creating a story arc

Step	What happens	In a game
1. Exposition / setup	Introduce the world, the hero and what they want.	An opening scene or first level that teaches movement while showing the world.
2. Catalyst (inciting incident)	Something disrupts normal life and starts the adventure.	The village is flooded, a friend is captured, a strange signal appears.
3. Rising action	Challenges grow; the hero gains skills, allies and obstacles.	New levels, new abilities and tougher enemies or puzzles.
4. Turning points	Major surprises or decisions that change direction.	A plot twist, a boss that reveals a secret, or a player choice that opens a new path.
5. Climax	The greatest challenge and highest tension.	The final boss, the hardest puzzle or the key decision.
6. Resolution	Loose ends are tied up and we see the new normal.	Ending cut-scene, credits, and often a post-game world to explore.

Arcs in interactive stories

In a film, the writer controls the pace. In a game, the player does. That is why game writers pair the story arc with a difficulty or intensity curve: tension rises through gameplay, with calm moments (a safe town, a cut-scene) between intense ones. Games with choices may have several arcs that share a beginning and a climax but take different routes, or even end differently.

The Extra Credits video below shows how the game Journey builds a moving story arc almost entirely through play, music and landscape, with no dialogue at all:

Writing scripts for games

Game scripts contain the same things as film scripts – scene headings, action and dialogue – but they also need:

• Branches: different lines depending on the player’s choice (“If the player chose to help the fisherman…”).
• Conditions and variables: notes such as “only if the player has the lantern” or “if trust ≥ 3”.
• Barks: short lines characters say during play (“Over here!”, “I need more wood!”), often written in lists with several versions so they do not repeat.
• Tutorial and UI text: button prompts, hints and item descriptions – these are writing too.
• Voice direction: notes for actors about emotion and volume.

Writers often use a spreadsheet for dialogue, or special tools. Celtx handles screenplays and storyboards; Twine is a free tool for writing branching, choice-based stories; engines have dialogue plug-ins such as Ink or Yarn Spinner.

Sample game script format

SCENE 3 – HARBOUR AT DUSK
Rain begins. Boats knock against the pier.

MARISOL (worried): The storm is early. Grandpa’s boat is still out.

PLAYER CHOICE:
  [A] "I’ll take the lighthouse path."   -> SCENE 4A (sets courage +1)
  [B] "Let’s ask the harbour master."   -> SCENE 4B (sets trust +1)

IF player has LANTERN:
  MARISOL: Good – light it at the top. He’ll see it.
ELSE:
  MARISOL: We need light. Check Mr. Joseph’s shop.

BARKS (Marisol, while following): "Careful, it’s slippery!" / "Hurry!" / "I can see the light!"

Storyboarding for games

Game storyboards are used for cut-scenes (like film storyboards) and for gameplay sequences, where each panel shows what the player sees and does. Gameplay boards often include arrows for player movement, notes on the controls being used and small drawings of the HUD. Keep each panel simple: a clear drawing, a camera note (wide shot, close-up, over-the-shoulder) and a caption of the action or dialogue.

Example

A student plans a short game, Lantern Night, about a girl guiding her grandfather’s boat home during a storm.

• Setup: a calm harbour; the player learns to walk and talk to villagers.
• Catalyst: the storm arrives early and Grandpa’s boat is missing.
• Rising action: the player finds a lantern, crosses a slippery cliff path and fixes the lighthouse gears.
• Turning point: the lighthouse bulb is broken; the player must choose to use the lantern as the light.
• Climax: in a timed sequence, the player keeps the flame alive against wind gusts while the boat approaches.
• Resolution: the boat reaches the pier; villagers celebrate, and the lighthouse becomes the game’s save point.

She writes the script scene by scene (like the sample above) and draws a nine-panel storyboard of the climax: panel 1 wide shot of the storm, panel 2 close-up of the flame flickering, panel 3 the player pressing a button to shield it, and so on.

Exercise

1. List the six steps of a story arc and describe each one for a game you have played.
2. Write a one-page game script for a scene with at least one player choice, one condition and three barks.
3. Draw a six- to nine-panel storyboard for either a cut-scene or a short gameplay sequence from your script. Add camera and control notes under each panel.
4. Try Twine (free at twinery.org) and turn your script into a playable branching story with at least two endings.

Next: How to Pitch an Interactive Game and Design for Your Target Audience (Demographics)

Syllabus link: This post is relevant to the CAPE® Animation and Game Design Syllabus, Unit 2: Interactive Design and Game Development, Module 1: Introduction to Interactive Design – Specific Objective 11 (“identify the steps involved in creating a story arc”); Specific Objective 12 (“employ the knowledge of writing scripts for games”); Specific Objective 13 (“create a storyboard”).

Attributions to media used in this post:

Heroesjourney.svg – Unknown author; vectorised by Slashme – Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)

Twine 2.9.2 screenshot.png – AlexRosenthal – CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Storyboard for The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd.jpg – Tom Ray (tmray02 on Flickr) – CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.