Imagine The Last Of Us without the opening sequence, the giraffe scene, or the hospital finale.

Disco Elysium without the karaoke, the necktie conversations, or the seaside chat.

Baldur’s Gate 3 without any campfire moments, that transformation scene in Act Two, or the Grove storyline.

Would they still be fun? Yes. But they wouldn’t be the same. Stories can elevate games from good to great.

The rise of narrative-driven games has made storytelling a crucial skill set that game studios need. If you want to write for games, now’s the time to jump in.

But if you’re an aspiring videogame writer, where do you even start?

Good news: you can start here.

In this primer, we’ll share what game writing is (and isn’t), what essential skills game writers need, the process studios follow, what narrative tools you’ll use, and even how to break in.

Let's go!

What Is Game Writing?

When I started writing for games, I had to rewire my brain completely. If you're coming from other storytelling mediums (like I did), you're about to learn that game writing works very differently.

First Of All, The Player Changes Everything

The X factor when it comes to game writing, is the player. This might seem obvious, but for new game writers, it is the ultimate rake-to-step-on.

In film or TV, you write the story, and the audience watches it. Done! But in games, you build the narrative framework - and the player brings it to life.

Player agency—the player's ability to make choices that affect the story—means you're building a playground for storytelling rather than a straight path. Their choices shape your story in both big and small ways. Sometimes, this means writing many different dialogue options; other times, it means creating a rich world where players can form their own stories as they explore.

Your Writing Doesn't Stand Alone

As game writers, we don't just write a script and then hand it off to the rest of the team. Devs work together on everything. A good game script is connected with all the other game elements—design, animation, music, and more. That great monologue you wrote? It might get cut if the character model can't support the facial animations needed, or if the level design makes that quiet moment impossible. Game writers learn to be flexible.

Story Serves the Experience

Perhaps most surprisingly, for traditional writers, the story is not king. In novels, films, and TV shows, the story usually (always?) takes center stage. In games, like all other elements—the design, the code—the story is there to serve one thing and one thing only: the player experience.

Sometimes, this means your carefully crafted plot points take a backseat to gameplay. And that's OK! Players aren’t there to watch - they’re there to play.

The Game Writer's Role

So, what exactly do you do as a game writer or narrative designer? In simplest terms:

You collaborate with the dev team. Game development is all about teamwork, and you'll work closely with designers, artists, programmers, and others to make sure the story works with the other parts of the game.

You support the game designer's vision. While you might be in charge of the narrative, you're working within the game's overall design framework. When your story works, it brings the game to life, instead of getting in the way.

You guide the player's emotional journey through the game. While game designers focus on systems and mechanics, you work on the feelings—making sure players connect emotionally with characters and care about the world they're exploring.

Game Writer vs. Narrative Designer: What's the Difference?

The definition is different at every studio. There's no industry standard for these titles.

But generally, a game writer focuses on WHAT the story is, WHO the characters are, and WHY it all matters. They write the overall story arc, the characters, and, of course, the dialogue.

A narrative designer usually determines HOW to tell the story in the game—through game mechanics, cutscenes, branching dialogue, environmental storytelling, UI text, etc. They're often more involved with game systems and how story integrates with gameplay.

That said, there's no clear line between these roles on smaller projects. At indie studios, you might handle both jobs and more. Even at bigger studios, the boundaries often blur.

So there you go. That’s what game writing is all about. Whew!

Essential Skills for Game Writers

Here are the key skills you'll need to succeed as a game writer. Some will feel familiar if you are already a writer, while others might feel new and suprising.

Skill #1: Writing Ability

First, you need solid writing skills. This means being able to create characters players care about, and to write dialogue that players can't resist.

When it comes to characters, game writers think beyond just the hero. Even minor characters in games need distinct personalities since players might talk to them often. Your characters should have clear goals, unique voices, and enough depth to feel like real people.

When writing dialogue, when in doubt - keep it short. Game dialogue often triggers while players are busy doing something else—fighting enemies, solving puzzles, or exploring. Learn to say a lot with just a few words. Most players won't listen to long speeches, even if Shakespeare himself wrote them.

When a game script is working, it:

• Shows character through word choice
• Moves the story forward
• Sounds natural when read out loud (always test this!)
• Works in small chunks

Skill #2: GAME-Writing Ability

Once you’ve got a solid writing foundation, you’re ready to move on to the next skill - figuring out how to write for games. That means learning to love the ways in which players take control of your story and make it their own.

You're not just writing one story—you're creating different paths based on what players might decide to do. This could mean:

• Creating multiple story paths that all feel good
• Writing dialogue that changes based on player choices
• Adding story elements in the game world (notes, audio logs, details) that reward players who explore
• Making stories that work no matter the order players experience them

You'll also need basic technical knowledge. You don't need to be a programmer, but understanding how your writing becomes part of the game helps a lot. Learn a little (or a lot) about:

• Simple tools like Twine or Ink to test conversations
• Basic concepts like variables, conditions, and triggers
• How to write for game engines (Unity, Unreal, etc.)
• How your team wants work to be documented

The more you understand how your writing gets into the game, the more likely it is that players will actually get to experience it the way you intended.

Skill #3: Teamwork

This might be the biggest change for writers coming from books or films. Game development is all about teamwork; your writing is just one piece of the puzzle. The team will be all up in your narrative business, because your work affects their work (and vice versa).

The best game writers are team players.

Game designers will remind you every day that gameplay comes first. Be ready to change your story to fit the game rather than making the game fit your story. Ask about how players progress, how the game loops work, and what the core systems are, because your story has to work with their design.

Artists will help turn your written words into visual storytelling. Pictures really are worth a thousand words. Visual solutions are sometimes better than verbal ones - especially when players aren’t paying close attention.

Programmers will help you understand the technical limits of your ideas. To collaborate with them, think about breaking complex story systems into clear, doable parts, and be specific about what you need - while staying flexible about how it's done.

Build these teamwork habits:

• Take feedback well and use it to make your work better (easier said than done, I know)
• Clearly explain your story ideas, in ways they’ll understand
• Understand real-world limits like schedules and resources (if you don't understand, just ask: the producer will love you for asking)
• Be willing to cut or change your writing when needed (EVERYBODY has to cut some of their work, and writers are no exception)
• Appreciate all the different ways your fellow game devs help to bring your ideas to life - the designers, animators, musicians, and programmers all contribute to the story

In games, the best stories come from the interplay between writing, design, art, and code. Your job isn't to protect your words—it's to make sure the player has the best story experience possible, no matter who contributed what parts.

By learning how to write well, developing an understanding of how to write for games, and honing your ability to work well with other people, you'll have everything you need to build a successful career in game writing.

The Game Writing Process – From Concept to Script

It helps to understand how the sausage factory works. Let's break down the main phases of game development and see how writers fit in.

(This is an EXTREMELY SIMPLIFIED version of the process. The devil, as always, is in the details.)

Stage 1: Ideation

Every game starts with a core idea. As a writer in this phase, you'll work with designers and creative leads to shape the player experience. You'll help answer fundamental questions like:

• How will the story make that experience even better?

Stage 2: Pre-Production

This is where ideas start becoming concrete plans. Think of it as creating a blueprint for your game's narrative. During pre-production, you'll develop:

• A practical plan for how to tell that story through gameplay

This last point is crucial. It's not enough to have a great story – you need to know exactly how you'll tell it through game mechanics, level design, and player interaction.

Stage 3: Production

This is where all the planning turns into actual content. During production, you'll:

• Review your work in the game to ensure it fits with other elements

One important note about production: games change during development. Levels get cut, features get modified, and story moments need to adapt. This is a feature, not a bug. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer; it’s just how game dev works. If the team cuts one of your favorite ideas, just save it in a folder and label it NEXT TIME.

Tools & Software for Game Writers

Next, let's look at some of the best tools for game writing. While you don't need every tool to get started, understanding what's available will help you choose the right ones for your projects.

Interactive Story Tools

Twine is a free, open-source tool that's perfect for learning the basics of interactive storytelling. Think of it as a visual flowchart for your story – you can see how different choices connect, making it easier to manage branching narratives. Many professional game writers started with Twine, and some studios even use it to prototype story ideas.

Dialogue Writing Tools

Ink, created by Inkle Studios, is a kickass tool for writing branching dialogue. It's free, relatively easy to learn, and used in games like 80 Days and Heaven's Vault. What makes Ink special is how it handles complex dialogue flow and variables, letting you track player choices and change the story accordingly.

Professional Scriptwriting Software

While specialized game-writing tools are important, many studios also use traditional scriptwriting software. For example:

• Final Draft is the industry standard for linear scripts. While it's not designed specifically for games, it's useful for cutscenes and linear story sequences.
• Celtx offers both traditional scriptwriting features and game-specific tools. Its collaboration features make it easier to work with a team.

Getting Started for Free

You don't need to invest money to start working with these tools. Here's how you can get started:

• Twine – it's free and has an active community
• Ink once you're comfortable with basic branching narratives
• Join game writing communities online to learn about other tools

A Note About Tools

Remember that tools are just that – tools. Focus first on understanding interactive storytelling principles. A well-structured story in a simple tool will always be better than a poorly structured one in expensive software.

Many studios also have their own proprietary tools that you'll learn on the job. So there's nothing you HAVE to learn before taking your first game-writing job. (Yay!) But being familiar with these common tools will help you adapt more quickly to studio-specific software.

The most important thing is to start writing. Pick one tool, learn its basics, and begin creating. You can always explore more advanced tools as your needs grow.

How to Become a Game Writer

Breaking into game writing takes more than just talent – it requires a smart approach and some hands-on experience (which you can get by just rolling up your sleeves and going for it). Here's how to start building your career.

Create Your Portfolio

Start by making small, focused projects that give you a chance to practice the art of telling stories through gameplay. For example, you could:

• Design a simple system for tracking player choices

Polish at this stage isn't that important. What IS important is showing you have a feel for how games tell stories. Focus on showing the reader you can write for player choice and gameplay. (Don't know how? Just start experimenting. You'll learn by doing.)

Connect with the Community

Game development is teamwork, and so is the community around it. You can learn a lot by:

• IGDA

These connections aren't just for meeting people – they're chances to learn from pros and stay up-to-date with what is going on in the industry.

Find Your First Role

Entry-level jobs in game writing come in different forms, such as:

• Narrative design on small indie projects

Look for chances to learn from more experienced writers while doing meaningful work on projects.

Keep Learning

Game writing is constantly changing. Think about continuing your education through:

• The Narrative Department's game writing masterclass, which provides structured guidance from industry professionals

Start Small, Think Long-Term

Building a career in game writing takes time. It won’t happen overnight, but if you stick with it, it WILL happen. Just focus on steady progress:

• Look for chances to get practical experience

Remember that many successful game writers started with tiny projects or writing-adjacent roles. (I sure did.) All that matters is that you stick with it.

Your Game Writing Journey Starts Now

Whew! Congrats on making it this far. Throughout this guide, we've covered:

• Simple steps you can take to get your first game writing job

Ready to get started?

The best way to learn game writing is to just do it! Start small, be kind to yourself as you’re learning, and keep building your skills. Nobody’s born knowing this stuff. If you want to do it, you can.

BioShock, as well as the Far Cry and Tomb Raider franchises. You'll learn practical techniques, try industry tools, and connect with other writers who love games as much as you do.

>>> Learn more about our Playable Stories Workshop here <<<

Space is limited, but we'd love to see you there! No matter what, keep writing, keep playing games, and keep learning. Your game-writing journey has already begun. 🙌

Susan’s first job as a game writer was for “a slumber party game - for girls!” She’s gone on to work on over 25 projects, including award-winning titles in the BioShock, Far Cry and Tomb Raider franchises. Titles in her portfolio have sold over 30 million copies and generated over $500 million in sales. She founded the Game Narrative Summit at GDC. Now, she partners with studios, publishers, and writers to help teams ship great games with great stories. She is dedicated to supporting creatives in the games industry so that they can do their best work.