Games As Actions

tim-cain game-design narrative-design player-agency choice-and-consequence medium-theory

Abstract

Problem: How do games differ fundamentally from books and movies as a storytelling medium?

Approach: Tim Cain draws an analogy from Denis Villeneuve's philosophy of visual storytelling, extending the progression from books (lines) to movies (scenes) to games (actions).

Findings: Games transcend — or encompass — earlier media because the player performs actions rather than passively consuming them. Three qualities elevate games: player discovery, visceral combat, and choice & consequence.

Key insight: Books are remembered for great lines, movies for great scenes, and games for great actions — the things you did, not what you watched or read.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q1ZGSyVHus

1. The Media Hierarchy: Lines → Scenes → Actions

Tim opens with a quote from director Denis Villeneuve: "I strive for visual storytelling, for images that convey meaning without relying on dialogue." This captures how movies encompass books — they include words but add imagery, music, acting, and cinematography.

Games extend this chain one step further. They can have everything a movie has — great visuals, great lines, great acting — but what defines a game is the actions the player takes. You're not watching; you're doing.

2. Three Things That Elevate Games

2.1. Player Discovery

Games can hide content that the player doesn't have to find. You might wander off the critical path into a ruin or cave nobody pointed you toward, and discover quests, lore, or items on your own. Everyone reads the same book and watches the same movie, but not everyone who plays a game experiences the same game. Discovery is uniquely personal.

2.2. Visceral Combat

Boss fights and tense combat moments are remembered because you fought them. You brought your skills, items, and knowledge to bear. Books and movies can depict tense confrontations, but the moment-to-moment intensity of doing it yourself is something only games provide.

2.3. Choice and Consequence

Tim's favorite quality of games. When a character in a book makes a morally difficult decision, you empathize. When you make that decision in a game, you have to live with it. Tim recalls players complaining "why did the game let me do that?" — his response: the game didn't make you do anything. You chose. That moral weight is impossible in a passive medium.

3. Games Are Bigger Than Movies

Tim emphasizes this point for developers coming from a love of books and film: don't reduce games to "really cool scenes and lines." Even a linear game can be bigger than a movie because the player's actions shape the experience. Every game developer should think of their medium as fundamentally about actions — not scenes, not lines.

4. References