Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering™

Chapter 2.24. Emotioneering Techniques Category #24: Self-Created Story Techniques (a.k.a. Agency Techniques)

Who's in charge—the game designer or the gamer?

Making the player feel

like he or she is impacting, or even (ideally) shaping the story is sometimes called “giving the player a sense of agency,” or simply “giving the player agency.” This chapter focuses on ways to accomplish this—ways to help the player feel that he or she is playing the game, rather than simply being taken along on a ride.

A game, to a greater or lesser degree, helps guide the player's choices and determines the possible consequences of his or her actions. However, it's important to make the player feel like he or she isn't just a pawn in the story.

In Chapter 2.21, “First-Person ...