ABSTRACT
Story-focused games, as opposed to more abstract games, tend to be seen as having limited replay value. Once players “get the good ending”, they are unlikely to have much, if any, motivation to replay. It is often not enough to simply provide multiple endings or to force the player to repeatedly loop back over previously played story sequences – instead, there needs to be a strong reason why the player wants to continue playing. Some storygames, such as Bandersnatch (Netflix, 2018) and The Walking Dead (Telltale Games, 2012–2018) series, do provide a certain degree of motivation to play again, largely to explore the range of possible endings. However, for most players, this motivation is quickly lost as there is little satisfaction to be gained from replaying other than seeing the ending itself, which people can easily see by watching recorded playthroughs on platforms such as YouTube. Other games, such as Save the Date (Paper Dino Software, 2013), Doki Doki Literature Club (Team Salvato, 2017), Nier Automata (Yoko Taro, 2017) and Oxenfree (Night School Studios, 2016), make this repeat experience an essential part of actually completing the game. Still, it is not clear what motivation players will have to replay beyond this extended ending. Finally, some games, such as Blood and Laurels (Emily Short, 2014) and Cultist Simulator (The Weather Factory, 2018), reward repeat play through a deeper understanding of the underlying system, something that, when done well, can become an integral part of experiencing not just the story, but the deeper story system. In this chapter, I explore the various ways that storygames attempt to encourage and reward repeat play, both at the system and story level, and suggest ways that game designers can work towards integrating these levels to encourage and sustain player motivation to replay.
