ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses free-to-play game design. Sometimes free-to-play games seem more focused on marketing metrics and monetization techniques than narrative design. The microtransactions are where the free-to-play model becomes financially successful. As an aside, many free-to-play games serve up advertisements as a way of generating income. A successful free-to-play game makes getting past the gate more attractive than not playing the game. In story-as-context, the narrative gives a framework for the gates. In many cases, the narrative in story-as-reward could be stripped out of the project with little to no impact on the overall mechanics of the game. Narrative in a free-to-play game is as important as team wants it to be. Whether one is using narrative as context for the entire experience or as a juicy reward after difficult levels, the more the entire team is invested in the narrative, the more the story will work to serve that goal.
