Interactive entertainment is engaging and absolutely unforgettable. It pulls you in directly and doesn’t let go, leaves you hanging off the edge of the seat, the whole nine yards. Some people may think interactive entertainment is engaging just because it’s something you actively engage with, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
People, in general, hate forced participation. That participation needs to be earned every step of the way.
So how do interactive entertainment offerings do it? Usually, the answer is simple, with great storytelling. Interactivity gives audiences agency, making them active, putting their decisions and moves front and centre. Great storytelling then gives them a reason to stay, to care.
Raising Stakes
One thing that interactive entertainment and great storytelling have in common is rising stakes. Even the best casino games Canada has to offer are following suit, with more progressive slot games and narrative-based games now on offer than ever before.
Specifically, however, it’s the rising stakes. Even slot games today have a story that becomes more pressing as the game progresses, encouraging you to keep playing to see it through to its conclusion. Games, movies, and even choose-your-own-adventure books all raise the stakes, making the experience not just interactive but also engaging and hard to put down.
Player Choice
One area where interactive entertainment and great storytelling overlap is in the power of choice. In traditional storytelling, where the story is fixed and pre-determined, that choice belongs solely to the character, but it is their choices that drive the narrative forward.
With interactive media, it is the player who makes the choice. Whether that choice is which bonuses to use, or, in the case of large-scale RPG games, it’s outright which narrative path you personally want to take.
Consequences for Your Actions
Consequences make every choice feel more real. That’s why more games and interactive media (right down to interactive plays and other experiences) are building in consequences for the choices you make.
Some industries naturally have consequences. When playing online casino games, whether that’s slots or a live game of poker, you can either win or lose. Yes, sometimes it’s all down to luck, but ultimately it was still you deciding to play that kickstarted everything.
It’s the chance of getting something wrong, losing, or not seeing the right ending you want, that makes interactive media so engaging. There are consequences, which means playing matters, and winning in any capacity feels that much more rewarding.
Engaging Environments
Successful interactive media and great storytelling always have rich, engaging, and enticing environments. In books, this is the setting, the worldbuilding, even the author’s unique voice. In games and other interactive media, it’s the visuals, the music, and even the UI experience.
Being engaged means being drawn in and feeling how the world is shaped and how it differs from your day-to-day. Just as a book suffers when it’s written with what’s known as “white room syndrome”, or, in other words, readers cannot visualize the space because there’s no information, so too do interactive experiences from games to in-person plays.