Alice Rendell and the Problem Every Interactive Story Has to Solve
I have a plan. It's not a good plan. Let’s goooo!
For my ongoing mission to become a much better writer of interactive stories, I keep talking to people who actually know what they’re doing and hoping one of them finally gives me the shortcut.
This time, I spoke with Alice Rendell, a narrative systems designer who has worked across indie and AAA, including Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment, on projects like Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
What I liked immediately was how she described herself: not just as a narrative designer, but as a bridge between story and gameplay.
That was basically the whole conversation in one sentence.
Why “Good Story” Is Not Enough in Interactive Media
Alice’s point was clear: in games and interactive storytelling, story should not just sit on top of mechanics. It should live inside them.
That is a big difference.
A lot of experiences still separate the two. First you play, then the story happens, then you play again. But the stronger version is when the thing the player does already carries the dramatic tension.
She brought up Papers, Please, which is a perfect example. Checking passports sounds boring. But because the mechanic is tied to pressure, fear, morality, and consequence, the gameplay becomes the story.
That is a very useful reminder for interactive audio too. A story with a few choices is not automatically strong interactive storytelling. The better question is whether the interaction itself creates meaning.
The More Freedom You Give the Player, the More Problems You Create
One of the most useful ideas from the call was what Alice called the protagonist trap.
In linear stories, part of the suspense comes from not knowing what the main character will do. In interactive stories, the player makes the choice. So that kind of suspense changes.
That creates a real problem.
If the protagonist is too defined, the player feels boxed in. If the protagonist is too blank, the story can lose shape. And in interactive audio, where the format often speaks very directly to the listener, that problem becomes even more obvious.
What I took from this is simple: a blank protagonist is not free. If you keep the player character open, then the side characters, the world, and the situations all have to work harder.
Why Some Stories Stay With You Longer Because They Explain Less
The part I enjoyed most was when we got into fragmented storytelling, gaps, and why games like Elden Ring and Dark Souls keep people obsessed for years.
It is not just because they have deep lore. Plenty of games have lore.
It is because they leave gaps.
They trust players to connect clues, fill in missing pieces, compare interpretations, and do some of the work themselves. And because of that, players lean in more.
During the conversation I landed on a phrase I want to keep: community storytelling.
Because some stories are not completed alone. You finish the game, then go to YouTube, Reddit, Discord, or comment sections to piece the rest together with other people. The story keeps living through shared interpretation.
That is smart. And it is probably a good warning for writers like me who sometimes explain too much.
The Real Lesson I’m Taking From Alice
My biggest takeaway from this conversation is that interactive storytelling only becomes powerful when story feels native to the form.
Not pasted on top.
Not dropped into exposition.
Not carried only by dialogue.
Native.
That means interaction has to matter. It means protagonists need to be handled carefully. And it means gaps are not always a weakness. Sometimes they are exactly what make people care.
Still no magical shortcut to becoming a world-class writer overnight.
Very disappointing.
But definitely a strong silver tip collection.
Alice, thank you. This was sharp, practical, and very useful.
About Road to Rank 1
Road to Rank 1 is my public learning series about becoming a better writer of interactive fiction and audio stories by talking to experts from games, books, audio, and narrative design.
