“The number one job of narrative is to make a game less weird”

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“Key art, names and fantasy all combine to give clues as to what players can expect even before picking up the controls,” said MY.GAMES head of narrative Armando Troisi.

Speaking on stage during the second day of PGC London, Troisi shared his learnings from over 18 years in the games industry to stress the importance of narrative in games.

While some may debate which should come first between gameplay mechanics and narrative, Troisi argued they are “two sides of the same coin”.

In most cases, he said that mechanics are “quite abstract” with “invisible rules”, which are “barriers to communication” without a narrative.

“This is where storytelling can help us,” he said. “Narrative’s job is to lessen abstractions through cues that are familiar to the player. The number one job of narrative is to make a game less weird.”

From board to battlefield

Using chess as an example, Troisi argued that the pieces and checkered board don’t mean anything in isolation, but the narrative builds a context of warfare, making the game easier to understand. The knight embodies cavalry, for example, with its own rules of play.

The player, meanwhile, embodies the role of general. And in their mind, this context transforms the board from a set of coordinates to a battlefield.

“The primary rule of narrative is to make ideas easier to learn by masking them with relatable experiences,” said Troisi.

“When it comes to user experience design, narrative isn’t a nice to have – it’s a must have.”

To conclude, Troisi did warn against overindulgent narratives, which run the risk of muddying the gameplay experience.

“Narrative can be used as a way to code instructions into the game itself. And if your narrative doesn’t start supplying these cues, your narrative is probably more indulgent than useful to the player,” he said.

There’s plenty more to discover from PGC London 2025, with more talks still taking place throughout the rest of today.