Items, Emotions and Story — Polygon Treehouse

VIDEO GAME ITEMS 101

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s dev blog. Today we’re going to be talking about video game items. You can collect loads of varied items in games, things like keys, coins, health packs and even ocarinas. Classic adventure games (like the much-loved games of my childhood; Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle) are centered around more item-based puzzle gameplay. In these games you have to find and use the correct item (or combination of items) to solve a puzzle. These games have a rich history of having more esoteric and even downright bizarre items populating their worlds. Curiosities like a rubber chicken, breath mints, spit encrusted paper and even a balloon sculpture with the likeness of Robert Frost!

**Items in The Secret of Monkey Island**

These items can be a lot of fun to collect and it can be fun to figure out what they should be used for. It’s safe to say that they've been delighting and bamboozling players for decades. There is however a different aspect to items in video games that we explore in our games, and that’s their ability to impart emotion and to tell a story.

ITEM IMPRINTING

If you forget about video games for a moment (difficult I know) and think about some of your favorite real-world items or possessions. It might be a souvenir that conjures memories of a special holiday, a mug that you’ve drank from for good luck every day since your sixteenth birthday or a treasured gift from someone close to you that reminds you of them.

As you can probably tell, these items have a meaning and emotional weight imbued in them that far outweighs their intended use. Sure, I could use a different mug for my morning coffee but that cup and I have been through soooooo much together and it’s loaded with all those memories, feelings and emotions. The mug itself is worthless, it’s junk, but to me it’s one of my most treasured possessions.

**My favorite mug, I don’t even follow this team anymore!**

If you haven’t already guessed where I’m going with this then I’ll lay it out plain; Items can conjure emotions and tell stories in video games.

TELLING STORIES WITH ITEMS

In our debut game Röki we wanted to explore not just item-based puzzle gameplay, but also whether we could also use these items to help tell an emotionally impactful story. The item is not just used to unlock the path forward for the player but also to make them feel something. We’re really big believers in telling a story via gameplay and not with didactic cutscenes. We want the player to have an active role in uncovering the game’s story, not watching it unfold in a passive way as if they were watching a movie.

**A section from Röki where you have to escape a giant well guarded by giant hands made of rock**

A good example in Röki (and one that I could easily find a screenshot for!) is the above dream-like section where our hero Tove is trapped in a gigantic well. The items you are carrying can be used to satisfy the monstrous rock hands that block your path but they’re also items Tove remembers from her childhood, as they belonged to her mother who has since passed away.

The player isn’t just using the items to escape the well, they’re also using them to discover more about Tove, her past and the game’s story. These items will make Tove feel something, and that emotion in turn be passed onto the player.

MEMENTO ITEMS IN MYTHWRECKED

In Mythwrecked we take this a step further. In fact, one of the main mechanics in the game is using your Ambrosidex’s radar to track down the God’s lost mementos. So as you explore the gameworld you’ll be able to track the signals to their source and hey presto, you’ve discovered a lost memento item!

**A secret doorway holding a lost memento in Mythwrecked**

**Just a few of the weird and wonderful memento items in Mythwrecked**

Not only are these items pleasantly varied and delightfully odd, they also hold the key to unlocking the repressed memories and lost identities of the gods. Once found, the player has to work out which memeto belongs to who, and return them to their correct owner. Once the correct set is delivered the emotional charge will spark the god’s memory. These flashback sequences are key to unraveling the game's story and are all driven BY THE EMOTIONAL WEIGHT OF ITEMS and the meaning they hold for us all.

For us as storytellers, there is real power here.

FOLLOW THE ADVENTURE

That’s all for now, but don’t forget you can keep up to date on Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island by following our Twitter, joining our Discord or subscribing to the Polygon Treehouse Newsletter and if you get the chance wishlisting and following Mythwrecked on Steam would be amazing.

Until next time,

Alex & Team