Everyone has a story to tell, a narrative or even an emotion that yearns to be expressed in some way. Not all of us are gifted in the ability to express these stories in a way that others will comprehend and appreciate, but that shouldn't stop us. Some games are linear because the designers of the game want to share their story in a very specific way that they feel will resonate with a large group of players (or in some cases, a select few). In these situations, each person who plays the game experiences the same narrative in the same way and can connect on the same level with any other player who has finished the game. This leaves very little room for interpretation and personal connection to the narrative, which oftentimes makes the story seem less compelling or memorable compared to games where the player's input has a lasting effect on the story.

How can someone who just plays the game share a story of theirs with someone else who plays a game? Some games include toolsets that allow the gamer to modify or create an entirely new level or game. In this way, the gamer becomes the designer and can choose how to go about telling their tale, but this can be difficult if the person has no prior knowledge of how to make games from scratch, or limiting if the tools do not include all the materials needed to make the sort of game they're looking to make. In recent years, many PC games have included these tools; Oblivion and Half-Life, Fall-Out 3, and most recently Left 4 Dead have either shipped with or had toolkits added at a later date, but few console games have done so.


image courtesy of tsunamikitsune

Last year, two games of note were released on consoles with an extensive focus on user-created content: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Little Big Planet. Banjo-Kazooie came with a vehicle creator that allowed the player to make any strange vehicular anomaly that they could imagine (given that they had found enough parts in the game). While it didn't allow the player to tell a story, it permitted them to express themselves in a very refreshing way. The player could make a fast car that could jettison parts to reveal a motorcycle with folding wings which gave the vehicle the gift of flight (Or, in the case of the picture above, a flame-spewing Mr. Dtoid). These cars, boats, planes, mechs, and other metal monstrosities could be used in all manners of work or play. Whether they were designed with a single task in mind, or were multipurpose dream machines that were equally useful in playing golf as in dog-fighting, these were the designs of the player and could be shared proudly like a personalized recipe that always gets the saliva flowing.


Little Big Planet is a different story. While there are vehicles in the game, everything is customizable. At least half of the fun of LBP is the convenience of creating and sharing levels with others. People want to make levels based on famous franchises or movies because they want to share these stories with others. With Little Big Planet, the player becomes the designer, and has to choose how to convey their narrative in a way that will be enjoyable and compelling, much like an actual designer of a game must do. Some spend hours making a song that is soothing and complex, some make mysteries that need solving, giving you clues along the way, and some make surveys, like "Will you marry me? Yes/No". The use of Little Big Planet to propose is a touching story (albeit old news) because it let creativity marry the designer and the gamer. In many ways the game was always a marriage between the player and the designer, but by bringing it into a real life result, the game accomplishes much more.



The world of Little Big Planet is fantastic because it allows people to convey their stories or express their feelings in an interactive way that is normally reserved for other mediums. There are many levels that have a coherent plot (one I played was actually the first several chapters of the level maker's book played out in sack-form), and several allow you to actually make a difference (like a few of the 'Whodunnit' levels that are available). Some are purely an extension of the personality of the maker, but done in a way that can't be replicated on paper or other forms of expression.



There have been Contra levels, Mario, Metal Gear, Batman, Mirror's Edge, BioShock, Shadow of the Colossus, and Ico, in addition to music from everything from Final Fantasy and Mother to Guns and Roses and Daft Punk. All of these levels are merely the designer retelling something in another way to a different audience. The designers of all of these levels have played their own designs, tweaking and polishing to get things just so. What better way to feel like you're the author of the game you're playing than to throw a switch you created and see all the wonderful machinations you've placed spring to life to tell your tale?