The Game Dev’s Guide to Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding Tips & Resources
A well-defined fantasy world has a powerful effect on consumers.
In his book, The Art of Game Design, Jesse Schell talks about the importance of worldbuilding. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Doctor Who. Think about how long these series have been involved in our lives. Similarly, video games like Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Witcher, and Fallout have left a lasting impression due to their immersive worlds.
Great worlds are long lived because we love visiting fantasy worlds that are familiar to us time to time. Also, their appeal extends beyond a single medium, offering various gateways into the same universe—be it through games, movies, TV series, collectibles, and more.
I’ve been busy reading and learning about worldbuilding as well recently, and I’m here to share the things I’ve learned and resources I’ve found. Let’s Go!
Quick Worldbuilding Tips
Let’s start with going over some straightforward tips we should always keep in mind.
Feeling of “Iceberg”
The Iceberg Theory says only 10% of your worldbuilding should be visible to the consumer, and the rest should be hidden underneath. (This can also be an illusion. You can build your world in a way that it creates an illusion of more complexity hidden beneath.) This is a powerful tip because by leaving gaps in your worldbuilding, you are also leaving room for player’s interpretation and creativity (hence, creating a more engaging experience). Mysteries create excitement; definitive answers create boredom. This method is used extensively by FromSoftware games.
World Exists Regardless of the Player
A common immersion-breaker in many games is the feeling that the world exists solely for the player. I mean, yes, it does exist solely for the player. But the most immersive games create a world that exists regardless of the player. What I mean by that is NPCs having their daily schedules and objectives (Elder Scroll Games, Cyberpunk 2077), environments that evolve by time (Red Dead Redemption 2, Mafia 2), other events occurring in the world while player continues its journey (Stardew Valley). These sort of details improve the believability and authenticity of your world.
Don’t Overbuild
Starting with too much worldbuilding upfront can be a gamble – a lot might end up unused. It's smarter to start with a flexible plan, get the gameplay and story rolling, and then dive into the nitty-gritty of worldbuilding. Things in games tend to shift as you go, and if you've already built a ton of detail early on, it might end up in the bin when the gameplay or story takes a turn. So, keep it loose at the start, adapt as you go, and save the deep world-dive for when you've got a more solid game and story foundation.
Alignment
The story you are telling and the world that story takes place should align. It doesn’t make sense to experience a funny adventure in a grim dark universe. This alignment ensures that players are not only engaged in the narrative but also enveloped in a consistent and believable world.
Show vs Tell
The way you convey the details of your world to the player is equally important. No matter how detailed your world may be, it won't matter for players unless you provide a reason to care about them. Rather than explicitly stating every detail to the player, we can craft the story and quests in a way that gradually reveals these intricacies bit by bit.
Resources
1- Worldbuilding Questions by Patricia C. Wrede
While I was doing my research, I came across this huge collection of worldbuilding questions by Patricia C. Wrede. It includes hundreds of questions from greeting and eating customs to magic and history. Here are some examples:
Does the weather or climate contribute any habits or customs?
What distinguishes a formal, high-court dinner from an ordinary meal, besides quantity and variety of food?
When meeting someone, how are they greeted — wave, handshake, bow, some other gesture? How did the greeting gesture originate?
How do various religions, if any, view magic? Do any forbid it? Why or why not?
What services does the government or head of state provide: schools, wells, courts, an army to protect people from the Vikings? What services are provided locally or privately?
And many more questions that’ll help you brainstorm.
2- 30 Days of Worldbuilding** by Stephanie Cottrell Bryant
This is a step-by-step guide that helps you create a world in 30 days by spending 15-20 minutes each day. You start with climate and go trough races, history, map, language, politics and many more aspects. A quick example:
Day 4: Cataclysms: In day 4, we focus on planetary history, such as what kind of changes the planet went trough by earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, flooding, and magical events.
Day 21: Flora & Fauna: What are the main crops of the inhabitants? What plants are especially used by each race? What animals are especially helpful to your world?
A useful guide for all nuances that we tend to ignore when worldbuilding.
3- History Layering by Thomas Manuel
Thomas Manuel talks about a method called History Layering in one of his recent posts, which I really like. The idea is to:
Define the historical eras: Such as era 1, era 2, era 3.
Layer The History Onto a Map: Starting from the first era, add everything that survived from each era to a map.
Define Current Events: Define the events that is happening right now in the world.
It’s a very simplistic and useful approach.
4. Donjon; RPG Tools
You might have heard donjon before if you are familiar with table-top RPGs. It’s a very useful tool for:
Generating fantasy names for different races, worlds and settlement
Generating fantasy calendar (which is my favorite)
Medieval demographics generator
Adventure, town, dungeon and inn generator
And so, so much more.
Final Words
Of course, there is no end to the useful resources on the internet. These are the ones that helped the most, but please share yours if you have any. And if you enjoyed this, take a look at these ones as well:
To-Do List
Watch: This Problem Changes Your Perspective On Game Dev
Check out: The Best of Synth Game Dev Assets (Bundle)
Me
Reading: Yumi And The Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson.
Watching: Finished Blue Eye Samurai. It was delightful. Now, back to the second season of Saiki K.
Playing: Been playing Magic: The Gathering Arena lately.
Listening:
Thanks for reading!
And that’s it from today’s issue of GameDev’s Journey. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you did, please like and leave a comment. Reach out for suggestions, objections, questions, or just say hi.
But regardless, thank you so much for reading, and have a great game dev journey!