Writing Prompts inspired by Indie Video Games: Part 1

I love video games! I especially love indie video games that most people haven’t heard of! For those who don’t know, an indie video game is a video game created by one person or a very small team of people, who typically don’t have the financial backing of a huge video game publisher. It’s like how I want to self-publish my book in the future, instead of giving it to a traditional publishing company, but the video game equivalent.

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Because indie games aren’t part of some bigger corporation, this means the person/people making them have more creative freedom, so these games tend to be more unique than your big triple A games. And you know what else I really love? Writing and storytelling, especially if it’s more unique!

So, in order to shed some light on some of my favourite video games that you probably haven’t heard of, and hopefully to spread some inspiration to any fellow storytellers and writers out there, I thought it would be fun to think up some writing prompts based on indie video games.

There are a lot of indie video games out there, so I’m only covering a few in this blog post. But this is only Part 1; expect more posts like this one in the future!

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1. Abzû & Submerged

Abzû is an adventure exploration game developed by Giant Squid Studios. You play as a diver, exploring the vast depths of a beautiful ocean. There’s no dialogue or narration in this game, so as you explore, it’s up to you to piece together the clues and hints of what this underwater world is or once was.

Submerged is also an exploration game developed by Uppercut Games. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where most of the world is now flooded. You play a young teenage girl called Miku, who arrives at a flooded city on a boat, with her younger brother who has been badly injured. You have to explore the remains of the city, by scaling buildings and travelling in your little boat, to try and scavenge for resources that might help your brother.

Obviously, the premise alone for both of these games would make for a good writing prompt. But why not combine the two? Especially since they’re both water themed. In Abzû, the diver is not a human diver; it’s very apparent from how long they can stay underwater that they’re something alien or mystical, or both. And in Submerged, Miku is all alone during the game, except for her brother, but he’s gravely injured so can’t do much.

So how about this for a story? – In a post-apocalyptic flooded world, a young teenage girl and her brother arrive at a flooded, abandoned city in their little boat. The little boy is gravely injured, so his sister must explore the city to try and find resources to help him recover. As she does so, she meets a mysterious humanoid creature that lives underwater. They become friends and work together to help her ailing brother.

This mysterious humanoid aquatic creature could be your typical merfolk, or an alien, or something else. This would give the main character a friend to interact with during her exploration. I imagine the story would centre more around the two characters talking and discovering more about each other, more so than it being an adventure or anything. You could have the teenage girl and aquatic creature fall in love too, if you wanted to create a romance!

2. Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery

Behind the Frame is a point and click adventure game created by Taiwanese developer Silver Lining Studio. You play as an aspiring artist on the cusp of finishing the final piece of her gallery submission. You also happen to live opposite an old man and his pesky cat, who is always grumpy and never wants to talk.

As you finish your piece, you encounter puzzles that unlock memories from your past that you’ve forgotten, including who that old man actually is!

Now before I continue…SPOILERS!!! There’s a very big twist right at the end of the game that I want to talk about, because I think it makes for an interesting prompt. So, if you want to check out the game for yourself, I suggest skipping ahead to the next game/section, so you don’t spoil the ending for yourself!

Now with that warning out of the way, right at the end of Behind the Frame, you discover that you, the artist, are actually a painting yourself! The old man that lives in the flat opposite yours, who you’ve been trying to call to through your open window this whole time, is actually the man painting you! That’s why you can never speak to him; in his eyes, you’re a static painting, whereas in your world, you can move around your flat, and paint freely.

So, here’s my writing prompt for you! – You are a person in a painting. You live in your own boxed-in little world, able to move around freely but you can never leave and explore the outside world. You contently watch the life of the person who painted you unfold. Until one day, your creator starts painting something new, right opposite where you hang. They are painting another person, and you see as this painted person come to life as well. You are able to talk to them from across the room, and you start getting to know each other. Eventually you become friends, and you both wish more than anything in the world that you could leap across the room to each other.

This prompt could easily turn into a typical romance plot if you desired. Or, maybe instead of you interacting with another fellow painting, maybe you just watch and write about what you see in your creator’s life; maybe good or bad things happen in your creator’s life, or maybe you eventually are sold to someone else. Maybe this someone else from the outside world can actually see you moving and can talk to you! There’s a lot of possibilities with this one!

3. Pine: A Story of Loss & Paws: A Shelter 2 Game

Pine: A Story of Loss is an interactive story developed by Made Up Games. You play a woodcutter living all alone in a forest, dealing with the death of his wife. The game takes you through his everyday routine and chores. You must help him hold onto precious memories of his wife while also learning how to move on without her.

Paws: A Shelter 2 Game is an adventure game developed by Might and Delight. It’s based on the ‘Shelter’ game series that this studio has made in the past. You play as a young lynx cub who becomes separated from their mother and siblings. As you traverse the forest, trying to find your family again, you come across a bear cub, who is also lost or has been abandoned or orphaned. Together, you overcome obstacles and face predators together, as you try and find your way home.

Again, I wanted to combine these two games into one writing prompt, because the themes of loss and moving forward fit well, and both games are set in a big forest.

So, my writing prompt would be this! – A woodcutter lives all alone in his cabin in the forest, after his wife passed away. He’s just trying to get by, but every day is harder and harder without her by his side. Then one day, while out cutting wood, he finds a starving lynx and bear cub, snuggling up together in a nearby thicket. He’s surprised to see a lynx and a bear so friendly with each other. He feeds them both just so they won’t starve, but the two cubs follow him home. Reluctantly, he takes them in and takes care of them. And slowly, he starts to feel a lot less alone.

I think with this prompt, you could have any one animal, or two animals be the lynx and bear cub in this story. I just made them a lynx and bear so it matches the game. Maybe you could write the story in a diary form, with the woodcutter writing about how alone he feels, until he befriends and nurtures the two cubs.

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Although I love a good adventure or quest as a fantasy writer, I also have a great appreciation for slow stories that focus more on the characters just living their lives and interacting, in case you couldn’t tell from all these writing prompts!

But anyway, those are a few of my story ideas, inspired by indie games! Let me know what other writing prompts you can think of from these games, or if there are any video games you like that would make good writing prompts. Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!

Sources

https://store.steampowered.com/app/384190/ABZU/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/301860/Submerged/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1634150/Behind_the_Frame_The_Finest_Scenery/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058340/Pine_A_Story_of_Loss/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/434000/Paws__A_Shelter_2_Game/