If you have ever looked into writing stories and their structure, you will quickly learn about “The Ordinary World”. Which, as is well known, only lasts until the “Inciting Incident” presents itself and shakes things up. Otherwise, the The Ordinary World is incredibly boring if not challenged or questioned.
Therefore, I’m going to shatter my (and hopefully your) Ordinary World and seek out the Inciting Incident evolving a term I have grown increasingly passionate about; “Open-World Games” (OWG).
OWG are a well understood concept by now for most gamers. The term originally was coined around 1984, and it has largely remained unaltered. This has made the meaning of the word in the current games industry incredibly ambiguous.
It is my goal to explore and dig deeper into the design processes & results related to OWG, and I hope to take you with me on this journey.
However! In the true nature of an OWG, I cannot force anyone through a linear progression, so these blog posts are meant to be free to pick and choose from, depending on what you wish to engage with. Feel free move about freely between them!
Consider this your “call to adventure”, dear protagonists!
Boyd Catsman 