[Figure 1: Game display with cues and pieces on the bottom with main plot scene (puzzle) in the middle to figure out using storytelling]
The game I chose is Storyteller, created by Daniel Benmergui, and published by Annapurna Interaction. The target audience would be players who love storytelling and want to explore how game mechanics can shape narrative logic, played on PC and Switch.
When I played Storyteller, I felt like being handed a storybook and a set of building blocks, except the blocks were characters, settings, and emotions, and the goal was to craft a narrative that fit a particular prompt. Unlike other traditional puzzle games, which usually focus on manipulating objects or navigating space, I think Storyteller pushes me to manipulate meaning.
[Figure 2 & 3: Levels within each chapter; each chapter and level has its own title]
Each level gives you a chapter title like “A Tragedy Unfolds” or “The King’s Betrayal,” and your job is to drag and drop characters and elements into comic strip-style panels until the scene plays out as intended. To me, it seems like a creative sandbox, but the twist is that it’s still a puzzle game. So we’re solving for the story the designers want you to discover.
[Figure 4: Plot went unexpected as I imagined]
In Storyteller, the mechanics turn storytelling into a logic system: cause and effect, character relationships, and sequencing. The puzzle is in figuring out how to combine the available ingredients (“Edgar loves Lenora,” “a graveyard,” “a poison”) in a way that satisfies the prompt. It’s incredibly fun, especially when a solution clicks into place in a surprising way. That moment of “Oh, I didn’t realize that would happen” carries the same kind of rush you get from a clever twist in a novel.
What I found most fascinating is how the game limits your choices to teach you something about narrative structure. You only have a few characters and settings per level, so the challenge becomes more about logic than creativity. It’s less about writing a good story and more about debugging this emotional situation. On one level, I had to figure out how to make a character die of heartbreak, which only happened if they were in love, betrayed, and left alone in the graveyard. It felt like reverse-curating a plot twist.
[Figure 5: “kidnap”, “throne”, “wedding”, and “execute” all tied to intense emotions]
Compared to other puzzle games I’ve played (The Room), Storyteller stands out because its mechanics aren’t spatial or physical — they’re emotional and symbolic. But it follows classic puzzle logic: constraints, feedback, and iteration. I get to test small changes to see how the story reacts constantly. And because every story plays out visually, with characters showing surprise, love, grief, and anger, it’s easy to read what’s happening, even when I’m a bit off track.
[Figure 6: Plot relies on Western fairytale]
That said, there were moments where I wished the game let me be more wrong. It only accepts the “correct” solution that matches the prompt’s intended path, which sometimes made it feel like I was trying to guess what the designer was thinking, rather than truly playing with narrative. I think the game could benefit from allowing multiple valid solutions, like the ones that still hit the emotional beats, but in different ways. I think that might be able to open up even more room for lateral thinking and player expression.
For the ethical aspect, I would say one interesting thing about Storyteller is how much it assumes about what kind of stories players will “get.” The game relies heavily on Western fairytale tropes, like kings, queens, betrayal, resurrection, marriage, and jealousy. It feels intuitive if you’re familiar with Shakespeare, fairy tales, or European story logic. However, some of these story structures might feel unfamiliar to players from different cultural backgrounds. What counts as a “happy ending,” or what kind of action causes heartbreak, might not be the same across all cultures. This design choice isn’t inherently bad, but it does raise questions about inclusion. Who gets to decide what “makes sense” in a story? And whose narrative logic are we reinforcing through puzzles? Storyteller assumes a shared emotional vocabulary, but that vocabulary is culturally specific. If the game included story elements from other traditions (maybe folklore from Asia, Africa, or Latin America), it could become a more inclusive space for narrative play!
