I decided to put together a talk for Austin GDC based on ideas that started germinating after I wrote in this blog about storytelling in games.
You can see the details here!
Full description:
“Are games a valid medium for telling stories? Are stories a valid basis for creating gameplay mechanics? Alec Holowka, creator of the IGF award-winning AQUARIA and the upcoming story-based game MARIAN, explores the essence of stories and games – journeying to the point where they intersect. By examining popular mainstream games, underground independent games and his own projects critically, Alec argues that its possible to create meaningful links between events in a story and gameplay mechanics – and it is a powerful technique for creating unique experiences that stimulate more than just our desire to play.”
Hope to see some of you there!




Nava wrote a Comment on August 13, 2009 at 10:56 am
Yay! Congrats
xiagan wrote a Comment on August 13, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Sounds awesome, alas, I’m on the wrong continent (or are you?) …
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on August 13, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Continent fight!
day wrote a Comment on August 13, 2009 at 3:07 pm
congrats ….are you going to be at pax as well ??
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on August 13, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Sadly no.
day wrote a Comment on August 13, 2009 at 5:10 pm
thats ok..there is away next year …..by the way , just a suggestion/question
you should do a box set when marian come out …like with dvds
have like story/Dev commentary and artwork ..etc
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on August 14, 2009 at 9:18 pm
That’s a very good idea, I’d love to do something like that.
alastair wrote a Comment on August 18, 2009 at 3:19 am
oh damn, I would have loved to hear this talk
monoman9000 wrote a Comment on August 19, 2009 at 7:53 am
Look forward to seeing you there
Jerome Hugues wrote a Comment on August 20, 2009 at 1:16 am
Sweet. I will see you there Alec.