Welcome to Digital Play Zone!

I'm Winn Liu. I would like to delve into a topic I am extremely passionate about, developing characters using your game mechanics or the world. This method of developing characters interests me because it's one of the most immersive ways for your players to learn about your characters while still being extremely subtle.

I will assume that you have already created a character with their backstory and will only show you the methods to implement their backstory in gameplay. If you’re interested in learning how to write a memorable character, read this blog!

Our first method to developing a character is through their abilities and animation. A simple twitch or wince when using a skill could tell you that using the skill hurts the character in some way, this could be further emphasized by having the skill drain health if used.

Another example would be to take away your character's abilities. Let's say that an enemy has an amulet that cancels magic, then when the player is given control again, you won't be allowed to use any magic until you’ve killed the enemy with the amulet. This also adds another layer of challenge as the players who want a more challenging gameplay experience can fight the level regularly, while the players who want to have an easier experience could kill the amulet guy first.

You could also develop characters through their animation, For instance, you have a character who is lacking in confidence, that's why her walking animation is weak and shy, but as the story progresses, she gradually gains more confidence and her walking animation changes into a proud stride.

This is also another excellent way to show your character’s development.

A way you could do this is by making the weather get worse as the characters reach their darkest hour. Or reusing the analogy we had previously, you could have your character speak more confidently as the story progresses and she gradually gains more confidence and pride in herself.

This method is a little more challenging as you have to think about how you want to design your level. One example I could give is something like a trick that your player falls for, later on in the game, your player encounters a similar trick. You could have a voice line saying “Not Again!” whenever he falls for the trick and “Not This Time!” When you don't get fooled by the trick.

Relationships between your characters can also be used to develop a character. For instance, you can have your two characters hate each other at the beginning of the game, the player and said characters would always sabotage each other in team-based puzzles, but as you get to understand each other, the player and character gradually sabotage each other less between challenges, by the end of it they are helping each other in life or death scenarios.

This method of using relationships to develop a character is a little more difficult, as it is an extremely fine balance between a fun dynamic and an annoying sabotaging character.

Another way you could use relationships to build character development is to give stat boosts. If the player interacts with the character enough to the point where they open up, then you get a stat boost when teaming up with this character.

Developing a character is difficult but crucial to making a lovable character. Having a character develop throughout the game, can allow for us as the player to truly immerse ourselves into the game as well as relate to the character on an emotional level, thus making us want to play the game more.

I hope that with these tips I showed you today, you will be able to create an awesome game with amazing character development. Please remember, the tips I shared today are just that, tips. They are meant to guide you in the right direction, they are not hard rules that you must follow.

The beauty of games is that there are an endless amount of possibilities for making a good game. I hope to see some of your games in the future! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about game design or game story.