During the era when printed media dominated the public sphere, comic books were a beloved art form that entire generations grew up with. A big part of its charm was that it was allowed to be less formal and more experimental than other creative endeavors such as film, literature, or photography. Comics were given a pass since they never pretended to have any high status, and instead served to entertain the masses and tickle the imagination of kids and adults.
Most of the media we consume today is digital, but comics and related formats remain very influential. Not only are many comics still published online, but they are inspiring other creative forms including online games. This is evident in several distinct ways, including the following.
Minimalist Communication as the Guiding Principle
Comics rely on simple drawings accompanied by short text to convey the entire story. There is no space for detailed scenes or long explanations – a panel is meant to be consumed instantly and anything that requires complex processing must be eliminated. This slimmed-down approach to visual communications is well-suited for online games, which also have the player’s attention only for a brief time. The limitations of the format forces the authors to sharpen their messages and find creative ways to express them using a very small number of elements. Of course, there are a million ways to apply this principle in practice, and each game has its requirements. Game designers have a wide palette of tools at their disposal that allow them to make every image and every bit of text more meaningful and instructional to the player.
Creating Relatable Animated Characters
Every great story needs a central character that the audience cares about. It doesn’t hurt if the main character is drawn in a simple manner, as great visual artists can still endow him with personality, charm, and charisma. Comics were often serialized and the main character was the connecting string between the various installments of the story, which is not all that much different from online games where the player-controlled character progresses through multiple levels and interacts with friends and foes. Some of the most iconic gaming characters have cartoonish appearances, but they still invite the player to identify with them. The main character should be an embodiment of the game, which is why it must be unique and consistent. Many games let players customize their characters and upgrade their traits as they advance through the plot.
Keeping the Storylines Simple and Dynamic
The secret of comics’ popularity is their lighthearted nature. There are no complex, nuanced stories in comic books – it’s usually all about a hero’s journey to beat the bad guys and fulfill his mission. Simple story arcs of this kind are perfect for online gaming – engaging enough to keep the player interested but requiring very little effort to follow. In gaming, the story is typically divided into chapters that can be unlocked by completing previous ones, and it’s important to have something new introduced in every chapter. Even slot games like Fire Blaze Blue Wizard megaways benefit from the backstory, which helps players become more attached to a simple game that depends primarily on luck. Storytelling techniques borrowed from classic comics can be very useful in building the game world from a limited number of elements, which is why they deserve to be studied by top gaming studios.
Using Catch Phrases to Draw in the Audience
One way to overcome the limited opportunities for character building in online games is to repeatedly use recognizable text elements associated with certain events. That’s not too different from catchphrases that popular comic book heroes frequently insert into their conversations. Short and funny phrases are easy to remember, and they can add some distinction to a game that relies on well-known mechanics and has few unique features. A smart writer can come up with a few such utterances and connect them to the gameplay in an organic way, without interfering with the core functions. When this is done successfully, the phrase can become a shorthand for the game and perhaps even expand into popular culture, much like famous lines from comic books.
Keeping the Viewer on the Edge All the Time
Comics keep pushing their protagonists from one adventure to another, constantly maintaining some uncertainty about what happens next. This is a tried-and-true method for fixing attention and ensuring that the reader doesn’t give up before the main punch line is delivered. Online games are often structured similarly, with levels ending in cliffhangers that players are curious to resolve. Attention spans are even shorter in the digital era, so game designers must ramp up the tension even more than comic authors. A common way to achieve this is to offer rewards at key points in the game, but make it hard to collect them. Since games require some degree of replayability, these rewards can be randomized or located at different points on the map in each play-through. The objective of this exercise remains the same – keep the player guessing what will happen this time.
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