Ken Levine joins GDC 2014 speaker lineup to talk about 'Narrative Legos'

Irrational Games co-founder Ken Levine is coming to GDC 2014 to give a talk about how we can and should be building non-linear, replayable game sequences that can be combined like "narrative Legos." Levine, known most recently for the Bioshock franchise, has spent some time thinking about how narrative in games can be designed to draw on the strengths of interactive media -- notably, dynamic content and the ability of the player to participate in the story. Games afford players the freedom to experience content in different ways across multiple playthroughs, and Levine will be giving a talk at GDC this year about how we might break down a game's narrative into smaller chunks, and allow the player to mix and remix those chunks however they see fit. Levine's talk, titled simply Narrative Legos, will explore these ideas in earnest and exhort attendees to stop looking at their games as something like the Death Star playset -- a beautiful, single-purpose toy -- and more like a humble box of Legos that the player can use to create their own unique experience.

More essential GDC details

Earlier GDC 2014 announcements include a Zork postmortem from progenitor Dave Lebling, the return of the popular #1reasontobe panel, and a roundtable discussion about how best to employ more women in games. Developers on Destiny, Robotron 2084, and The Sims 4 will also be giving talks. All of the announced talks are now available in the online GDC 2014 Session Scheduler, where you can begin to build your conference week and later export it to the up-to-the-minute GDC Mobile App, coming soon. GDC 2014 itself will take place March 17-21, 2014 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. You can register for the event by visiting the info page on the official GDC 2014 website. Early Bird pricing, with discounts up to 30 percent, will remain in effect until January 31st. Some passes have limited amounts, and with the Independent Games Summit pass already sold out, interested parties should register now. For more information on GDC 2014, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech