Author: by Liz England, Samantha Kalman
Sentris developer Samantha Kalman and Insomniac Games designer Liz England exchange fascinating insights on Davey Wreden and Everything Unlimited's thought-provoking game The Beginner's Guide, and what it means to be a creator who happens to makes games.
To: Samantha Kalman
From: Liz England
Subject: The Beginner's Guide
Hey Samantha,
I'm dying to talk about The Beginner's Guide but honestly I have no clue where to even start. I have nothing to compare it to.
Like, I'm tempted to compare it (obviously) to The Stanley Parable but it has none of that humorous wink-wink nudge-nudge affectation. I've been scraping my brain but I can't think of a game that breaks the fourth wall so consistently without also being dredged in humor. The Beginner's Guide doesn't play it as a gag. It’s so sincere. Even as a work of fiction I feel like the message is terribly honest.
I think the reason I have trouble figuring out how to even start discussing The Beginner’s Guide is that the game is just a bottomless well of stuff to talk about. You can approach it as a series of art games, as a master class in level design, as a metaphor for the creative process, as a work blurring the line between fiction and reality, as a discussion of the relationship between a creator and its audience and who really owns creative work once you released it in the wild - all wrapped up into one short, two hour game. I could easily spend ten times that length just talking about it.
"It's weird to watch creative control over a work get lost once it's in the player's hands."
And even though I want to talk about it, I had to think pretty hard about whether I wanted to actually write about the game, you know? The game kind of resists interpretation - by digging for meaning, we’re perilously close to committing its cardinal sin. I don’t want to be a "Davey" (the character, not developer) confusing familiarity with a creative work with intimacy and friendship with its creator, a "Coda". I’ve seen that kind of troubled one-sided relationship in celebrity fandom, but (luckily) never experienced it myself. I definitely know what it’s like to have my work in the hands of players and critics as they assume all kinds of intent behind even the most innocuous choices. It’s weird to watch creative control over a work get lost once it’s in the player’s hands. I think this is the first time I’ve seen the topic actually addressed in a game - though obviously it's not the only topic in there.
Anyway, I totally intended on just talking about some of my initial thoughts but it’s so hard to keep to a surface level discussion of the game. I spent a good amount of time after I finished it reading what other people had to say about it - mostly gamers, critics, and journalists, but pretty much nothing from developers. I’m super curious what a fellow dev has to say about it (and not just because there’s some awesome craftsmanship going on behind the scenes).
-Liz
To: Liz England
From: Samantha Kalman
Subject: The Beginner's Guide
Hi Liz! I'm also so glad to for this chance to dig into Beginner's Guide with another developer. It's a work that contains many layers to sift through, and I kind of want to remark on all of them. You bring up some great points to start with~~
There are certainly similarities between BG and Stanley. Its mechanics, narrator, the weight of its detailed static environments all seem deliberately evocative of Stanley. It brings to mind the chapter where Coda was making many similar prison games in succession. That seems like a funny parallel to me. Like the game is in some incredibly recursive way, commenting on itself. Or, maybe I'm reading too much into it and that relationship wasn't intentional. Have you ever experienced any kind of pressure to follow up a project with something very similar?
"Is it difficult or delightful when you see players misinterpret your games?"
I suspect even by drawing this parallel I've already committed the game's cardinal sin; how could I possibly draw any real conclusions about what the creator intended? I can only interpret the work through the lens of my own experiences. "Davey" does this over and over again while talking about Coda's work. He appears as the voice of authority, forcing his own opinion about each piece onto the player. It's almost rude how he, in the game, doesn't allow the player to interpret Coda's pieces without biasing us with his own perspectives. He's influencing the way we experience the games before we can see each in their entirety. I wonder if this is commentary on the tendency for players to seek out authorial intent rather than find satisfaction with their own interpretations? I'd like to think it is, but that's because I'm actively committing this sin right now.
Liz, what's your opinion on the importance of authorial intent? Is it difficult or delightful when you see players misinterpret your games?
The other question on my mind at this point in the conversation relates to an early narration in the game. Davey said Coda never intended to release these games anywhere...that perhaps the act of making them was more important than the act of playing them. This sits tumultuously on my mind. What's the value of making a game that isn't intended to be played by anyone? What purpose does that serve? I'd offer my own opinion but I'm still not quite sure yet.
-s
To: Samantha Kalman
From: Liz England
Subject: The Beginner's Guide
Hey Samantha-
I haven't played anything else by Davey Wreden except for Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide so it's hard for me to judge how much is one imitating the other, and how much it is just his style. I tend to side with style, to be honest. I hadn't actually put together the idea that Stanley Parable is a big prison for the player. I feel a little sheepish admitting that now. It's so obvious in retrospect.
I loved that you asked about authorial intent. Once upon a time I was a literature student and all the authors I studied were long since dead, so no one was around to really care about "intent." I learned to study works for what they had to say about themselves, regardless of what the author might have intended. I still think that's totally fine, that a book - or a game - can be evaluated on its own merits and doesn't need a creator to tell you how to interpret it. But… once I became a developer myself I started to realize where the line stood, and how so many people would mix up "what the work means" and "what the creator means." I wouldn't say it's difficult so much as frustrating to read, especially since it's everywher
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