When you want to tell a story, structure is one of the most important details to pin down. Each style has its own advantages and disadvantages, but the three act structure is one of the most commonly used methods to tell a story. In the original Star Wars Trilogy for instance, each movie has a three act structure, but the three movies can each be taken as part of a larger three act structure that tells us the story of Luke Skywalker. Games are a fairly new medium, so it’s not surprising that most of them use the same story structures popular in books and movies. However, games are not like movies and books, no matter how “cinematic” the back of the game box says they are. The disconnect between gameplay and narrative in most games makes the three act structure a bad fit for most games.

In case you haven't figured it out, I will find a way to tie everything back to Star Wars. — In case you haven't figured it out, I will find a way to tie everything back to *Star Wars*.

The three act story structure has (predictably) three parts. There’s the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution. The setup is designed to get you introduced to the characters, the world, and their problems. Later there is some kind of incident (the first turning point) where the protagonist is confronted with some kind of issue that indicates the end of the first act and raises a question that the end of the film will answer. In the second act, called the confrontation, the protagonist will try to confront the problem raised at end of the last act but they will find themselves in increasingly worse situations. Eventually the protagonist will hit their lowest point (the second turning point) and have to learn how to deal with the outside issue, which leads into the final act, resolution. In resolution the protagonist will resolve the question raised by the first turning point in act one and the story will tie up all the loose ends.

The second act is usually the longest one in film, but it gets a little harder to say what should be what in games.

You can imagine how well this works for books, movies, and plays. A young person lives in an idyllic village. A dragon comes and destroys the village, so the hero quests for revenge. They challenge the dragon, lose, and train with a master in the woods. Later, they confront the dragon and defeat it, thus avenging their village. The character changes throughout the story (their character arc) and they become somebody different than they were at the start. Something similar happens in a lot of games, but in a more mechanical sense. When you start playing a game, you are unsure of the controls, the world, and the story. By the time you’re done, you’ll have a deeper understanding of all of these.

Incompatibilities with games crop up around the second act of the three act story structure. In a narrative world, this is the act when the protagonist is their lowest point; this is when they fail at completing their quest. In games, this is when the player has been playing for hours and is comfortable with the controls and the world. Game designers try in various ways to make the player feel the sort of low point that the characters experience, but virtually all the ways lead to the player feeling removed from the game. A classic example is a boss fight where, after you have beaten them handily, the cutscene suddenly shows the boss beating your character like a rug. By the time we get to the third act, we don’t feel any of the resolution that the narrative wants us to experience. We’re having fun and just want to play more. Why do you think so many games now let you continue after completing the main quest?

In Mass Effect 3, you defeat the assassin Kai Leng only to have him summon a gunship and destroy the temple you're in, steal the data you were after, and escape. — In *Mass Effect 3*, you defeat the assassin Kai Leng only to have him summon a gunship and destroy the temple you're in, steal the data you were after, and escape.

The bosses in Castlevania are hard, but that just makes victory all the more satisfying. — The bosses in *Castlevania* are hard, but that just makes victory all the more satisfying.

The problem here is a disconnect between gameplay and narrative; when they’re one and the same, you feel what the character is supposed to be feeling. In Castlevania for the NES you play as Simon Belmont, on a quest to kill Dracula before he can wreak havoc on the land. You fight through various famous monsters (Frankenstein’s Monster, Medusa, the Grim Reaper, etc.) on your way to defeat the ultimate evil. Each level of the game can be considered a three act story structure. In the setup you have to get a feel for how the level is lain out, what kind of enemies live in it, and where the health pickups might be. Then the confrontation as you travel on you find the boss. It’s possible to defeat the boss the first time you meet them, but more than likely you’ll die and have to try again. This is your low point, which segments into your “character arc.” This is the training in the woods that our hero from our made up story undertakes. Then, the resolution when you defeat the boss and move onto the next level. You feel the frustration and fear that Simon would feel when you see a new boss appear on your screen. You learn the patterns just as he would, and you feel the feeling of joy and relief when you beat the boss.

In Dead Space you play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer sent to repair the USG Ishimura after a distress call. You quickly find out that the ship is deserted, it’s crew murdered by the once-human-now-terribly-deformed Necromorphs. In the first act, you learn about the ship, its inhabitants and figure out how to fight the Necromorphs. In the second act, the “rescue” ship you managed to call turns out to be full of soldiers who plan to destroy the Ishimura and you along with it. In the resolution, you defeat the Necromorphs and escape. The horror that you feel confronting the Necromorphs is the same that Isaac feels, and you feel it because the game forces you to defeat the enemy by dismembering them. You feel the despair that Isaac would feel in the second act when your only hope at rescue turns out to be full of soldiers trying to kill you. The relief you feel when you confront the source of the Necromorphs and prevail is the same as Isaac’s because you can finally relax and stop expecting a monster around every corner.

Why are people always writing in their blood in games and movies? You should keep that stuff in your body.

The three act story structure is wonderful for books and movies. It’s a great way to tell all sorts of tales, be they love, adventure, or horror. When designers try to apply this structure to game narratives, however, things don’t stick. Too many games have a gap between the narrative and gameplay that removes the player from the emotions that the protagonist might be feeling. When gameplay and narrative work together, then we feel what they do.

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