Let’s first answer a related question.
Why do I play games?
I recently read an article on Gamasutra that tries to answer this question. The author claims that we basically do so to be happy, or just to have fun.
This is probably a contrived view, since we also play games like This war of Mine, which are not really fun. Ultimately, I guess we play games to experience a variety of emotions, including fun (which we haven't even really defined).
I play games for the same reason that I read books: to be told a story. To experience emotions through other characters.
I love gathering information about a new environment or a new situation. My curiosity for these things is boundless. Thus, it comes as no surprise that my favourite genre is DFL (dwarf-fortress like). In these games, one is an spectator, and our ability to affect the game world is limited. Yet, these games facilitate the creation of stories with our own imagination, and I find that fascinating.
In the same light, the games that I enjoy the least are in the first-person view. I am very glad that they exist, and that they have an audience, but they are not particularly attractive to me.
Now I can answer the original question.
I am making this game to tell a story, for the people that wish to be told a story.
I find human beings to be very interesting creatures, and it feels so weird being able to experience life only as me. It feels very limiting.
I think Victor Hugo said it best, and Charles Dickens was not behind.
“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Show, don’t tell
It is very important to mention at this point that I think games, as a medium, offer different tools than those available to authors of books. In the next personal post, I'd like to explore this idea, and answer the question: why not a book?
: Personal