Breaking Down Environmental Storytelling

Whenever us humans come up with a new medium for telling stories, a kind of "language" tends to be created alongside it. With film, the language of storytelling had to adapt to its unique features. The same is true for non-linear, interactive mediums like video games, roleplaying games, theme parks and immersive theatre. And for this, no storytelling technique feels to me quite as powerful as that of Environmental Storytelling.

Environmental Storytelling is unique in that it takes full advantage of its medium, allowing participants to uncover story themselves as they engage with the world around them. Unlike the passive storytelling methods found in film or literature, environmental storytelling invites us to participate in the fictional world. It encourages and rewards exploration, discovery and interpretation, leading to richer more emotional experiences. This method has been used to such success over the years that entire cottage industries have now formed online by fans to share, discuss and debate their theories. They're even making money from it through YouTube lore videos, or hardback books that compile large collections of fan theories in one place, complete with fan art.

But how exactly is this method employed by writers and designers? Well, I’m sure there are several methods depending on who you speak to, but the one that has worked the best for me in my work is what I am interested in sharing with you now.

Let's go a head and just state up front that “Environmental Storytelling,” despite implying a process, is really the name for the end result that audiences see. A complete piece of environmetal storytelling however is the result of three key components coming together to complete the puzzle. They are: World Building, Narrative Stratigraphy, and Narrative Osmosis.

Let’s talk about each.

1. BUILD. YOUR. DAMN. WORLDS!

First up is World Building. Now, many people much wiser than me have talked about world building forever – so I won’t belabour the point or focus on it too long.

If you want a powerful, interesting space to tell stories in for a long time, one that fans will actively try to learn about, then you need to go further than just a few documents outlining how magic is used. Yes, that’s important, but world building really needs to result in a World Bible – something that acts as an encyclopaedia of narrative content.

Now some would argue that devoting soo much time – soo many pages – to content that audiences may never actually see is in fact, a waste of time. These people argue for “player-centric lore,” suggesting that "if players don't see the lore, then it's not really lore." Whilst, there is some wisdom in that if you’re on a tight schedule, I would argue such an approach is naive at best, and runs a real risk of doing a disservice to your IP in the long-run.

Yes, your audience might not see everything straight away – or at all – but this doesn’t make that information redundant. Quite the opposite in fact. It infuses your world with lost history. We may never see the great war of 2035 B.C.E in which the dreaded general Xerxes nearly brought his enemies to extinction – but we feel and experience it through the cultural trauma suffered by the distant ancestors of those he persecuted – NPCs we do encounter in-game. This creates a real sense of unspoken drama to your world, drama that would not exist if you decide that ALL lore must be witnessed by the player.

So – step one: go big, go deep, play god and construct the history of your world – everything from geography and nature, to wars, cultural movements, architecture, religion, etc. It’s ALL important. Ignore those who say otherwise.

2. Layers And Layers And Layers And Layers...

"Narrative Stratigraphy."

Now that’s a bit of an odd word isn't it? If you haven't heard the word before, Stratigraphy in Archaeology, is the study of layers of soil, sediment and other materials over time with each layer representing a different period in history. As cities are built and rebuilt over thousands of years, these layers can contain evidence of different eras – such as artefacts, architecture and other cultural references.

Narrative Stratigraphy draws from this idea. It involves the careful construction of historical layers within a game world. Drawing from the content created in your world bible, you can incorporate different historical periods and cultural shifts into the environment you are creating. This works for digital games, it works for TTRPGs, and it also works in Theme Parks and Immersive Theatre.

Using Narrative Stratigraphy, designers can create spaces that feel lived-in, authentic, and filled with stories (both big and small) waiting to be uncovered. When our audiences explore areas that have narrative stratigraphy infused into them, they don’t just see the present; they get a sense of the history and the events that have shaped the world over time. This depth of storytelling can turn a simple video game level into a complex narrative experience, where every detail – whether it’s a crumbling wall, a forgotten relic, or a faded mural – tells a part of a larger story.

This of course, leads us to the final aspect of Environmental Storytelling.

3. It's The Vibe That Gets Ya!

If we look at a dictionary, we see that "Osmosis" is the process of gradual or unconscious assimilation of ideas and knowledge. Narrative Osmosis puts the focus on our audiences gradually coming to assimilate and understand the story of our world. Narrative Osmosis can be broken down into two avenues:

Subtle and Blunt.

Subtle Narrative Osmosis is all about conveying an atmosphere, a feeling, an emotional resonance. It’s about using your world building and Narrative Stratigraphy in a way that the player feels something – you’re walking through the strange ruins of an ancient hanging garden, and as you do so, the hair starts to stand up on the back of your neck, you feel unsettled, nervous, like something is deeply wrong with this place, though you don’t know what or why… That’s subtle narrative osmosis in action. It’s not about pushing the audience to come to hard conclusions about events in your world, but rather, it’s about slowly surrounding them and trapping them in a certain atmosphere of emotions.

Blunt Narrative Osmosis is almost the opposite – it’s about structuring your world building and narrative stratigraphy so that audiences who are looking for that sweet juicy lore are able to gradually notice elements within the area and build them up in their head until they have a strong idea of a location's history.

Particularly in video games, this approach makes use of external elements to act as guard rails that loosely guide players down the right path. Think: Items (and their descriptions), Enemies, SFX, NPCs (and their dialogue) etc. None of these things will outright explain the story content being conveyed in the environment, but they might hint at certain aspects of it so that the audience isn't completely lost.

Both the subtle and blunt method can be used together to create a fully-realized piece of environmental storytelling. I recently came across a solid example of this in Elden Ring’s new-ish DLC – Shadow of the Erdtree.

Whilst travelling the overworld, I happened upon the ruins of a small village in a vibrant meadow-like zone. As I entered, I was told that this is the “Shaman Village.” The village, whilst in ruins was hauntingly beautiful. It seemed as if golden sunshine poured down upon it – a stark contrast to everything else in the game. Sad, quiet music played behind it as I explored. At the top of the hill in the centre of the village, I found a large tree – which was clearly the focus of some sort of religious adoration. Mired within its roots was the mummified corpse of a woman. She held something in her hands.  A golden braid of hair. The item description for it read:

“A braid of golden hair, cut loose. Queen Marika's offering to the Grandmother. Boosts holy damage negation by the utmost. What was her prayer? Her wish, her confession? There is no one left to answer, and Marika never returned home again.”

 A second item found in the area is the Minor Erdtree – an incantation, the item description reading:

“Secret incantation of Queen Marika. Only the kindness of gold, without Order. Creates a small, illusory Erdtree that continuously restores the HP of nearby allies. Marika bathed the village of her home in gold, knowing full well that there was no one to heal.”

Together with the lore I’d learned over my playtime, it was a clear, beautiful moment of realization that this was the village of Queen Marika before all the events of Elden Ring took place, accompanied by a sad melancholy soundtrack that really made this area memorable for me. What's more, the environmental storytelling didn't just give everything away - it crated further questions. Like... who the hell is "The Grandmother?"

4. Pull It Together!

For narrative designers, Environmental Storytelling can be one of the most challenging, yet rewarding aspects of our work. It requires a deep understanding of the world’s lore and a meticulous approach to layering historical elements in a way that feels natural and engaging. When done well, it transforms the environment from a mere backdrop into a living, breathing world with its own history and stories to tell.

In today's landscape, there’s immense potential for further refining these techniques, especially as we push the boundaries of what interactive storytelling can achieve. By focusing on Environmental Storytelling and it’s three key features (world building, stratigraphy and osmosis), we can create richer, more immersive worlds that resonate with players long after they've put down the controller.