Making digital adventure games: a conversation with Mark Yohalem

Abstract

Abstract This article presents a conversation with Mark Yohalem, an award-winning computer game story-writer, co-founder of Wormwood Studios, and a highly regarded attorney. Using Yohalem’s successful adventure game Primordia as a point of reference, the interview covers such topics as how player agency differentiates interactive media from traditional storytelling; the history and evolution of adventure games; the relationship of trust, affection, and collaboration between designer and player; the role of fan communities in game development; digital games within the context of politics of struggle; and adventure games in relation to diversity, gender, identity, race and ethnicity.