What Video Games Taught Me About Worldbuilding

Imagine waking up with zero memories. Total amnesia. That’s Wuchang’s whole deal in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, the game I hacked my way through a couple of months ago. No context, no tutorial lore dump, just… you wake up and good luck.

That’s how most stories start for us too. We crack open a book, hit play on a drama, scroll into a webtoon… we’re just as clueless. No memories, no map. Unless you spoil yourself on blurbs, reviews, or Wikipedia, you dive in blind and hope the ride makes sense eventually.

While stumbling around in Wuchang, I realized games pull me in through the way they build their worlds. Confusion, hidden lore, choices… it all makes me lean in, play detective, and really care about the story.

That’s when it hit: for me, good worldbuilding isn’t about clarity. It’s about curiosity.

• Starting in the middle feels right. Wuchang throws me into amnesia, and I learn by wandering and messing around. I actually care more when I don’t know everything at once, because discovering things feels earned.
• Curiosity pays off. I follow side NPCs, read inscriptions, check every scrap of text. Each detail makes the world feel richer, and I love piecing it together like a puzzle. It’s satisfying when paying attention actually rewards you. I found that scavenging for info is way more fun and much more rewarding than being given an info dump.
• Speculation is fun. I find myself guessing at motives, outcomes, and hidden connections. The story never tells me everything, and I like it that way because it makes me think, notice patterns, and feel involved. Being proven either right or wrong can feel really good.
• Choices matter. Even small decisions in Wuchang can ripple into one of four endings. I almost tripped up a couple of times, and that tension makes the story stick. If nothing can go wrong, I don’t pay as much attention. Books can’t do this, but my point here is not about the reader. It’s about the characters themselves.

I appreciate when the story trusts me. Games don’t hold my hand. They let me miss things, get confused, dig around, or figure stuff out slowly. That trust makes the world feel more alive.

So yeah… just a bit of reflection. I’ve played other games since I first drafted this post, and time and time again, this realization proved true. Video games can actually teach us writers how to build our story worlds better. Not all games though. Some games I have begin with thirty minutes of lore, to which I thank the devs for the option to SKIP.