B is for The Beginner’s Guide, a narrative game made up of incomplete games, showcasing snippets of a friendship and story to build the idea of a developer that we can never truly know. How much of a person is put into their work? What can you tell about someone by what they create? And how do you address things that you don’t understand, and watch a close friend of yours lose themself?

From the creator of The Stanley Parable (another great game about choices) is Davey Wreden. The Beginner’s Guide is an account from his life regarding a fellow game developer he knew, by the name of Coda, between 2008, and 2011. Wreden states at the beginning of the game that during that period of time, he was in a low place, and found inspiration in Coda and his works, his strange, almost games. What were these games?

Games about both nothing, and everything. Games that are made purely for the one making it, not for a future player or target, but created and abandoned by one. Learning about people through the things they make, these games, all of which are ‘playable’ to one degree or another. Maybe this sounds boring to some, but to me this is fascinating. You don’t need to know anything about games, or game design, but this lends a peak into some of that world to those outside of it. The parts of games you don’t see, what never leaves a programmers computer. 

Are they even meant to be seen? And who do you really learn about, when reading a story? Sometimes, the story is more of a reflection of the reader, or of the storyteller, than it is an account of the subject of the story. 

I don’t want to spoil this game. It poses a lot of big, important questions, when it comes to content creation as a whole. Who do you make it for? Do you create for yourself, or do you create for others, to be validated? There’s no one answer to that question, not one I can give you, at least. Play this game. It’s only an hour and a half playthrough at most, and you won’t regret it. For never seeing another living person through the entire story, it’s surprisingly human.

If you want to see more from Davey Wreden, his twitter can be found here. The Beginner’s Guide website can be found here, and The Stanley Parable can be found here. If there’s enough interest, I will write a review on The Stanley Parable, as its also a favorite game of mine, about choices and freedom. Consider checking it out!