Delving into the art of crafting a world in games

Games are a powerful medium for enabling audiences to fully immerse themselves in worlds, becoming active participants in the process and adding to the world building experience. For 2016 BAFTA Breakthrough alum Jon McKellan, director and writer of Silent Hill: Townfall and founder of the studio Screen Burn, creating the narratives that allow this process to happen is a passion.

In a special in the studio visit the Silent Hill: Townfall team share their experiences of creating the game and McKellan delves into the role that a strong narrative and attention to detail plays when crafting a world within a game…

McKellan has been passionate about storytelling throughout his career and combines his skills as a motion graphic designer, filmmaker and animator to create strong narratives in his games projects.

He explains that at his studio, Screen Burn, the games are narrative driven adventures where “every single thing that we do, we’re kind of measuring against the story” to ensure authenticity.

He highlights: “When it comes to game design, the narrative and the game design have to be completely interlocked. The puzzles in our game are directly linked to the narrative, to whether it’s really overt and really, relevant to the plot, or whether it’s maybe saying something about the character or about what they’ve been through…

“But every single thing that we do, we’re kind of measuring against the story and saying, why is this happening? Why is this the thing? If they find items in the world, why is this available? Why would this be here? And trying to find a way to rationalise it and make it make sense.”

As film, games and TV audiences know attention to detail is something that really helps bring storytelling on screen to life. With Silent Hill: Townfall everything from ensuring the technology that you see fits the era the game is set in (Scotland in the mid 1990s) to the distance between doorways has been considered.

McKellan says: “We were measuring the distances of doorways and the heights of kitchen cabinets and things like going to our family’s houses and taking lots of photos and scanning them to make it feel totally believable. And I think that that thing, that connection you get when you see those things and you’re like, feel like I’ve been here before…

“I think that’s kind of what makes our games, you know, a little bit unique and a little bit, different from others is that we’re, you know, slaves to the detail in many ways. Trying to make sure that as soon as you’re in for a couple of minutes, you’re immersed in the world and you’re feeling like everything here is there for a reason.”

• The new cohort for the 2026 BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme, supported by Netflix, will be announced in early November.

At BAFTA we are committed to supporting creative Film, Games and TV talent and one way we do this is through our Learning, Inclusion and Talent programmes. Jon McKellan was a member of BAFTA’s 2016 Breakthrough cohort (called Breakthrough Brits at the time) – our flagship programme showcasing and helping accelerate the careers of the next generation, and part of our charity’s vision that people from all backgrounds will have opportunities to thrive in the screen industries. Find out more about our BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme, supported by Netflix.