Story Mode: The Creative Writer’s Guide to Narrative Video Game Design won the 2024 Choice Outstanding Academic Title award. Professor Salvatore Pane, an associate professor for the University of St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences, co-authored the textbook with Julialicia Case and Eric Freeze through Bloomsbury Publishing. The textbook offers low-cost, accessible tools and instruction to guide creative writers in navigating the field of contemporary expression.
About the book: Against the backdrop of a hyper-competitive AAA industry and the perception that it is a world reserved for top programmers and hardcore “gamers,” Story Mode offers an accessible entry point for all into writing and designing complex and emotionally affecting narrative video games.
Choice Outstanding Academic Titles represent the best in scholarly publishing, both print and digital, reviewed by Choice during the previous year. The list of titles is quite selective, containing approximately 10% of some 5,000 works reviewed annually. The titles are selected by the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.
