AdHoc Studio reframes narrative game design around writing quality, not plot
Summary
AdHoc, the studio behind episodic workplace comedy Dispatch, argues the game industry conflates "narrative" with "plot" - a costly mistake.
Co-founders Nick Herman and Dennis Lenart presented their writing-first philosophy at GDC Festival of Gaming.
Their core claim: great dialogue and memorable characters matter more than story structure.
The studio built a production pipeline that validates writing quality before a single scene is animated.
"By focusing on writing great dialogue for interesting characters, we knew that no matter what the plot ended up being, we'd have something special and entertaining."
01
The industry's narrative problem - plot vs. writing
The industry conflates "narrative" with "plot," but AdHoc argues they are fundamentally different things.
Award categories like "Best Narrative" or "Best Story" lack a shared definition at the craft level.
"When you walk out of a movie theater, you don't tell your friends you thought the narrative was great. You walk about the writing."
"How many of your favorite TV shows would you say the plot is great but the writing is terrible? We expect more from other mediums than we do our own."
For AdHoc, narrative in games means one specific thing: great dialogue.
02
Writing-first design - memorable words drive everything
AdHoc's creative principle: memorable words create memorable characters, which create memorable relationships players care about.
The studio intentionally chose a simple plot and invested complexity into its characters instead.
"We intentionally told a very simple story, but with complex characters."
Great narrative titles are defined by moment-to-moment exchanges, not overarching story structure.
This philosophy positions writing as a core design discipline - equal in rigor to systems or level design.
03
Playtesting scripts before production begins
AdHoc built an interactive script tool to playtest dialogue while still in the writer's room.
"If it's not working on the page, it's very likely not going to work on the screen."
Early playtesting preserved resources and enabled rapid iteration before production costs escalated.
After script revisions, the team recorded voiceover and created storyboard animatics.
A final blind playtest with ~100 global testers using a playable animatic validated story and character resonance.
Full animation only began after this validation pipeline was completed.
04
Future direction - confidence through process
AdHoc's writing pipeline is designed to eliminate creative uncertainty before full production investment.
The studio enters animation with confirmed audience resonance, reducing late-stage rework risk.
This methodology positions AdHoc as a reference model for narrative-driven indie studios looking to derisk storytelling.
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