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Interactive digital storytelling (IDS) allows a human user to become an active part in a story and to affect how the story unfolds. To understand IDS systems, we need to consider the partakers present in them as well as their roles and interconnections. In this chapter, the authors discern four partaking entities—interactor, author, developer, and storyworld—and describe both their affiliated sub-entities as well as their relationship to one another. Based on both reviewing relevant literature and analyzing existing IDS systems, the ontology presented here provides a cohesive view into the current state of both theoretical and practical research.

Narrative design combines game design and game writing. It uses the mechanics of game design to create a dramatically compelling story to the game player. In a broader sense, narrative design is a unity of carefully selected game mechanics that would adhere the story elements in either textual or symbolic/visual form with the aim to fulfil the desired gaming experience for the players. Narrative design can be textual, visual, or aural. It is usually a tight bond of all these mediums telling the story directly through players' senses in a form of gaming experience that was set by the game designer.