4. Keep the players coming.

While the Westworld experience might feel like a videogame, it’s less of a product and more like a service. Narrative designer Lee Sizemore is under pressure to create new narratives and experiences to ensure guests keep coming back, if not spread the word. Just like contemporary videogames, which are transforming into long-term entertainment services filled with monthly events and new content.

3. Adventure finds you.

While guests of Westworld are encouraged to discover their own entertainments, the park’s designers leave nothing to chance. All manner of Hosts call out to them to guarantee they get their money’s worth. In today’s video games, quest givers draw attention to themselves to pass on adventure, while other diversions are always a short distance away.

2. Achievement unlocked.

Park director Robert Ford says the appeal of Westworld is more than just story and fantasy, but about noticing the subtle details. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the exploits of the Man in Black. His seemingly random behavior is actually his quest to unlock the park’s hidden mysteries. You could say that while quests are for noobs, the hardcore gamers look for ‘what’s not meant to be found’.

1. Discovering yourself.

It’s easy to write off videogames as mere escapist folly. But just about any gamer can tell you that there’s something more. Games aren’t just for acting out, and neither is Westworld. Like a good videogame, Westworld gives you the chance to be what you aspire to be, hero or villain. As Ford puts it, guests keep coming back not to learn who they are, but for a glimpse of who they could be.

What do you think of “Westworld”? Share your thoughts with us below!

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