Framing a Video Game for Transformation: A Step-by-Step Guide for Game Designers

Serious video games can fall short. This isn’t because of mechanics or story but because they don’t frame the experience effectively. Framing is the structure around gameplay that invites the player to connect personally, reflect meaningfully, and integrate what they’ve experienced. Without it, impact is fleeting. With it, your game can change lives.

This guide outlines how to design framing into your video game before, during, and after play using research-backed methods and trauma-informed tools like the X-Card and the RPG Consent Checklist.

Step 1: Pre-Game Framing – Invite and Prepare

Goal: Help players align the game with their current mindset and emotional needs.

Personalized Onboarding Survey

Begin with questions like:

• “What theme would you like to explore today?” (If applicable)
• “What challenges are relevant in your life right now?”
• “What do you want the game to avoid?”

Ideally the answers influence narrative tone, dialogue, character choices, or even visual assets.

 

RPG Consent Checklist

Let players fine-tune their experience using the Consent in Gaming checklist, which includes options like:

• Romantic or sexual content (Yes / Maybe / No)
• Violence (Tone down / Stylized / None)
• Moral dilemmas (Light / Medium / Heavy)

Use this input to adjust scenarios, language, pacing, or skip triggering content entirely.

Digital X-Card

In addition to the checklist, provide an in-game “X” button at all times (based on the X-Card by John Stavropolous). When tapped:

• The current scene is skipped or replaced with a neutral variant.
• No explanation is required.
• Content filters can auto-adjust for the rest of the play session.

Why both? The checklist sets proactive boundaries; the X-Card is reactive, giving players power in the moment. Together, they create a layered safety net.

 

Step 2: Midbrief – Reflect While Playing

Goal: Surface insights before players emotionally disengage.

In-Game Journal Prompts

At emotional peaks or major decisions, insert short, optional prompts:

• “What would you have done differently?”
• “How is this choice affecting your character’s journey—and maybe your own?”

If the player opted into journaling, use themes from their onboarding to personalize prompts.

Example:

A player exploring trust might see: “Your character chose to keep a secret. Does this reflect how you handle trust in real life?”

Entries can be saved locally, to the cloud, or exported later.

 

Step 3: Post-Game Debrief – Meaning Making

Goal: Reinforce and extend the impact of the game into the player’s life.

Personalized Reflection Journal

After the game ends:

• Show a summary of choices and character evolution.
• Offer reflective questions based on themes or topics selected at the start.
• Allow the player to download or continue a journal that can feed into sequels or future playthroughs.

Adaptive Continuation

If the game has a sequel or metagame layer, use the player’s journal entries and consent checklist to shape future content.

 

Bonus Step: Weave Framing Into Story

Don’t just bolt framing onto the sides of the game—build it into the world:

• Maybe the player is mentoring a character with a life challenge they selected.
• Or they’re a time-traveling observer recording a personal history.

These specific narrative lenses can support eudaimonic play (gaming that fosters growth, meaning, and identity development).

Key References

• Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice
• Moon, J. (1999). Reflection in Learning and Professional Development
• Bowman, Sarah Lynne (2010). The Functions of Role-Playing Games
• Boud, Keogh & Walker (1985). Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning
• Banks, J., & Bowman, N. D. (2016). Avatars Are (Sometimes) People Too: Linguistic Indicators of Parasocial and Social Ties in Player‑Avatar Relationships. New Media & Society, 18(7), 1257–1276.
• Consent in Gaming Checklist by Monte Cook Games
• X-Card by John Stavropolous

 

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Guardian Adventures provides consulting and transformative design for therapeutic centers, museum and science centers, summer camps, amusement & attraction industries, and more.