The Story Stack: A Framework for Adapting Games into Film & TV

Why Emotional Player Fantasies—Not Just Story—Should Drive Game Adaptations.

Player Fantasy & Game Adaptations

When adapting a game into film or TV, most studios understandably start with the story. But in games, the story is rarely the foundation but the final expression of something deeper: the Player Fantasy. This is the emotional role players inhabit inside the game’s world when engaging with its systems and mechanics. In short—it's why we play.

The Player Fantasy is so important that game designer Jesse Schell's Story Stack framework breaks down how all the other layers of a game (mechanics, progression, world, and story) are built on top of the Player Fantasy as the foundation. Basically, if you strip out the Player Fantasy in an adaptation, you strip out the soul of the game. You can reproduce every plot point, but the adaptation will never feel authentic to the players who lived it. 

This piece explores how the Player Fantasy and the Story Stack work together to provide a blueprint for game adaptations that safeguard the IP’s emotional DNA and unlock scalable ecosystems across mediums.

Why This Matters for Game IP Owners

If you’re a game rights holder, anchoring your adaptation in the Player Fantasy ensures you’re not just xeroxing story beats to the screen, but protecting the emotional core that builds the foundation for billion-dollar ecosystems.

Why This Matters for Studios, Streamers and Distributors

Existing audiences already know what it feels like to live in these game worlds. Capture the Player Fantasy, and they’ll keep coming back for more stories, more content, and more ways to stay inside that emotional experience.

Case Study: The Story Stack & Shadow of the Colossus

The Story Stack ranks a game’s layers by what’s foundational to what's most flexible. Understanding this hierarchy ensures the adaptation respects the emotional DNA of the game; creating experiences that resonate, rather than just replicate.

Few games demonstrate these concepts better than the minimalist masterpiece Shadow of the Colossus. It’s a world of silence, sixteen titans, and a love worth damnation. Here’s how each layer of the Story Stack shows us what a great game adaptation demands:

1. Player Fantasy (Least Flexible)

Definition: The emotional role players inhabit inside the game’s world.

The emotional core of Shadow of the Colossus is: “I will risk everything to bring someone I love back to life; even if it means becoming a monster.”

Players inhabit Wander, a young man whose devotion drives him to slay titanic Colossi at the cost of his soul. The tension isn’t just between man and beast; it’s between love, guilt, and the slow corruption of sacrifice. This is the truth that must endure in any adaptation.

Adaptation Takeaway: Preserve this emotional DNA above all else. The epic action of toppling Colossi must serve the deeper tragedy: the audience must believe the hero is bartering away his humanity for love.

2. Mechanics

Definition: The actions the player does to fulfill the Player Fantasy.

Traversing desolate landscapes, hunting down Colossi, climbing their immense bodies, and striking them down. These actions are thrilling but also make the player complicit in Wander’s tragedy. You don’t just see the monsters fall; you cause their fall, and feel the guilt with every kill.

Adaptation Takeaway: Film can’t replicate gameplay, but it can translate mechanics into cinematic motifs. Long travel sequences. The fragility of clinging to giant Colossi. The ritualized devastation of each kill. These moments should convey what it feels like to perform the actions, not just their outcome.

3. Progression

Definition: How players grow and express mastery over time.

There’s no loot, no levels, no crafting. Instead, the gameplay loop is stark: explore → battle → temporary gain → permanent cost. With each "win", Wander grows weaker and more corrupted. Progression here is not empowerment, but erosion.

Adaptation Takeaway: Structure the narrative so each battle visibly escalates the consequences. Every “win” should feel like a loss, corroding the hero’s body and soul. This rhythm of spectacle and sacrifice is the spine of the adaptation; it’s what couples the visual thrills to emotional tragedy.

4. World

Definition: The setting and cultural context that grounds the experience.

The game’s world is a vast, cursed wilderness of silence and ruins. It’s not post-apocalyptic, but post-glory; filled with crumbling temples, abandoned fields, and monuments to forgotten greatness. The landscape itself is in mourning, mirroring Wander’s decay. Think The Revenant meets The Green Knight with cosmic undertones.

Adaptation Takeaway: Make the world a character. Use stillness, ruin, and absence to externalize grief. This world is not just a backdrop; it’s an emotional mirror that conveys what words and dialogue cannot.

5. Story (Most Flexible)

Definition: The narrative built to support the emotional experience of the Player Fantasy.

The plot is deceptively simple: Wander brings a girl’s body to a forbidden temple. A disembodied voice commands him to slay 16 Colossi to bring her back. He does so, but each kill drains him. In the end, he is consumed—but she awakens. The plot is spare by design, flexible enough to bend, but it only works because it carries the emotional weight of Wander’s guilt and sacrifice.

Adaptation Takeaway: Details can shift, but the emotional arc must remain intact: sacrifice until damnation, and love at the cost of self. The story serves the Player Fantasy, not the other way around.

Other Examples of Player Fantasy-Driven Game Adaptations

The Super Mario Franchise → The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Feature Film)

Mario is all about joyful movement and adventure in vibrant, imaginative worlds. The 2023 movie worked because it prioritized kinetic energy over plot-heavy storytelling, ensuring that every set piece felt like playing a Mario level.

Cyberpunk 2077 → Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Anime)

The game delivers a fantasy of power and survival in a dystopian neon-soaked world. Edgerunners crafted an original narrative that captured the game’s core themes of ambition, rebellion, and moral dilemma, staying true to the game’s world.

Fallout → Fallout (TV)

The game embodies choice, consequence, and survival in a post-apocalyptic world, immersing players in faction politics and resource management where every decision shapes the Wasteland. The show embraced discovery and moral ambiguity; delivering the fantasy of exploring the Wasteland.

Note: For a deeper dive into how Player Fantasy translates across film, TV, and consumer products, see my extended piece here. 

Why This Matters for Game Adaptations

Story is essential, but in games, the Player Fantasy is the immovable center. It’s the emotional core players live through for countless hours, layered into every mechanic and quiet moment of choice.

Adaptations fail when they chase plot accuracy but ignore the soul of the Player Fantasy. Harness that, and you can unlock the engine that scales IP into ecosystems, sustains fandom across generations, and transforms games into enduring franchises.

Thanks for reading!

Derick Tsai

Creative Director | Executive | Producer