Game of Thrones Interview

There’s an article-style interview with fantasy author George R.R. Martin on Joystiq, with a majority of the (relatively short) discussion focusing on Cyanide’s upcoming Game of Thrones RPG. Here are a couple of paragraphs to get you started:

“The entire game was written by Cyanide, including the plot and character dialogue. But I did have creative input at many points during the process,” Martin told Joystiq. When he met with members of Cyanide to review the game’s design document, he made sure that the experience wouldn’t break canon. “What they’re doing is a parallel story to some of the early events in Ice and Fire, so my primary concern was that nothing in the game altered the events in the books.”

This is meant to be as much of a benefit to the player as it is to the writer. In order to be canonical, gamers would be forced onto a narrative rail so as not to break anything Martin has built in the longstanding series. “That would certainly make a game less fun,” Martin admits. “Players need to feel like their decisions matter.” The similar can be said for writers, whose creativity can stem from the ability to remain independent of the actions of others. “Games can be a really fun way to interact with a literary world, but I can’t imagine any writer wants to then be shackled to events or decisions made in the game.”