Someone should build a game where you can play as an NPC

A concept that has often tickled me is that while we might be the protagonist in our own lives, we are an NPC in so many other people’s stories. I don’t necessarily mean that we offer random fetch quests to strangers in a pub, but we do play a minor role in so many people’s lives that could be done by an NPC.

We cross paths with so many people in our daily lives, well prior to lockdown at least. In a day we might tell someone in the shop where they can find the tomato soup, we might hold the door open for a stranger at the office or we might simply walk past someone on the street. This could be the only interaction we ever have with that person. We each go our separate ways, forgetting that interaction ever happened. In a video game, these instances would most likely be handled by an NPC. A small insignificant character we forget about the second they leave our field of gaze. It is a fun concept and often leads me to ponder how big the world is and how little we know about the goings-on of people around us. We might see the same person on the train each day, but we know nothing about what they are doing or dealing with.

I have begun to think why there hasn’t been a video game exploring this concept. A game where you essentially play as an NPC. Obviously it is a little oxymoronic to play as a non-playable character, but I want a game to simulate the mundane reality of living in the shadow of some protagonist who is saving the world.

There are a few ways this could work. Maybe you play as a shopkeeper who has a store frequented by the local hero. It could be built like a life simulator where you get to know people in the town, maybe source new suppliers and essentially live your life in a world that is frequently changing. The world could change by a villain overtaking the village, forcing you to flee for safety. Maybe the town is struck by a massive battle and afterwards you must rebuild. Much like how The Avengers Civil War showed how a hero trying to save the world can still bring devastation to the people in a town, heroes in video games have little care for the general public. In most games we are the one changing the world, but playing as an NPC would let us be on the reverse side of things and be powerless to stop a world changing. Games like Moonlighter let you fill out a shop with the fruits of your dungeon crawling. While it gives a taste of being an NPC, you still feel like the special one. 

There are a lot of simulator games that give you the chance to be a shopkeeper, chef or even a villager with no mission. Essentially living like an NPC. However, you still feel like the main character and the world is at your fingertips. There needs to be a sense that things won’t always go your way.

Another example of a game could be where you play as a random guard in a town watch. We have all laughed at the guards in Skyrim telling us of how they used to be an adventurer, but have we ever stopped to think what happened in their life? They now have a regular job and probably settled down with a family. Why not base a game around that. You could start off as a young adult picking what town’s armed guard you wish to join. When recruited, you must work hard to rise the ranks and defend the town from rogues. Once off the clock, you can spend the hard-earned cash on buying a home, random vases to improve the feng shui or buying a nice meal at the tavern for your pals. Of course there is also room to find love and start a family.

There are plenty of other ways this concept could work. A gimmick like Watch Dogs Legion’s procedurally generated playable characters could even create a living town going about their lives, with you able to jump into any of them.

I’ll admit making the game constantly feel like you’re not the protagonist is tough and could be a bit dull. How can a story be made around your character if they are meant to be a secondary person in the story? It is tough, but I think the core component comes down to having the parameters of the game change without your control. We have a lot of power in video games and when the world changes it is often because it is something we have done or were involved with. I want a world that suddenly changes and forces you to adapt.

There is a lot of potential in being an average Joe or ordinary Jane and I have only scratched the surface. In the meantime, I guess I will play Red Dead Redemption Online and pretend I live in a random village. I’ll talk to other townsfolk like Will Smith’s character in I am Legend speaking with the mannequins.