Video games are a writer's friend. I've played a lot of first-person shooters (the Bioshock games, Portal, Alan Wake, etc.) and have grown to love them. And not just because you get to run around shooting things and solving puzzles.

I only recently started buying my own games on Steam. Before that I always borrowed them from my older brother whenever he was done with them, but when he moved out I started running out of material. Eventually I got over some of my frugality and splurged on a few games. I haven't gotten many, but I'm more than happy with my purchases.

Why? Because they're insanely beautiful and fun and sometimes terrifying? Yes, but also because I'm a writer, and video games, as aforementioned, are a writer's friend.

Take, for instance, my purchase of Child of Light. This is an absolutely gorgeous game I found through its amazing soundtrack by Coeur de Pirate. Upon hearing the sorrowful piano, cello and violin, I instantly added many of the songs to my current novel project and lost myself in writing (it turned out to be one of my favorite novels I've written so far). I added the game to my wish list on Steam and when it went up on the most recent Summer Sale, I snagged it.

First off, Child of Light is a little game. It's a side-scroller. I played through it in about a week of moderated gaming time on the 'Normal' setting, but I want to play it through again on a harder setting just so I can experience the majesty of it all over again. The story takes place in 17th-century Austria, centered on the life (and sudden death) of the young Princess Aurora. She awakens in a strange land of darkness with only a firefly as a companion, and must find her way back home with the help of a building party of friends.

The story is surreal and captivating, the graphics are breathtaking, the music is incredible (of course) and the gameplay is just so fun. The combat is RPG-style and turn-based, but takes place on a real-time counter which you can affect with spells and special attacks and... I'm getting sidetracked again, aren't I?

Well, it's a magnificent game and I highly recommend it. From the writer's point of view, it's practically priceless.

For example, while the story isn't flawless, it's so conceptual it’s impossible not to gain inspiration from it. I am personally drawn to stories like this. My first experiences with it were Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, and ever since I've enjoyed these stories most. Coraline is a similar favorite. All these stories involve people falling into a strange world and just taking it in as if this was normal. Got an evil Other Mother with buttons sewn over her eyes that you need to defeat? Sure. Got to defeat a bunch of shadow creatures to get back to a Moon portal? No problem. This method of storytelling simply hurls the reader/viewer/player into a world without any (or much) of the boring explanations or setup. It's 100% immersion, and it's effective. And of course I couldn't leave out Over the Garden Wall. It's a delightfully eerie miniseries that does this exact thing, and I suggest everyone watch it.

As a writer, I have always wanted to pull off a story like this. I've started a couple times and gotten scared off by my own ineptitude with certain aspects of world-building, but I'm always willing to try again. Speaking from years of reading experience, I have always been more in love with books that slap you upside the head than books that ease you into a story. It will place the reader right there in the action with the main characters, and without a "support system" of the real world, it can enhance that feeling of urgency which builds up the climax. It's rather addicting.

So, if you're in the habit of discounting video games as brain-melting and useless, I'd like you to reconsider. They are incredibly powerful storytelling mechanisms that incorporate not just amazing plot lines, but beautiful artwork and music and the chance to build your own character development. Writers should, of course, spend more time writing than gaming, but inspiration comes from everywhere. Don't overlook this rich - and highly entertaining - resource.