The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

If you’ve ever played a video game using a wonky controller, you know how frustrating it is to lack a sense of agency. The game doesn’t respond to your input, no matter how hard you mash the buttons. To feel a sense of agency, things need to be responsive to your input.

Agency is equally important for spects. They need to feel that what they do has an impact on what’s going on, whether the story is improvised from nothing, or built on a preexisting scenario.

When spects feel a sense of agency, it triggers a chain reaction that leads to better play. Because their actions have impact, spects help shape the story. Because they’re shaping the story, spects care more about what happens. Because they care, spects become more invested. And when spects are more invested, they play with greater commitment. In short, when spects feel agency, it causes them to play better.

How to create agency

To give spects a sense of agency, be responsive to the things they say and do. Spects feel agency when their actions and words have impact. Your response is the way in which that impact is seen.

The timing of your response is critical. When spects make an offer, respond immediately. An immediate physical, emotional, or verbal response gives them a sense of agency. The longer you wait to respond, the less spects feel that your response is a result of what they’ve done.

What about those times when spects aren’t making offers? The fact is, spects are always making offers. Even when they’re not doing anything intentionally, they’re always making unconscious offers. You can interpret spects’ unconscious offers as contributions to the story. This gives spects a sense of agency without their even trying to do anything.

It also helps to invite spects’ contributions. Get their opinions. See what they think and how they feel. When you allow spects’ ideas, perspectives, and feelings to impact the story, spects feel their agency.

The perception of agency

There are some interactive techniques that get spects to do things while giving them the sense that it was their own idea. Doesn’t this undermine spect agency? Not necessarily. If spects feel that their actions are taken on their own initiative, they still have a sense of agency. In this case, it’s their perception of agency that matters. This doesn’t give you license to puppeteer spects through the entire story. If you try to control everything they do, sooner or later it becomes obvious, causing spects to fight you or give up. Maintain spects’ perception of their agency, but make sure they have actual agency as well.

In interactive play, spects need a sense of their own agency. Allow the things they say and do to have a clear impact on you and on the narrative. When you do, spects become true co-creators of the story.