Final Thoughts

This talk about Deepening Techniques may make it sound like a game is deficient if such techniques are lacking. That's not the intended conclusion. Most of the tools of Emotioneering are optional.

If a game is purposely designed to be fun and off-the-wall, the designers might choose not to use Deepening Techniques of any kind whatsoever. That having been said, you'll note that in even the silliest of Hollywood films (Liar, Liar, for instance), there are almost always moments of "depth" to give the story a periodic emotional anchor. These moments are usually designed to sneak up and grab us when we least expect them.