When exploring the 1989 game Prince of Persia it is evident the game relies, to a degree, on a story to create a purpose. Henry Jenkins in Game design as narrative architecture notes that, "If some games tell stories, they are unlikely to tell them in the same ways that other media tell stories." It is not the telling of the story that is important, rather the journey that the story enables the player to complete. In Prince of Persia the narrative is from the prospective of the protagonist, the Prince. The player determines to a degree the way the game is played but the story structures the different levels to be completed by the prince to save the princess. Although the game is not a complex narrative, it is the narrative that creates a limited urgency, through the player's emotions, to complete the game and to give the game a purpose.

As opposed to a complicated or compelling plot Prince of Persia maintains intensity through the skills attained by working through the different levels of the game. The "other media" as referred to by Jenkins has to rely on a compelling plot and possibly exceptional visual feature to accompany the narrative to maintain the attention of an audience. In contrast to being given a narrative to read or watch in its entirety the narrative in Prince of Persia is only revealed at certain places within the game. As opposed to being told a story from the beginning to the end the narrative gives the player the beginning and the desired end. That is the rescue of the Princes. The middle section of the narrative is slowly divulged to enable the player to progress through the game of the journey to reach what could be considered at winning or success rather than the end of the narrative.