Put the narrative in the game

About games and tales

It’s possible to play a game without narrative.

In fact, some games of great popularity don’t have a back history to explain the actions of the players: checkers, tic-tac-toe, tetris and many others are successful without any character, quest or narrative line.

Board games from the category euro are famous to fit a simple narrative in their complex systems of rules. It doesn’t matter if you control a tribe of cavemen in Paleolithic, rule the Roman Republic in Antiquity or run the destiny of Galactic Empire: in the end, you only need to balance bonuses, make combos and gain Victory Points.

I love euro games, but sometimes I would like to be part of a narrative.

Humanity loves narratives

Storytelling is an important part of what makes us human: at all times in history and in all places, people like to listen to a good tale.

A great storyteller can capture the audience and awaken feelings with her/him characters, events and dramas. Powerful narratives inspire people, share experiences and start changes.

Board games, and games in general, are about meaningful decision-taking. A narrative or history to explain the gameplay isn’t necessary, but if it has interesting characters, dramatic events and cliffhangers, players will remember the game more easily.

To exemplify the power of narrative, I like to think about Angry Birds. 

Fundamentally, Angry Birds is a game about physics: you need to drag a projectile in a slingshot to hit targets and make points. Simple, fun and addictive.

When you add characters (birds and pigs), a scenario (the many islands where characters live), and a conflict (the stealing of the eggs) the players can connect to the game and follow the history of this brutal conflict between swines and feathered creatures.

And you make money. A lot of money: In the most recently measured fiscal year, Rovio, the developer of the popular mobile game Angry Birds, generated 272.3 million euros in revenue. 

Telling a tale with Paper Dungeons

You can find a proto-narrative in Paper Dungeons. The Dungeon Cards tell stories about a fantasy world with elves and dwarves, magic and monsters, something interesting but very similar to other games based on Lord of the Rings, Conan or any RPG about medieval fantasy.

Paper Dungeons: The Long Night, the first expansion of Leandro Pires’ game, presents new mechanics, rules and deepens the narrative. Now we have a place to explore, The Realm of Leonia and the neighboring lands, more details about the governance systems, fantastic races, magical traditions and lots of characters.

The main idea in The Long Night is to connect the players with the world: with the side quests your party of heroes will participate in events like the defense of Leonia, the fight against shadow magic and the reconciliation of the elves to protect the land of the Moon People.
In the next numbers of Glyptodon Magazine the players will find more details about The Long Night, its heroes, villains, places and marvelous tales of adventure and magic.