Game Stories: Carcassonne

So sometimes, you get story elements in games because there's distinctive characters, and sometimes it's because there's a particular mood around the table. Those aren't the only ways you can have a sort of story in the game, though. Sometimes, it isn't really about a flow of drama or pulling across specific themes. Sometimes, it's about nonsensically placing tiles on a map until they more or less make a weird world. Welcome to Carcassonne

At the Table: the Order of the Broken Flask

This one's a quick post, mostly to get you to check out an older blog post I just stumbled across. It's part of Quinn Murphy's ongoing New Rules of Fantasy series, which digs into bog-standard fantasy tropes and applies some creative thinking to them. The results are pretty fresh and cool! The post in particular is one about rethinking what it means to have "adventurer" as a profession, and figuring out cool ways to include adventurer professions that make sense. Check it out!

Thoughtcrime Games: On the Road

(And if you're curious, I'm reposting my sample writeup of the Order of the Broken Flask, from the comments section.)

Game Stories: Countdowns of DOOM

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The Doomsday Clock: an ever-popular tool of evil masterminds with nuclear launches impending. Also found alongside self-destruct buttons. It's a little silly, but the principle behind it is rather straightforward, and it's a principle that finds its way into a lot of game designs.

Game Stories: Hanabi

When I talk about games having story elements, I don't just mean having unique characters, like in my previous posts. I don't even necessarily mean an involved narrative. Sometimes, a story element in a game comes from the way it promotes a certain mood around the table. The classic parlor game Werewolf is one simple example of this, but it's not the only one. When it comes to games that use simple mechanics to create a particular mood, few do it as well as Hanabi, a hilariously bewildering game.

Review: Firefly the Roleplaying Game

Shiny.

It's been out for a few months, people have been checking it out and doing things with it, but is the Firefly RPG the game you've been waiting for? Does it have any appeal even if you don't particularly like the show? (Spoiler: yes.) Buckle up; this is gonna move fast. I've got a lot of ground to cover, and I only have one blog post to do it in!

Game Stories: Coup

Brace yourselves, because I'm back with more thoughts and opinions and explorations of another boardgame. Well, card game. But cards are really just tiny boards. Whatever. Bear with me. We've got another game on our list of games that have interesting story-ish things! This time around, it's Coup, a game about deception, lots of backstabbing, and deception. Also, knowing when to lie through your teeth and when to be perfectly innocently truthful.

Game Stories: Marvel Legendary

Whoa, what's this? The blog is back??? Yes, friends, tremble in fear, for I am posting! I may or may not have nailed down what I want to do with this blog, but at least it's improving. Ultimately, I want to talk about all sorts of ways that games involve story and narrative and plot (yes, those words can mean the same thing, but I also think of them as different things...maybe sometime I'll explain). Not just roleplaying games, either, because in some ways...well, boardgames have the leg up on them, in terms of mechanical storytelling. (I promise not to point fingers.)

That's what I'm doing here. Today, I'm talking about some ways that Marvel Legendary tells you a sort of story as you play the game. It's not always the best story, but that doesn't mean you should overlook it. So let's go!