BoardGameGeek discussion

I have a friend who loves games with a story-telling aspect. When we play Mansions of Madness, he likes us to make thematic statements as we reveal our cards or choose actions.

If the game has even a slight bit of campaign mode, he's in. The progression from level to level is enough story for him, even if it's a loose story. Legends of Drizzt and Castle Ravenloft games hit this spot for him.

What about y'all? Do you prefer games with a story-telling aspect? Or do you dislike them? Does a story help your experience, or could you just as easily ignore it?

I prefer elegance to theme. Theme too often translates as "64 page rulebook". Mage Knight for example is theme-heavy and is good, but I feel like it could be great if it were streamlined.

I do like to dive into story on occasion...Betrayal at House on the Hill or whatever. But one play will usually last me a couple months and then I'm back to Dominion and my beloved euros.

Tales of the Arabian Nights hits our table quite a lot. It is one of my wife's favorite. If you're not familiar with it, it is essentially one big choose-your-own-adventure novel.

It is why I play games - for the story.

I have quite a nice collection of storytelling games.

I divide them into three categories.

Some where you actually do tell a story, such as: Once Upon a Time, Ace Detective, or the Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (that last one blurs the line between board games and RPGs).

Some where the game is all about the story that happens to you, such as: the original Tales of the Arabian Nights (which really is a choose-your-own-adventure novel!)

And some where the story unfolds along with the action such as: Mansions of Madness.

Stories are the reason I play so many RPGs too. Collaborative storytelling is one of my favorite pass times.

I've even made a few story games.

My favourite game while still in school was a solitaire wargame called Ambush! which is still fondly remembered on the BGG website. It was uniquely structured in that player pieces represented individual soldiers which were rated for a number of characteristics (weapons skill, leadership, initiative, etc.) The player had the ability to give each soldier a name (you could use your friend's names, TV show or comic book characters, sky was the limit) and in addition to individual game sessions, there was a campaign option which linked game sessions and permitted you to improve the character's characteristics from session to session. In short each character developed a history each time you played. So if you named your characters after friends and family, you brought a bit of history to the game to begin with, then given the over-the-top nature of the game (which was not a 'serious' wargame but more action-adventure with lots of improbable mission goals) you really started writing your own little stories as you played because of all the little character moments that happened along the way. I prefer that kind of experience to reading through pages of exposition that someone else writes for me. For example in an MMORPG in which you blast through quests that have five or six basic types (gather resources, kill monsters, aid the villagers, etc.) and differ only in the type of exposition which really has no effect on the gameplay.

I love Mice and Mystics for the story in the game.

Android is a game where the story and flavor text help make the game.