Games + Storyworlds: Board Game Stories

When I mention “game stories” and “game writing,” chances are people’s thoughts immediately go to video games. That fair. Video games are great at telling stories, what with their cutscenes, character dialog, environmental details, and dozens of other techniques developed over the years. Video game storytelling is totally a thing.

…Which is why I want to focus today on telling stories through boardgames. Delivering game stories without sound or animation is absolutely possible, but without those things, you may need to get a little more creative.

Flavor Text

Flavor text is a favorite spot to slip in some storytelling, and for good reason. Whether it’s the back of the box, a sentence at the bottom of a card, or a page of prose to introduce the rulebook, flavor text is a simple way to characters, conflict, and action of the storyworld.

One of the best examples of this sort of storytelling, IMHO, is in AEG’s Legend of the Five Rings card game. For years, players have eagerly purchased new sets of cards to see not only the new mechanics, but what drama awaited their favorite characters, as detailed in the flavor text of each card.

The downside of story-by-flavor-text is, unsurprisingly, all the text. Players want to play your game, not read your novel. So unless your novel’s worth of flavor text is kind of the point of the game, odds are only a handful of players are actually going to read it.

Imagery

Picture tell stories. Imagine a game card called “Over the Edge” that somehow harm’s your opponent’s position. Now imagine that card with a picture of pulp jungle explorer being shoved over a cliff by a four-armed giant white ape. Same card, same effect, but now it’s telling a story.

For bonus story points, you can show the story’s progress through different imagery. For example, there might be other cards showing our pulp explorer flying a plane into the jungle, discovering the lost city of apes, snagging the golden idol, and fleeing the city in a zeppelin. While those images (and those cards) might not line up exactly with what’s happening during the game, players can see the underlying story all the same.

The downside of story via artwork is that artwork can be expensive. All those hypothetical card illustrations can add up fast, but if you can afford it, the art is totally worth it.

Mechanical Terminology

The mechanics and components of the game themselves can help tell a story. For example, imagine a card game. I play a 3. You play a 7, which beats the 3. Now imagine that 3 is named “Native Revolt” and 7 is “Imperial Oppression.” The mechanics haven’t changed, but their meaning has. Now we’re telling a story.

Terminology goes a long way towards storytelling. Consider the difference between “Place your Level 1 pawn into the occupied space” and “Invade the enemy space with your Level 1 marine.” We just swapped a verb, an adjective, and a noun, and suddenly the game’s got a lot more story to it.

Or consider the real-life example of the board game originally known as Revolution. It’s a smart little area-control game from Reiner Knizia originally about a two factions fighting for control of Paris during the French Revolution. When it was republished a few years later, it was renamed Atlanteon and now featured two factions of undersea warriors battling to dominate the Sunken Kingdoms. Same game, same mechanics, but two very different stories.

Final Words

When designing stories to work with board games, it’s best to err on the side of less as more. Use broad strokes. Don’t be afraid to let the players’ imaginations fill in the blanks. They are the ones playing the game; it’s okay to let them help tell the story too.