Flying the flag: Roundwood's World on game narrative

It's very rare that I share the posts of others, and not because I don't think they're worth sharing. Far, far from the case - I'm constantly impressed and inspired by the pieces that all you lovely people write. It's simply because I suspect I'd get into the habit of doing it and never write my own stuff.


However, I have to share this outstanding article by Sidney Roundwood of Roundwood's World. Many of you may have seen it already, however for those that haven't - you should.
 

The opening line sums it up perfectly: "How do we remember our wargames." I have said more than once that the games that I still remember are not the great victories (what victories) but are the ones that had a great narrative, they were a story. They were also the most enjoyable games. That's not to say that I don't play to win, but if I was solely interested in pure competition I would just play chess. And I think that's true of all of us to varying degrees. We want to bring something to life.

Few of us are Arnold Rimmer of Red Dwarf, who recalls a game of Risk in this manner:

"Anyway, to cut a long story short I threw a five and a four which beat

his three and a two, another double six followed by a double four and a 

double five. After he’d thrown a three and a two I threw a six and a three..."

No, it's the narrative, plot, theme, immersion or similar that often makes games memorable.

For a well-written and pratctical guide to how to include these elements in your games, you can't go wrong with Mr. Roundwood's article here.