How to Use Board Games to Write Better
Not every game has a win. Amid the rise of board games, dozens of narrative games have emerged that challenge you or your teammates to create engaging stories instead of beating each other. If you’re looking to hone your creative writing skills, this is a great way to get started.
Storytelling games are about creativity, not competition
First, let’s explain the difference between traditional board games and storytelling games. In games like Settlers of Catan , players use strategy and a little luck to win. In storytelling games, players think creatively, use their imaginations and keep everyone at the table entertained. By their nature, these games are not clearly defined, but they usually have several key characteristics:
- The “goal” is to be interesting, not just to “win.” While some narrative games have victory conditions, you probably don’t really care if you win. In some games, all players work together to achieve a goal or collaborate on a storyline, so there is very little competition.
- The rules exist as a basis, but they are not necessarily strict. Having a set of guidelines can help you get more creative , but getting caught up in the little details of the rules can kill the story. Most narrative games will give you a foundation, but they are great if you go beyond the rules, if it makes the story better. Some even encourage it!
- Playing with different people leads to a completely different game. For some games, you need to adapt the games to people. Not everyone is good at cheating games like The Resistance or strategy games like Carcassonne , so you have to choose your audience. On the other hand, storytelling games tend to be fun for everyone, and when you play with different people, the game changes dramatically. All of a sudden, you get new ideas from different people, so it’s a good idea to play with a diverse group.
Even if you have never heard of or played board games with narration in large-scale role-playing games, building the world, such as & Dragons’s of Dungeons , you are likely to play in any game narrative. Perhaps the popular Cards Against Humanity game is a very simple storytelling game. The black cards represent clues and you must tell the best story with the white cards that are dealt to you. If you’ve played it more than once, you’ve probably noticed the fact that getting your story across to the person reading it is a better strategy than always looking for obvious answers. You can also have a completely different experience playing with new people. Of course, no one really pays attention to who “wins”. You just count the cards at the end and laugh at whoever got the most. All of this makes CAH a great introduction to how narrative games work. Don’t worry about winning, tell the best story and rely on the creativity of other players.
How You Can Use Storytelling Games To Improve Your Writing
There is nothing worse for writing than a blank page. Whether you’re writing a novel, short story, or parody Twitter account , having restrictions and guidelines gives you a starting point so you don’t get stuck trying to create something out of nothing. It sounds counterintuitive, but having limitations can make you more creative . Personally, I’ve used board games in a number of ways to stimulate more creative writing:
- Use them as practice. The easiest way to get something out of storytelling games is to play them regularly as a practice. Some require you to come up with stories as part of the game itself, which is a practice you might not get if you practice or play video games (which is also a good way to get inspiration ).
- Use them as clues. Some games take you through the story more deliberately, but they can still be a great basis for stories you can write later. If you play games like Betrayal in the Hill House or The Gloom , keep a notebook handy and write down the key events that occur during the story. Later, use this as a sketch of a story that you can flesh out.
- Use other players to improve your ideas. Other people are one of the best sources for your ideas. When you play co-op games, everyone wants to help each other come up with the best storyline or strategy. Whether you’re trying to come up with unique characters, write a good plot twist, or figure out how to weave multiple story elements together, playing with other people helps you think beyond your normal instincts.
Creativity and inspiration are not exact sciences, so do whatever helps you come up with ideas or write stories. As you play, remember how you can use what you do to improve your stories in the future. Take notes and when you’re done playing, continue. Games are fun, but remember that you are also trying to practice your craft here.
The best storytelling games to spur your creativity
There are many different games that challenge your creativity in different ways. The following list is by no means complete, but if you’re looking for a nudge in the right direction, it might get you started. We’ll also highlight how difficult it is to get into the game, how many people you can play with, and what creative muscles it helps to train.
Betrayal in the house on the hill
Number of players: 3-6 Playing time: 60 minutes
If you’ve ever seen The Cabin in the Woods , Betrayal should sound familiar to you. In it, players jointly explore a creepy old mansion. Depending on the combination of the items to discover and the luck of multiple dice rolls, they trigger different horror stories. At this point, one player becomes a “traitor” and works against the rest of the players.
While there is very little direct storytelling in this game, it’s a great writing tip. You can choose different characters to play, and each time you will have a different story. Sometimes you fight a giant snake, a horde of zombies, or solve a murder mystery. There are 50 different “ghosts” (and 50 more if you get the new expansion ). Try playing a game, and then write down the story your characters are going through. As you play, take notes of how you overcome difficulties. This is especially useful if you have really close calls. A tense dice roll can be a terrifying confrontation with a monster. Treat the game you are playing as a sketch of the story you are writing and fill in the details later.
Death machine
Number of players: 2-4 Playing time: 30 minutes
This game is based on the collection of collections of the same name (which you can read for free in PDF format here ). All stories have a common premise: a machine was invented that predicts with 100% accuracy how you will die, but not when. The predictions are vague and sometimes ironic, but they are always correct. In the game you play as an assassin living in this world. To kill your victims, you must create a story that matches their death prediction. You may even need to get more creative if they also know how they will die. You are also given item cards with things like “Something from the 90s” or “Things with Teeth” that you must use to get a kill. As you roll the dice, your plans will either succeed or fail.
This game requires thinking outside the box. It gives you enough foundation to get started, but leaves a lot to your imagination. It sounds like a MacGyver story. Can you create a coherent story with a paperclip, rubber band, and an old boot? You may not want to record every game you play, but this is a great practice to develop your creativity.
Mysterium
Players: 2-7 Game Time: 45 minutes
In Mysterium, one player is a ghost who was recently killed. Other players are investigating a murder – man, there are murders in a lot of these games, right? – and there are several suspects who may have done so. The ghost tries to give them clues about the people, places and weapons that were used to kill them. Trick? They can only communicate with vague, impressionistic maps.
For writers, this is an especially interesting task because it forces you to communicate not only in words, but also in other things. Sometimes the ghost may try to point out cards of color, shape, or other characteristics. When you can’t use words to say what you want, you have to think about other details of the story. This is a great way to immerse yourself in the space of the mind to interpret non-verbal details. The more accurate the mental image you can create, the clearer you will be able to write when you are ready to put your pen on paper.
Darkness
Players: 2-5 Playing time: 60 minutes
In Gloom, each player controls a separate suppressed family. Their ultimate goal in life? They all want to die in the saddest condition possible, in the style of aseries of unfortunate events . Players take turns playing Event Cards by themselves or by family members of other players to build their own sad story. The cards include such miserable and disgusting events as Chasing the Hounds or Visiting Vermont. The player who has the saddest story, when all his family members died, wins.
Like Betrayal, this game has great clues both during and after the game. There are a few details on the event cards, but you can embellish the story as you play. Each new map is another chance to tell a delightfully dark story. When you’re done, you can take stacks of cards with each character and use them as notes so you can write a more detailed narrative later if you so desire.
Funemployed
Players: 3+ Playing time: 30 minutes
Funemployed, one of the few non-killing games on this list, is structurally similar to Cards Against Humanity. Each round a player applies for a “vacancy”. One player reads words such as “Instructor Sergeant” or “Secret Agent”. The rest of the players must set up an interview board to get a job based on the cards they were given, which may include things like Cold Black Heart, Survival Skills, or Fish Communication. Which, coincidentally, wasJason Mamoa’s actual resume for Aquaman .
The stories you tell in this game aren’t all that hard, but I’ve found it much better to play around with character creation. Of course, many of the combinations are silly, but cards can give you ideas on how to combine different traits in the same person. Having to weave them all together into one interview is a good way to practice combining disparate character traits over a longer storyline. Even if you’re not playing a game, taking out cards and randomly picking some of them to write together is a handy tool.
If you need more examples, you can find more at io9 . You are also not limited to games that are specifically designed to tell stories. Anything that makes you think about characters or storylines counts. If you want to write Les Mis-style fanfiction about the subjects of Carcassonne, or turn your Risk game into a Game of Thrones-style power story, go for it. Whichever you choose, playing a game is likely to be more productive than staring at a blank page.