Mechanics - Story Driven Games

 

Books, Books, Books!

Books are one of my favorite things in the world and I have a fairly extensive collection of them at home on my shelves and on my kindle. There are good books and bad books, but they all share one thing in common: they are stories that have been created and brought from the mind of an author to be placed on the page for others to enjoy. It's astounding to me that the simple act of placing characters and words into a series of sentences can transport the reader to wondrous worlds beyond the simple reality that we live in. With a simple set of keystrokes, I can make your imagination run wild with visions of futuristic cities towering into the clouds made of chrome and glass, or send you deep into the depths of an underground chamber inhabited by hard working dwarves who constantly have to fight off the goblin invasion sitting at their doorstep. Stories are incredible things and reading has been, and continues to be, one of my favorite pastimes because of the wondrous worlds that are hidden away in the realm of books.

I had a bookmark at one point that read "Books are like a present that you can open again and again," and it was one of my favorite quotes ever. I love the feeling of discovering a new world and then coming back to it time and again. I know that this is a board game blog, but if you would allow me a quick moment to make a few recommendations for books, I'm going to bend your ear towards some amazing stories. The Cradle Series by Will Wight (website here: https://www.willwight.com/) is an incredible work of progression fantasy (the main character gets stronger as the books progress) done in a western view. It's got dragons and martial arts and a really cool magic system and is extremely well written, which is all that I could want in a series. His next series, the Last Horizon, is, in Will's words, "Wizards in Space", but I found it to be so much more. It takes bits and pieces of a bunch of different sci-fi tropes and mashes them all together in one fantastic book. While there's only two books out for now, Will is a prolific writer and I expect the next one to be coming later in 2024 (which based on his "Blog of Dubious Intent" seems to be sometime in August?).

I'll get off my little box now, but if you have to read one book (series) in 2024, check out the Cradle Series. Seriously. It's that good.

Storytelling As A Medium

As you probably have already guessed from the title of this post, I am going to do a blog post on the mechanics of storytelling and go through 10 games (I'll definitely rank them in order of my favorite) that I've played (a few will be grouped as that will be easier) in the last few years. As with all of these, let's look at the BGG definition of "Storytelling Mechanics": "In storytelling games, players are provided with conceptual, written, or pictorial stimuli which must be incorporated into a story of the players' creation."

I appreciate that these definitions are wide-ranging, but aside from the few examples that they give in the posts, it generally isn't really something that I feel encapsulates what a "Storytelling" game is. For me, a true "Storytelling Game" has a general story (or stories) that the players are able to interact with and learn about through the play of the game. This may be one overarching story that the player is working through together (such as games like Stuffed Fables or Sleeping Gods) or one off stories that the player is working through (such as games like The 7th Continent or Mysterium) that usually are connected to one play, but may or may not be connected to an overarching story.

While games like Gloomhaven or Mage Knight Board Game may have a story structure to them, it's generally not the main selling point of the game and is usually a secondary or tertiary mechanic for players to interact with, while other mechanics take precedence during the gameplay. Storytelling games seek to tell a story first and foremost and that is the driving point for the game as players seek to influence and interact with the story as it occurs during the play of the game. Generally there are predetermined outcomes for successes or failures, as well as specific success or failure conditions for players to work towards with the games.

Below you'll find a list of my top 10 storytelling games (ranked from lowest to highest) that I've had the opportunity to play over the years. A few of them I'm not certain how many plays I've had since they were played before I was really active here on BGG so they'll have the plays marked with an asterisk (*) to denote that I'm not certain of the play count. There are a few that have come up on other lists because I don't have too many plays of storytelling games (which I hoped to avoid, but it's unavoidable at this time), but it's few and far between. I hope you like the list and get an idea about some new potential games to play in the future!

#10 - Machine of Death: The Game of Creative Assassination

BGG Ranking: #25,233 (5.3 score)
How is the story told? Players are assassins assigned with eliminating a target with a twist: players must follow the prediction provided by a machine that tells the victim how they will die. Players use a various set of cards to accomplish their mission, crafting a story around what actions they take to accomplish their assassination.
Total Plays: 2*
What I Like About It: I love the storytelling idea of playing as an assassin that has a target that they need to take out in a certain manner. Because the game notes that the machine has a certain level of irony, players can be very clever with their strategy to take out their target. While a prediction of "Corgi" could mean that the target is hit by a car while walking their pet dog, it could also be a death caused by a corgi causing them to trip down stairs, or attacked by a pack of wild killer corgis. It's all up to the players imagination to determine how to interpret and integrate the death card into their plan.

Additional information is provided by target preference cards, support cards that allow players to bring in additional help from the outside, and Black Market cards that give the players tools to accomplish the assassination. It's fairly well structured and on paper seems to be an excellent way to pass some time at a party while diving into a realm of creativity.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: Unfortunately, that freedom is what comes back to bite this game in the butt. There's a bit too much freedom when putting together the plan of attack and players can spend as much time or as little time as they want building their plan to take out the target. Players also are provided the freedom to choose the difficulty of the plan on a 1-6 scale, which is then determined by a dice roll to see if it's accomplished during the "Implement" stage. If it fails, the players have to scramble to adjust their plan and (hopefully) come up with a plan that allows them to take out their target.

I personally had difficulty assigning a number to how "difficult" a plan was to take out a target, especially since the game allows it to be determined by the general consensus of the party, leaning towards a higher number than lower. Some alterations in rules allow a "Captain" to choose the difficulty of the assassination attempt, but that's not part of the general ruleset. It's tough to really recommend this game to a group of people without knowing that it will take a very creative set of people to play the game well enough for it to be fun.

Summarization of the Game: Machine of Death tries unsuccessfully to break into the party game market, but really does not successfully land the plan without a major crash on the runway. What initially seems like a cool idea, really crashes hard when players implement the mechanics of the game into real time and it's disappointing to see that while playing the game. I ultimately regret backing this on Kickstarter back in 2014 and ended up selling my copy mid 2023 as it had sat on the shelf for years without any plays. It's a cool idea, but could have used some more playtesting and maybe a bit more standardization before being sent out to players as Machine of Death feels more like Machine of Duds when playing it.

While I'm fairly harsh on the game here, I do want to include it on my list since it is potentially a cool game to play with the right group, but unfortunately, I just didn't have the right group to play with. Still, it's a decent game, and amongst a sea of board games, presents a very unique experience.

#9 - Quelf

BGG Ranking: #26,077 (5.2 score)
How is the story told? This game is less about the stories that get told during the game and more about stories that are told after the game concludes.
Total Plays: ~8*
What I Like About It: Quelf to me has a really high nostalgia value since it was played multiple times over during the summer of 2009 and 2010 when I was a camp counselor. It was introduced to me in the summer of 2009 and we played multiple games of it, each one resulting in all of us devolving into uproarious laughter by the time the game was over. While it is a competitive game, more often than not, we would try to artificially inflate the time of the game to push it longer because we had so much fun playing it.

The game itself is nothing more than a bunch of random rules, activities and chaos that comes together in a really fun package that is great to play with people who you really know (or people you want to get to know). The game is absolutely a blast to play with the right people and there have been so many excellent stories that have occurred after we completed the game and laughed about what happened during the game.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: The game itself is a party game. It's best when played with a larger group (4-6 is what I found to be the best size) of people that know one another and even then it's pretty situational. The game is longer than most party games and can run about 45 minutes to an hour of game time on the lower end. Keep in mind that this game also involves quite a bit of movement and chaos, so be prepared to run around looking for random items while playing the game.

I will also note that the earlier versions of the game have much more personality to them, with each player character being unique and crazy. The newer version of the game gets rid of these wonderful characters for a more generic pawn system that loses some of the fun of the original game.

Summarization of the Game: Quelf is a very situational game and enjoyment really falls on the group of players. Every time I've played, it's always resulted in uproarious laughter, but that's generally who was playing the game. It can be hit or miss because it's a party game and it's a bit longer, but my copy of the game is well-worn and used significantly. It's a blast to play but it may not be for everyone. I'm also not really certain why this game is tagged with "Storytelling" mechanics, but I'll run with it for this entry.

#8 - Near and Far

BGG Ranking: #228 (7.7 score)
How is the story told? Players can choose to play a one-off game with each character interacting with the story of the realm, or choose to play a series of games with either an overarching story for the game or characters.
Total Plays: 1
What I Like About It: Near and Far is a really interesting game as it allows the players to choose how they want to experience the story of the game. While players can choose a one-off game, which allows the players to interact with small stories based on the map that they are in, players can also choose to play over a campaign that has an overarching story (where players can choose different characters) or choose one character and play a series of games with that character.

The story element comes in when players are interacting with the game board itself. There are various tokens that are placed on the board that correspond to various mini-stories that players can choose to interact with. Based on the players current status in game, there might be advantages or disadvantages placed on the player when resolving the story. Additionally, there are several completion rewards, both a base tier and one above it that requires higher stats, that award varying amounts of materials, titles, and other helpful and not so helpful rewards. At times, the story can be ambiguous and while not necessarily having a good or bad result, is generally up to the player to resolve in their choice.

The board is actually part of a spiral bound book that is very well built. Each board is double sided and two pages long, allowing the game to fit several different boards into the "book" for players to play through. While I personally haven't played through the game in it's entirety, my friend who owns the game has informed me that each location has a very distinct feeling and plays very differently from one another.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: Near and Far is definitely lighter when it comes to story driven narrative, especially if players choose to play a single game rather than an overarching narrative. There were smidgeons of a story when I played the game, but it was really more of a bit of flavor to the clever gameplay of the board game, versus being the driving point for the entire game. It's clever, but if you're really looking for a good story-driven narrative, this is not the game for you.

While not necessarily needed to play Near and Far, Above and Below is the first game in the loose series that Near and Far is part of and despite the different mechanics, might allow players to have a bit more connection to the characters that they play as in the game. As someone who hasn't played Above and Below before I had played Near and Far, I almost wish that I had because I think that it would have given me a bit more context to play the second game.

Summarization of the Game: Overall, Near and Far is a very well-designed game, but it struggles a bit with the narrative, both in the game and overall. While there is a loose thread that pulls the players through a series of games, I would hesitate to recommend this to anyone who is looking for a very story-driven game, as this is not it. With that being said, Near and Far does what it seeks to accomplish well and despite my feelings about the lack of story, I very much enjoyed my time in this world and could recommend it to be played with a good group of friends.

#7 - Betrayal at House on the Hill

BGG Ranking: #678 (2nd Edition) (7.0 score)
How is the story told? Players play through the first portion of the game, discovering rooms and attempting to make rolls as they progress through the haunted house that is the titular "House on the Hill." Once a certain number of Omens (cards that are drawn when discovering a room with a crow symbol) are drawn and players roll fewer pips on the dice than the number of Omen Cards drawn, the haunt begins. This utilizes a table that player refer to that will explain the story, determine who the "betrayer" is (if any), and alongside the "Traitor's Tome" will provide specific rules and objectives for each team to win with. Play then proceeds onward, following the story until one side wins, ultimately concluding with a final blurb explaining the outcome of what occurred.
Total Plays: 7*
What I Like About It: I love that the game (speaking of the second edition) comes with 50 separate stories that players can play through (another 30 are added with an expansion) which lends the game to a significant level of replayability. The modular nature of the mansion is also a huge plus for the game since each time you play, based on how the room tiles are shuffled, you will have a completely different layout each time. It's fantastic as it doesn't allow players to get used to the layout of the board and each time results in a new haunt being played.

I also appreciate how each of the characters had distinct feels to them as different characters had different strengths and weaknesses. With each player character board being double sided, there are a total of twelve separate characters that could be played during the game that could potentially result in different individuals acting as the traitor. Each one plays very differently according to their strengths and while the overall stats are similar, each character feels unique and has different things that they are good at.

The haunts themselves are the true clever portion of this game. Each one is distinctly unique and has a different traitor that could be the person who triggered the haunt, the character with the highest intelligence, the character who is lowest in the house, or any number of other factors that are determined once the omen trigger has been reached. The game even has at least one haunt that doesn't have a traitor and results in a full-on scramble searching for treasure. In each of my games that I played, there was not a single story that was retold, showing how many times that this game could be replayed without duplication of the haunts.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: The biggest issue that I found with Betrayal at House on the Hill was that it required (at minimum) three players to play with. While it has been argued that it could be played with two people, managing two characters solo is not a fun experience. Three players are at minimum required for a good experience with this game and that was difficult for my wife and I to make work, since it was usually the two of us playing together. It's a great idea in concept, but finding a third to play with us was also tough to manage.

Adding in that my wife was not always a big fan of the theming of the game, preferring to play something else rather than Betrayal, the game didn't hit the table as often as I would have liked. I'm a big fan of horror, but she's not and therefore it didn't get played as often as I would have liked.

I do also have a few issues with the components in the second edition of the game, which I note specifically as the third edition has fixed some of the problems that are noted here. The player boards and trackers are not great. The little sliders easily move, especially with the slightest bump of the player character board, making it especially needed to keep track of where each stat was. It was not well designed and although there are alternative options here on BGG, I was never able to find a good solution for the issue.

Summarization of the Game: Overall, Betrayal at House on the Hill is a great game for those who love horror movies and the genre as it dives well into clever story-driven scenarios after enough of the titular house has been explored. While the second edition did have a few downfalls with the components, they are apparently solved by the newest edition (3rd Edition). It does require a higher player count than 2, so this is generally not great for couples looking to experience a game night together. Overall, I would have loved to play it more, but the higher count for players was what led me to selling this game and removing it from my collection.

#6 - Mice and Mystics

BGG Ranking: #467 (7.2 score)
How is the story told? Players read through the included tome that directs players through the story of Prince Colin and his attempts to escape the clutches of an evil sorceress that has overtaken the castle. The game is played over a series of stories that all are a part of the larger narrative. Each play session is representative of a story beat and has short bits of story interspersed through the game as the players interact with rooms, enemies and other characters.
Total Plays: 2
What I Like About It: Mice and Mystics is what I think when I hear about a storytelling game. Players are tasked with playing one of six mice (five at the beginning of the game) and then have their characters grow over the course of the series of games that are played, both with skills (which are permanently earned) and with equipment (which is only for the specific game and is reset at the beginning of each chapter). I love seeing the characters grow and proceed through the story as it occurs as each chapter progresses. Each game that is played has a nice length of about 60-90 minutes, including setup and teardown.

I also love that the game feels like a Dungeons and Dragon session with the inclusion of an automated Dungeon Master that is provided by the rules and lore book. While one player might lead the story and provide narration for all that is going on, the game does a great job of directing what is happening on the boards and with some reading, allows the players to understand what needs to occur based on actions that are taken. Players can level up via a clever cheese system that acts both as XP for new skills, and as a way to use the skills, requiring players to be strategic in their usage of the item.

Each character feels extremely distinct and after levelling up their skills, feels even more uniquely so. The addition of the custom dice also makes for an excellent way to resolve the combat in the game and despite the game being very combat heavy, I never felt as if it was dragging on too long. Fights feel quick and efficient and with the dice that are able to be used to resolve effects and attacks, there wasn't any question about if attacks were successful.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: The game is extremely heavy on language dependency. The story itself is told over a series of pages even before the first game starts and each chapter has a very lengthy introduction to introduce the premise of the chapter. It is a very well done story, but do be aware of the additional time that will be needed when playing the initial game to introduce the story.

Additionally, there are quite a few rules that need to be read through for the initial game and upon subsequent plays. Due to the game itself acting as the Game Master, players will be required to read and often reread sections to determine what actions need to be taken to set things up for new rooms or for encounters. The while Mice and Mystics doesn't seem that rule heavy compared to other games, there are still a significant number of rules regarding how the chapter proceeds due to the nature of what it's attempting to accomplish. There are many tokens included with the game and no organizer, so including something to organize everything is recommended.

I also have a slight nitpick with one of the miniatures included with the game. Maybe this is due to me purchasing the game second hand, but the centipede miniature that I received in the game doesn't have it's head fully connect to the base well. It sits in the base and stays up, but any movement causes the head to detach. I believe that a new copy of the game wouldn't have this issue, but it is something to look out for.

(Spoilers for the story)

Additionally, I will note that there is not a resolution to the mice storyline in the base game as the game ends with the prince and his cohort having to proceed into the wider world to undo the spell that turned them into mice. It's not a deal-breaker, but it would have been nice to have at least some resolution to the story in that respect without having to purchase an expansion without any guarantee that plot hole would be filled.

Summarization of the Game: Overall, I'm really impressed with my several plays of Mice and Mystics, especially coming from the standpoint of a long-time Dungeon Master. The game is very well crafted and rulebook, while a bit thick at first, is written in such a way to help players understand the rules of the game. Mice and Mystics also has a very well-written story with good beats that leaves the players wanting to play more. I look forward to completing the game and seeing how it all resolves with the Big Bad Evil Character (TM).

#5 - Deliverance

BGG Ranking: #2963 (8.7 score)
How is the story told? Players can proceed through the campaign of Deliverance following a story that has been crafted to lead the players through the battle the Angels have against the Demons in the sleepy town of Fallbrook.
Total Plays: 12
What I Like About It: Deliverance is a beautifully crafted game. I've talked about it in the past in a few reviews so I won't go on much about the game that cannot already be found in those posts. The game is excellently crafted to provide a level of challenge that feels difficult, but not something that can't be overcome, which is something that is difficult to accomplish in a cooperative game. The player powers are fantastic and lead each of the player characters to feel powerful without feeling too overpowered.

The artwork of the game is also extremely excellent and each of the characters evokes a sense of wonder and power for the angels and corruption and darkness for the demons. There's a sense of scale that is brought with the game with each tile that is placed down as the angels hover over the city of Fallbrook. The additional acrylic pieces (which are an add-on) are additionally extremely well done and evoke a feeling of excellence to be added with the game.

While the game does have a bit of errata, there's nothing that overtly takes away from the feel of the game and much of it is documented here on BGG about how to explain the issues, of which I can only think of two. The cards themselves are very easy to understand, making playing the game fairly quick once it's all set up. Rules are well designed and the campaign mode takes players through a series of increasingly difficult challenges but also rewards the players with level ups and items to help them work through the challenges. It's all cleverly balanced to create a tough but fair growth for characters that scales with the increasingly difficult missions.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: Ironically enough, the story for the campaign is where Deliverance falls the shortest. It's a decent story that holds together the campaign, but it's nothing to write home about and the excellent gameplay is worth far more than the mediocre story. Fortunately enough, the designer of the game, Andrew Lowen, has acknowledged this fault and the next edition of the game is going to be released with several of the errata changed as well as a new story that will be written by a professional author, which should help with the major complaint of the game.

I will also point out that the game itself is not cheap, running at about $99 for just the game itself. Any additional items such as the neoprene play mat (which I think is decent but not necessary) or the acrylic standees (which I prefer over the minis due to the coloring and detail) are an extra cost. At the time of writing, I also believe that they have completely sold out of the game via the Lowen Games website and the only way to get a copy is to pick it up from a second-hand market.

Summarization of the Game: Deliverance represents, for me, one of the best gaming experiences in the Christian realm. As a Christian myself, I have found it lamentable that there's not any truly great games that I can play that are designed with a Christian theme. Deliverance does an excellent job of filling that void and while it does have a bit of an up-front expense, I would absolutely say that it is worth it to pick it up, even if you aren't into the Christian themes (which are subtle and don't beat you over the head), because the game itself is just that good. I'd personally wait until the second kickstarter/printing of the game to get the updated version with the better story, but if you don't want to wait, there's always the secondary market.

#4 - Unlock! Series

BGG Ranking: #633 (Highest ranked) (6.9 score)
How is the story told? Players are provided with a simple introductory story for each game that then tasks the players with solving puzzles and proceeding through the story that each self-contained adventure contains.
Total Plays: 9
What I Like About It: I love escape rooms and the Unlock! series truly takes that feeling and places it neatly in a deck that leads players through various puzzles to get through the loose story, but also complete challenges to "escape" the situation that players find themselves in. Having all of the necessary components contained within (and sometimes on the box or in the free app) the box is very fun to work through the various puzzles contained within each adventure.

With the self-contained nature of each of the puzzles, there isn't any crossover between each of the puzzles and they represent a really fun way to have an escape room experience right on the kitchen table (or wherever you game). Most of the puzzles are replayable, resulting in me having swapped games with my friends to experience every box we have in our collections.

The app itself is very well designed and players can choose to receive hints if needed, but there's never anything that requires them to ask for help. With some clever augmented reality integration with the app as well, players do have the cool opportunity to interact with the various cards on the table and it lends itself to some fun stories after completing the challenge.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Unlock! series, games tend to be a single play only. While replaying them is possible, it should be done after several years to ensure that the puzzles aren't remembered. Additionally, I have found that the adventures themselves were variable in how good they were due to each one being crafted by a different individual. Some had puzzles that were wildly difficult to comprehend and required players to make leaps of logic that seemed cheap, while others had references to buttons in the app or numbers on the box that weren't expressly noted to be a possibility in the tutorial, leaving me frustrated with the solution. It also does require an app on a smartphone to play, so that will have to factor in whether or not you can play.

Summarization of the Game: Overall, the Unlock! series is very hit or miss for me, but the low cost of obtaining a box (you can often get them second hand for cheap) and the quick nature of the boxes is something that I appreciate. Puzzles are one and done in less than 60 minutes and there have been some truly excellent games that I've played (especially the Sherlock Holmes puzzles). It's a really fun diversion that is great for a good date night option that is both cheap and will leave you with some great stories.

#3 - Chronicles of Crime

BGG Ranking: #280 (7.6 score)
How is the story told? Players proceed through a series of directed crime scenes, interviewing witnesses, scanning clues, and piecing together multiple crimes over the course of the game. Most crimes are stand-alone adventures in the base game, but there is a series of scenarios that do interconnect, and one expansion (Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview) is a completely interconnected adventure.
Total Plays: 5
What I Like About It: This game has one of the best app enabled features that I've been able to play with in a game. It uses QR codes to scan each of the cards and the integration and reactions that you can get are astounding, which leads me to appreciate how much work went into the game.

I love the story that the game takes you through as you explore around London and the greater metro area, attempting to interview witnesses in order to determine the culprit of the crime as you play the game. Once you complete the game, rather than just entering in the solution for the puzzle, it has you scan the QR codes for each of the series of questions that it asks you when you attempt to solve the crime. Once completed, you get a score for the game and can even attempt the scenario again for a higher score if you miss one of the questions.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: Again, this is an app-enabled game and requires players to have a smartphone in order to play the game. It's very well done, but as I noted in my review, sometimes the QR code scanning can be a bit too sensitive, resulting in the wrong cards being scanned. There's also the frustration I had that the base game only includes 6 missions (including the introductory mission), which feels a bit too short for me. There are extra missions available for purchase, as well as expansions, but it feels a bit too short for me if I'm going to be paying the suggested retail price of $40.

Summarization of the Game: Chronicles of Crime is on quite a few reviewers top 100 lists and it's easy to see why. The excellent gameplay paired with clever storytelling that is unlocked by the player rather than being spoon-fed to the players as they work through the game. It feels like performing an investigation and as I noted in my review, I cannot wait to play the other expansions to see how they twist the formula presented in the base game.

#2 - Agents of SMERSH: Epic Edition

BGG Ranking: #5911 (Original #2904) (7.5 score)
How is the story told? Players take on the role of one of 8 different spies (Kickstarter bumped that up to 22 spies) who are attempting to stop the diabolical machinations of Dr. Lobo and the evil organization SMERSH! Players proceed through a various set of missions, each with their own small blurb that players then attempt to react to, using character powers and skills that have been accumulated through the game. They also have an epic showdown with both Lobo's Henchmen and Dr. Lobo himself before the end of the game, which is a series of skill checks and stories that the players must read through in order to complete and win (or lose) the game.
Total Plays: 6
What I Like About It: I'm a big fan of spy thrillers. Be it James Bond, Jason Bourne or any other number of movies that have come out in the last 30-40 years, I'm on board. I love the idea of being a spy, jet setting across the world, attempting to stop an evil organization with my wits, cunning and clever gadgets that are provided to me.

Agents of SMERSH: Epic Edition is actually a remake of the original Agents of SMERSH, that takes the expansion and attempts to marry it with the base game, creating a more seamless and (in the developer's words) EPIC package. The box itself certainly represents that with a huge spiral bound narrative book that is easy to read as well as an Epic Showdown book that leads players through showdowns with Dr. Lobo and his minions. The game is extremely well made and easy to learn how to play, especially with the double layered player boards that allow each player to slide in their respective character sheet and use the cubes to track skills, health and resolve.

The stories themselves are excellently written and truly encapsulate small dashes of spy movies, weaving the entire experience into a cooperative game that looks great on the table. The game can be played from 1-4 players as well and I appreciate that there's not any major difference in playing solo versus playing with others. Iconography is easy to understand and the custom dice are very well crafted to help the player know what actions to take during the game.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: While the game is currently sold out at the time of writing, it does have a decent entry cost of around $70 for the base game. However, if you are looking for the Kickstarter edition (which has extra characters to play as), that can run anywhere from $90 to $225 based on your retailer.

The game is also long and sometimes it does feel like the encounters that players have tend to be a bit disjointed. While the writing is excellent, sometimes it does feel a bit like I would like to have more player interaction in some of the encounters and long-standing consequences. Most of the encounters do have both a positive and negative outcome, but sometimes they don't feel as far-reaching as they should be. Additionally, the "epic encounters" do tend to drag on a bit and there's not an easy way to quickly end the game without going through the encounters. Hopefully in future updates for the game (or expansions) there will be an option to end the game fast versus having to go through the encounter. I also hope that there's a way to randomize things since once players go through one encounter, there's not much that will change, so they will be able to easily complete the end if they know the right skills to bring in.

Summarization of the Game: I love this game and want to get it to the table more often, but the run time for it tends to be a bit longer so I have to take the time to carve out time for it. I love the cooperative nature of the game and being able to play as a super secret spy is definitely a long-time wish of mine. Overall, the game does suffer a bit from the length, but is a great addition to my collection that I will not get rid of anytime soon, despite my complaints.

#1 - Tales of the Arabian Nights

BGG Ranking: #605 (7.2 score)
How is the story told? Players each have their own character that they take through the Arabian wildlands to experience the joys, woes, and everything in between that can be found in this epic tale based on the tales of Schehrazade.
Total Plays: 1
What I Like About It: If Agents of SMERSH was the best cooperative storytelling game that I've had the opportunity to play, Tales of the Arabian Nights is the best "competitive" storytelling game that I've played.

Pitfalls to Watch Out For: This is a very long game, even more so than the aforementioned Agents of SMERSH. Tales of the Arabian Nights has a general playtime of 120 minutes, but expect that to take more time if there are slower readers during the game. It also suffers from a bit of player inaction while others are playing their turn, especially at higher player counts. Because the person to the right of the active player reads through the encounters and stories, the rest of the players are left to either listen intently to the story or do anything else. While there are events that require player interaction, most of the game is played with each character acting alone and resolving their story alone.

The game itself also has a massive book that players refer to twice after also consulting a chart to determine what the result of their card they pulled and the subsequent dice rolls reveals with an encounter. It's not a very streamlined process and unlike the previous entry, is not as simple as reading the card and then deciding an action and proceeding to the encounter. There's quite a bit of checking and rechecking during the game, which lends itself to a bit more of a longer game as well.

One final caveat that I have to note is that the game is currently out of print, so any copy of even the newer 2009 version of Tales of the Arabian Nights is going to cost a pretty penny. It's not that hard to get a copy of the game, but it is going to be expensive, so prepare to shell out some dough.

Summarization of the Game: I really liked my play of the game and while it was longer, it was interesting to see the story for each character develop. While there were certain aspects of the game that I felt were done better by it's spiritual sequel, Agents of SMERSH, I still thoroughly enjoyed playing Tales of the Arabian Nights and look forward to playing it again.

Final Thoughts

Storytelling in games can be done very well or feel like an afterthought. I personally enjoy games that have it baked into the experience, hence why both Agents of SMERSH and Tales of the Arabian Nights are so high on this list. There are several games that I would love to experience myself, including Stuffed Fables and Sleeping Gods as well as getting my hands on a copy of The 7th Continent to play. Books and stories are my favorite mediums, but having an interactive story with a board game really is a new and fun experience for me, especially having read so many books and played so many video games that are story driven.

Share your thoughts:What are your thoughts on story-driven games? Do you find that you prefer games with a lighter story on the front end where you have to dive into deeper lore, or do you like to have games hand hold you through the story? What favorites in the genre do you have and could recommend?

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*Originally posted on BoardGameGeek on 15/4/2024*