My Top 10 Favorite Games with Written Narrative

[@michaelmueller260]

This War of Mine is probably number one on my list. Obviously the theme and tone isn't for everyone, but no other game has conjured up the emotions that I've felt playing TWoM. Yes, nearly all of the emotions are sadness, despair, fear, helplessness and hopelessness...but that's how you should feel when you play. And those rare moments when something good happens (something as small as stumbling across a stash of candy bars, to something profound like saving a starving child), the genuine joy you feel is something I've never felt in any other game.

[@StephenGrubb]

Agreed. I really enjoy This War of Mine when I play it. However, I don't find myself wanting to bring it to the table very often because it's rather depressing. It will never leave my collection, but I will probably only want to play it a couple of times a year.

[@sarahchapman7941]

I completely agree, no other game has come close to giving me such an intense emotional response like This War of Mine. I've only played it a few times, but I distinctly remember everything that happened in each game and the stories that were told even years later.

[@TheGlassesPush]

Wow, I've played 8/11 of your picks. (9/12 if you include Fenris) I'm such a sucker for theme and story. Tainted Grail may be the best story of any game I've played, but the survival mechanics made me want to rush through the game to avoid the punishments for taking too much time. I'm really curious how story will work in your open-world game. You obviously put a ton of thought into your games, and so I know you will hit this new one out of the park.

[@dorakincses5676]

Tainted Grail is our absolute favourite. It only gets better and better with the other two campaigns. The mechanics are constantly changing (but making sense) according to the narrative too. We could talk about the story for hours after finishing up an episode 😊

[@benzrecycler]

as always, great video - I realize it's somewhat of niche game, but the writing in Arcadia Quest is my favorite, humor is definitely something I gravitate towards!

[@ЕвгенийСафонов-э5к]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on challenges for story driven game designers! Like your thought about linked A and B parts - the most painful part of such type of games is returning to the game even after few days - takes extra effor to setup table and remember where we left. Just curious, what is your opinion on 7th Continent? I couldn't find it in the list. This is also a game where story is told through cards.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks! I don't recall The 7th Continent having much narrative--as you said, it's mostly a visual game, with some text on the cards. I really enjoyed exploring it, though!

[@namronlouieherrera6547]

I have played games #10-#5 solo. And I adore all of them. The rest of the games you mentioned can’t be played solo except Sleeping Gods, which I need to pick up very soon. I wonder where Roll Player Adventures would land in your ranking :)

[@jameystegmaier]

That's great! I'm loving Roll Player Adventures, and in terms of the written narrative, I'd probably put it at #3 on this list.

[@morgaknightgames]

I'm very much a theme player. If I can't latch onto a theme, story or no, I'm not going to have a good time. Out of the ones you mentioned I've played Pandemic Legacy Session One and Destinies. We're ended up with the absolute worst ending in Pandemic Legacy (lost game one and never recovered) but ended up having a lot of fun with the story. Destinies, thanks to the actual pandemic, I've only played the first scenario. I'm eager to jump back in as my group really enjoyed the experience. It felt a bit like a competitive choose your own adventure novel and was very different to everything else we've played. I agree that a quick summary between chapters may be beneficial for some given the episodic way many people play games. Agemonia did this from what I could tell from the tutorial missions. I don't seem to have much of an issue with remembering narrative myself, likely due to the fact that my reading habits are to have 3 or so books going at any given time. I've yet to try a game with a dedicated story book. (Agemonia's tutorial narrative was mostly on cards) However I do have Etherfields and Stormsunder headed my way later this year, so I'll get to try it out! And possibly Sleeping Gods if my pre-order is every fulfilled with the next print run....

[@tullnfloyd]

I like an option of a long passage of text with the side option of a shorter summary. Because for example if i am playing solo I will probably read the long passage because I enjoy books and such, so the long read does not bother me. Along side that the short summery is great if playing with a group of people where time might be short, it is nice just to read the summery to get the basis of what the new rules are and a brief flavor story to get people in the setting but not take up too much time.

[@HungryGamerReviews]

Interesting list. Ones not on your list I'd add Middara Betrayal Legacy And the recently arrived Roll Player Adventures. Based on your picks, I'm surprised you didn't include Too Many Bones with their story/event cards

[@jameystegmaier]

I can't include games I haven't played, and I haven't played Too Many Bones. :) Also, none of our ambassadors mentioned it.

[@HungryGamerReviews]

@@jameystegmaier now that is a surprise! As a teacher I am assigning that to you as homework! 🧐😁

[@liesspruit]

I watched your enthusiastic comments of Roll Player Adventures...Do you love the narritives in that one ? :-) I really loved the narritives in Detective city of angels. Where you can find hints about the solution. Very good writing , good stories and freaky and funny sometimes.

[@jameystegmaier]

I do! Unfortunately I hadn't played RPA before filming this. :)

[@barakgordon9349]

I’m going through the Roll Player Adventures campaign. In my opinion the story is amazing and very engaging. It’s the best part of the game. It also have earned Title cards which the group keeps through the campaign which gives summarized story text of the key events the players went through by their choices and results on skill checks or combat. These are referred to in future scenarios and impact the story and the branching paths of it.

[@jameystegmaier]

I really like the title cards too. I think the game does a great job overall at recapping (in various ways) what you've already done, allowing you to return to the campaign even after days, weeks, or months.

[@orbesteanu4tsa]

Well that was a surprise, The King's Dilemma at #1 and Sleeping Gods at #2. :D

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

When I was a kid, I disliked musicals. Maybe Wizard of Oz was an exception. But I viewed the musical interludes almost like a commercial break - I was impatient for the song and dance to end so the movie would get back to the story and dialogue. I'm afraid that's how I feel as an adult about many read and react narrative games - the part where we take a break and do a group read is a time out from the game play which is what I care about. For example, I love Scythe: Rise of Fenris, but I didn't care one bit about the narrative (apologies to Ryan who seems like a truly great and talented guy - I've really enjoyed my interactions with him online). I just liked how each episode introduced new mechanics and episode goals, and I liked that there was a campaign score to pay attention to. I played a few sessions of Pandemic Legacy Season 1 - I enjoyed the game but was bored by the after game upgrading and story reading. I realize a lot of people love games with narratives and love to explore the lore of the game worlds they play. For me when I want an interactive story I play D&D (which I enjoy a lot); no table top game can replicate the way a D&D story evolves, though many have tried. But I know many of the games on your list are brilliant designs that other people love, and that's great.

[@jameystegmaier]

I completely hear you on that, Steven. I'm fairly similar, and that's why I like the option to read either 1 sentence or full paragraphs (like we did in Rise of Fenris).

[@Gunsong1]

I think it's really cool if there is a rich narrative in the games, but I want to be able to just play the game as well. Yeah cool i'm sure you put a great deal of work into the worldbuilding in that fantasy worker placement game, or made a real cool back-story for that lovecraft inspired tactical game, but right now I just wanna solve problems while looking at some cool art.

[@kenjin42]

You didn't mention it but what did you think of the flavor/story of Aeon's End Legacy? I assume there was nothing memorable about it since it's not in the honorable mentions.

[@jameystegmaier]

You know, it's been a few years since I played through Aeon's End Legacy. I recall enjoying the writing, but I don't remember anything specific about it (or even that there was much written narrative at all--it sounds like there is?)

[@brianbouton3091]

Have you played either Too Many Bones or Cloudspire? Some good written narratives there.

[@jameystegmaier]

I haven't! I didn't realize they had written narrative, so I appreciate you sharing that.

[@Taltz911]

I like narrative choices/outcomes changing depending on your character's skills but not when the game surprises you with 'You can't do X because you don't have skill Y.' There should be thnigs like earlier warnings about the need to have a particular skill or skill level for an upcoming impactful task or for less impactful tasks have outcomes of degree based on skill rather than a binary fail.

[@darren.mcauliffe]

How replayable is Legacy of Dragonholt?

[@jameystegmaier]

I would say fairly replayable if you give it time to breathe. Like, I could return to it now after not playing it for a few years, and I'd remember very little. Plus, I could create completely new characters and have the game play out quite differently.

[@BillyIndiana]

My wife & I enjoy games with some narrative too. We've really liked Pandemic Legacy Season Zero, Sleeping Gods, Forgotten Waters, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Above & Below, Destinies, Chronicles of Crime 1400, 7th Continent (my wife's favorite) and now Roll Player Adventures. Roll Player Adventures really made a strong impression on us in our play! My favorite is LOTR: Journeys in Middle Earth so far, but all of them are really great. I look forward to trying The Rise of Fenris one day.