There is a huge distinction between a storytelling game and a game that tells a story. Storytelling games are about players developing the ups and downs of characters and worlds as the tale goes forward. Games presenting a story give you dramatic tension as the mechanics unfold and play off of your machinations of victory. The difference is upon whom the onus of challenge lays: the players or the game. Do the characters have problems because of the game or because players want them to have such problems? Grave Error, our in-development, spooky, hidden-movement game, tries to blend in the players’ storytelling creativity with concrete mechanics and traditional board game components. In this blog, we will explore the in-game systems straddling this line and discuss how we arrived at the current iterations.
Games are not Art
There is a perennial debate within the industry whether or not games have to be “fun”. This discussion swirls around the ability of art to convey the full spectrum of emotions. Conspire’s design revealed my position (and that of Cherry Picked Games), though there is certainly more to discuss. However, I find the tangent mentioned here far more interesting to dissect. Are tabletop games art? As much as I love the medium, I will stake the claim games are not art, but rather craft.
Rename - Grave Error
Our upcoming horror game idea has been renamed to "Grave Error" from "Mordgeist". Thank you to everyone who voted in our two polls. Between this and Far Away, a whole new world of two-word games has been opened up for CPG. What an exciting future.