🉑 Vincent Leeuw How important is a story or setting to a game? We tried to answer that question during one of our GameDenken (Game Thinking) meetups yesterday. We concluded that in board games it serves as an introduction, to lure people into playing the game, but once playing, it falls to the background. For video games it seems to go the other way around, with the action itsef luring people in and the story keeping people hooked for the long term. Anyone else out there with thoughts about these statements?

Bas Interesting stuff. I believe in every game there's a mix of a competition, exploration, collection, skill and emotion present. In board games and massive online universes, a social element is also important, enabling alliances and cooperation. When a game contains a distinctive style or atmosphere, it's easy for a player to immerse. A proper storyline is essential for games that are not solely based on skill. It will enable the player to identify with the hero and care for his/her progress and survival. A good story will deepen that relationship over time. For skill-based games, progression in skill is enough.

🉑 Vincent Leeuw The mention of skill is interesting. With something like Quake in the '90s, setting, story and images were removed to 'optimise' the game for tournament play. It happens a bit less these days, but I can see games like League of Legends become more abstract to facilitate skills better (comparable to how sports don't need a story).