I just watched this YouTube video about Genre and the Adventure Game. I enjoyed it but the whole thing and think it’s worth a watch, but also understand it’s 25 minutes long. It got me thinking about classifications, especially around the TTRPG space. It covers a lot of
“genre’s not what’s in the book
it’s how you read the book” at time stamp: 22:45. I think is a really useful lens. It’s from this premise I want to start. Knowing the genre/classification helps me understand what is expected and helps me enjoy the game more than if I went in not knowing what to expect, or even worse having different expectations than what was delivered.
If you want to talk about the validity or usefulness of classifications in general or this specific classification please go somewhere else.
If you want play the “What about [x], is this a sandwhich” game (“what about this game? does it fit your definition of …”) please go somewhere else.
I want to talk about some of the words/classifications/terms/categories/genres that get used to group multiple games together. I want to try and help define them in the ways “Roguelike” games are defined. There are many factors, some higher value than others, the absence of one factor does not invalidate it from being part of the category but when there is enough of them, it then can be called Roguelike.
There are many terms we use: Storygame, Trad game, Narrative game, Indie game, Trandindle, OSR, PbtA, FitD, etc.
I’m going to start with Storygame. For me:
High value factors
- The rules and mechanisms are what the game is about.
- Mechanisms determine a characters impact, not necessarily success.
- The players are often presented with choices where the “best” choice for the player/story, is not a “good” choice for the character, especially when thinking about the “survival” of the character.
Low value factors
- Players have responsibilities and contributions more than just their one character.
- The game is designed to play as a one shot or low number of sessions.
- The overall number of rules is small.
Right now that’s what I think of. Your interpretation might be different, I’d love to see it! Or if you want to grab a different term, like one of the ones listed or another term entirely, go for it!