I spent some time digging through my things and came across a great game I own. It’s called Settlers of Catan and even though it is very simple, it draws me in every time I play it. Thinking about the idea behind what is going on in the game got me thinking about an interesting writing prompt.
Take your favorite board game and study the premise and rules. Ponder it for a day or two. When you’ve given it a fair bit of thought, write a story that centers around the situation of the game. Make the elements of that game vital to the story, but not obvious as to where you got the idea.
With Catan, for example, I would have to focus my premise around a series of small communities struggling to grow on a small island. Each has different ideals, so often work against one another, but do trade at times among themselves and with other islands. They are all plagued by robbers who have been sneaking off with resources. There’s a lot to work with there.
Try to avoid games that have a very obvious story already attached to them, IE: Clue and similar games. It should be something that is more abstract or that doesn’t offer a clear story, just a setting and basic situation. Have fun with it and let me know if you have something you’d like to share!
