Narratives and Databases in Game of Thrones - Game Play: Paratextuality in Contemporary Board Games - page 154

rounds in this fashion, players begin to form a particular and peculiar narrative
of the Game of hrones story that may or may not follow precisely what happens
on the show, but will invoke moments or elements within the original text. In
this, the designers of the game have attempted to translate the show's story into
a linear chronology and “to build character development in the structure of the
game.” As Lancaster notes, by encouraging players to participate in the game, and
linking speciic characters to speciic actions, the designers “have attempted to
make the game a nexus between the story … and the actors' performance of this
story through a structure that allows game players to recuperate both of these
elements within an amateur performance.” 42 Success in the game is measured
by the serialized order in which a player organizes their challenges, with the
“story” being constructed out of the combination of player action and character
ability. From a database of possibilities, only one narrative can be constructed
that relects the game ending.
“here is no middle ground...”
Winning the “game of thrones” in the novel and in the television series takes
military might, economic power, intrigue abilities, and an understanding of
interpersonal and social relationships and geography. Winning A Game of
hrones: he Board Game or HBO's Game of hrones: he C ard Game hinges
on similar characteristics. For Woods the win condition of any game “acts
as a motivation to engage with the game mechanics and is a vital facet of the
circumscribed nature of contested play.” 43
Yet winning can be achieved in multiple ways, and perhaps the diference
between these two games' win conditions can be attributable to their connection
to an original text. To win A Game of hrones: he Board Game , one must
occupy seven castles and/or strongholds. here are multiple ways to achieve
this single win condition. On the game board, there are twenty diferent castles
and strongholds, which means there is a veritable database of possibilities for
winning—so many combinations of occupation that the possibilities seem
endless. his mechanic of multiple paths to victory is what Fay argues is a key
characteristic of good game play. 44 In contrast, the HBO Card Game game marks
victory through scoring “power” tokens, a condition dependent on a narrativized
sense of game play. Although one can earn power in four diferent ways—by
besting an opponent in a power challenge, by winning a challenge unopposed,