Very broadly - the narrativist trend has crept in only a little in the '90s, a lot of the trend being more talk than walk (ie the White Wolf games, which are solidly narrativist games (with badly designed rules at that) that talk up barely existent narrativist credentials a lot). The great late-80s/early 90s trend was what I call genre simulationist games, of which Call of Cthulhu is a great example - simulationist games that simulate not reality, but the rules of a genre of fiction. Pendragon is a another terrific one.
I think the difference between genre simulationist and narrativist is that in a genre simulationist game your characters role in the story is pretty much defined within a narrow range of choices. In a narrativist game, working out your characters role in the story is much more the point of the game.
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Date: 2005-03-13 11:17 pm (UTC)I think the difference between genre simulationist and narrativist is that in a genre simulationist game your characters role in the story is pretty much defined within a narrow range of choices. In a narrativist game, working out your characters role in the story is much more the point of the game.