What is the value of the story in a mobile game ?

[Shaban]

Hello Everyone,

I'm Shaban Shaame the creator of Moonga the online trading card game for iPhone http://www.moonga.com

I'm coming here to ask a question and have a gamer point of view.
For our game we work a lot on the scenario and the game background as we have a part time scenarist working on the game and I would like to know your point of view about investing on the story.

1. How do you concider the scenaristic part on a trading card game ?
2. From your point of view does it worth the effort working on the game universe or it's better to focus only on features updates ?
3. What is the best way to present the game story ? (Text in the app, short facts related to each card, story mode etc.)

Thanks you for your help !

Shaban

[Echoseven]

The best way to implement a story is not an active one (throwing pages of text at us) - although that can work, given that it relates to the gameplay closely enough. (see Gene Effect: They have briefings before each stage, but the story is interesting and supported by the gameplay of the following stage)

Personally, I really dig a great story, but I wouldn't say I'm really representative of any majority - if you do implement one, make it part of the gameplay. I know it sounds like marketing fluff, but show, don't tell the story. Ideally, it would be told through or during gameplay - think voiceovers, or mid-gameplay text.

In terms of card games, I find Magic cards manage to create a world through their flavor text - even though there's no real connection or storyline between them.

[Shaban]

Thank you Echo for your reply,

Actually like magic is a little bit hard for us to tell the story during the gameplay as the story is background is pretty deep and a "story mode" would only cover a little part of it. We are working on a story mode but I was thinking more in short term.

We worked on two example here :

Written story:
http://www.moonga.com/blog/?p=592

Images pictures (sorry in french) :
http://www.moonga.com/externalscripts/JW/

What is the most interesting in term of ingame "about"

Shaban