Reflection on Board Games as Poetry (Patreon)

Occasionally I've remarked that board games are similar to poetry in the way TTRPGs are similar to prose. I'm still not confident in this claim, and I don't think it's universally applicable. I would even say that most people's instincts go the other way, and would assume the opposite. But I want to lay out my claim here. Perhaps on my Medium I'll give some examples and do a whole proper article about it. For now, here's the claim without evidence. 

When I say TTRPGs are like prose, what I mean to emphasize is that there is a fictional object at the core of it all, and the primary goal of my writing is to communicate this fictional object to you as the reader. A novel in prose seeks to convey its plot and characters and world to you, and a TTRPG similarly seeks to give you the tools you need to be present in its world. In both cases I may choose to be poetic, but if the poetry "gets in the way" of the fiction being presented, it is broadly considered to be a misstep.

When I say board games are like poetry, what I mean to emphasize is that the narrative (that "fictional thing") is completely subservient to the holistic experience of the object itself. A board game, much like a poem, presents an experience to you — which you may choose to relate to yourself, take issue with its framing, or just experience and allow to pass through you. A poem has no obligation to be clear, just as a board game has no obligation to make explicit the connection between narrative and play.

Historically, board games and poems were also both rigorously metered art objects, with strict verse-structures and models of correct vs. incorrect construction. There has been a century of artistic expression and elaboration around the nature of poems allowing them to break free from this confine. Board games have not had this same artistic revolution, and in fact have labored tremendously under the expectations of a capitalist market.

How would they be different if this wasn't the case?