all together now

Each episode or contained "cell" of the saga being played out has a bit of setting and a potential challenge for some or all to face.

The skill of the game is weaving these elements into a coherent, albeit sometimes ridiculous, story- both with what is presented and what came before. All the players pitch in to this end.

With old school dungeon crawls (still very popular, especially for younger players) players and DMs surrendered to the format, it wasn't such an issue that there was a room of skeletons down the hall from a room of slime. What was important was that the gaming (dice rolling and accounting) had some tension and that everything was kept fast and interesting.

With great restriction comes great possibility.