Competition is at the heart of any game. Indeed, it’s a characteristic that often defines the very word “game,” and separates the board gaming hobby from other leisurely forms of entertainment. In some games, this is manifested in a cooperative element where players work together to beat the system. Others instill a style of competition in which you solitarily strive to better your opponents at the same task, independent of any influence from each other.
But the great
games include some form of direct interaction.
I’m going to attack you, steal from you, lie to you, block you, gang up
on you, or generally wreak havoc on your pretty, well-laid plans of building a
quiet cottage in the mountain meadows where the larks sing you to sleep in a
gently swaying hammock on a warm spring day after sipping your sweet tea with
mint.
Some people really like their sweet tea.
But, if you’re a gamer who appreciates direct interaction –
even some old-fashioned, sucker-punching spite – just how do you entice wary
casual gamers, younger children, or maybe even that hard-nosed Euro player in
your group? Well, you’ll have to ease
them into it, of course. So before you
hit them with Bang!, Cosmic Encounter, or Diplomacy, here’s a list of ten progressively
recommended titles to turn your peace-loving friend or relative into the Gordon
Ramsay of gaming!
1. The Great Dalmuti
The Skinny: This simple – and silly – card game is all
about talking smack to those beneath you!
A variation on the traditional game President played with a 52-card pack,
the point is to go out first. One player
leads a set of cards and following players must beat it or pass. To beat a play, you must have a set of lower
numbers in an equal amount. So if
someone plays four 10’s, you must play four 9’s, or 8’s, or 5’s, etc. That’s the simple. The game also has a social hierarchy. The player to go out first becomes the
Greater Dalmuti for the next round, followed by the Lesser Dalmuti, some
Merchants, and on down to the last player, the Greater Peon. The Greater Dalmuti may then make all sorts
of laws and demands upon his social lessers to chaotic effect. That’s the silly.
The Appeal: The Great Dalmuti is a good introductory
foray into the world of spite and interaction, because it’s very light and
tackles it in a party game atmosphere.
Plus, it’s familiar as a basic trick-taking game and could even be
played with a couple of regular decks of cards, ala President. Taxation is
one spiteful element in that the Dalmutis can force the Peons to trade a card
or two. As a Peon, it’s already hard
enough going last! Second, the laws are
hilariously malevolent, forcing all kinds of arbitrary mischievousness on those
unfortunately down the social ladder.
Great for all ages and social occasions – just keep those laws family
friendly when necessary!
2. Nobody But Us
Chickens
The Skinny: This is a light romp where you try to steal
your opponents’ chickens through bluffing and deduction! Each player has the same hand of cards – some
chickens worth varying points, a fox, a dog, and a rat. Everyone plays one card secretly to the “chicken
coop” and then they’re all revealed simultaneously and resolved in a rock-paper-scissors
fashion. Play your cards right and sneak off with all the fat poultry while
leaving your friends with a whole lot of nothing!
The Appeal: Nobody But Us Chickens may seem a bit chaotic,
but the interaction is purely player driven.
And being out-smarted is one of the more frustrating feelings in
gaming. This design is not terribly
spiteful, so it’s a good one with which to ease into forms of more direct
interaction. Plus, not only is it accessible to young kids, but they can
play on their own footing against
adults. And being out-smarted by a kid
as an adult can be rage inducing!
3. Gubs
The Skinny: This small, whimsical card game plays a little bit like a trading card
game. Your goal is to collect the most
of the fictional title creatures, while attempting to destroy or steal them
from your opponents. Of course, you’ll
need to protect the ones that you have from other players bent on similar
intent! Cards are either gubs, or ways
to defend, attack, or otherwise endow you with special abilities. Use them all well to earn the title Best
Entomologist. At least, I think they’re
bugs?
The Appeal: Gubs
is certainly a step up on the spite ladder with its direct attacks, but it’s
not overwhelming. This is mostly because
it’s really light and plays pretty fast, both with individual turns and the overall
game length. Interaction is appropriate in
terms of frequency. Attacks never really
seem to inundate any one game. The
opportunity to both harass others and guard your own cards is pretty balanced. Luck of the draw keeps all players on equal
footing. While it’s accessible to
younger kids, make sure they read well, as many of the cards have textual
instructions. Plus, older kids should be
more equipped to emotionally handle the growing number of carcasses piling up in
the gub cemetery!
The Skinny: This chaotic, bar-brawling simulation
radiates with charm and frivolity, despite the fact it’s about punching other
people in the teeth! Playing a character
with a unique ability, you furiously play seven cards – and only seven –
against your opponents. When everyone
has played, you count up the cards placed by each character. These represent hit points. When the total hit points match that
character's health rating, he’s knocked-out and the player who landed that
penultimate blow earns points. So you
can easily play your cards too early or too late, just leaving you gasping for
breath.
The Appeal: So 7-Card Slugfest is brutally interactive by
thematic nature. However, it has one
central element that dampens most of its abrasive contentiousness: speed. The first players to go out get first choice
on available bonus tokens that add health points to their characters. If you’re too slow, you’ll get stuck with a
penalty token, instead. So people are
laying down punches fast and furiously.
Now, there is a little logic to placing cards based on your unique
powers, but typically things are moving so fast, you get caught up in the fun
and never take things personally – even though your sister-in-law just sucker
punched you in the jaw!
5. Robo Rally
The Skinny: Another chaotic and frenzied board game –
this time you’re programming robots in a frantic, cutthroat race. Each round, you choose five movement cards
from your hand to program the direction and distance you want your bot to
travel. Then everyone reveals and
resolves their first card, then the second, and so on, so by the time you get
to your last program card, your robot could be careening off completely in the
wrong direction. The course is littered
with so many obstacles and hazards that just surviving can be a victory in
itself, let along crossing the finish line!
The Appeal: Robo Rally’s interaction is definitely sharp,
direct, and more damaging – but, like 7-Card Slugfest, it’s also funny, fast,
and random. There are some decisions in programming
your robot, but there’s also enough chaos to ram that programming down your
face. Besides the in-game obstacles,
there are three elements of player interaction.
You can bump an opponent off course – either on purpose or by accident. You can fire a laser at other robots – take
too much damage and you lose a life (you get three). But most interesting of all, the first player
to program their movement then starts a 30-second sand timer in which everyone
else has to frantically finish programming – or they just end up with random
cards! Robo Rally’s spite and
interaction is really the joy of the game and a hoot to watch unfold, even – no
especially – as laser bolts reduce
your robot to a pile of so many bolts and circuits!
The Skinny: In this well-regarded design, you collect
resources, develop your lands with them, and protect it all from various
enemies to earn the King’s favor – and victory points. To collect resources, you roll dice and match
the results to one or more advisers on the board (numbered 1 to 18) in order to
“influence” them. Advisers can aid only
one player per production phase, and each offers different things, generally
more and better swag the higher up in rank.
There are a few mechanics to help you manipulate dice placement, but
generally speaking you’re at the mercy of the little cubes – and, say it with
me, “I’m okay with that!”
The Appeal: Kingsburg is technically a worker placement
game, a design in which you use some sort of physical component to claim a
space on the board which grants you an action, ability, or resources. The majority of titles within this genre are
not heavily spiteful, but they do have one interactive aspect which can be fun
and frustrating – “blocking.” That is,
typical spaces in worker placement designs allow for only one player to
claim. Therefore, an opponent can beat
you to a spot and deny you its benefits, sometimes just because they know you need/want it! This passive/aggressive strategy is usually
calculated when employed. And while it
can be maddening, the upside is that you don’t actually lose anything. It’s not uncommon in the hobby, even in
longer, more peaceful Euro games, so you might as well get used to it – and
this is a simple, accessible design well suited to that end.
The Skinny: Rebuild revolution-torn Cuba in this abstractly themed role selection game by collecting nondescript resources to build
generic buildings. Each player has the same set of role cards and each character allows you
to collect certain resources and/or provides a special ability. Pick two each turn, but you must
discard one when finished, with only a limited ability to retrieve used roles
for later use. Some of these roles let
you mess with your opponents. Two
characters let you steal pesos or
building material. Another forces
players to discard resources.
A fourth grants the ability to trash an available building tile
that another player may want.
But turn order changes based on role selection, so those spiteful
attacks may end up earning you a whole of nothing!
The Appeal: Havana is a light, accessible,
and smooth design nearly perfect for three players. The spiteful interaction here is a nice step
up because it is sharp and direct and will set you back. However, it’s not insurmountable, nor
frequently crazy. It tends to be more
tactical in nature and can be further softened by turn order. The Tax Collector forces players after you to
discard a resource. So if no one follows
you, then part of that character’s ability is wasted. The two Thieves allow you to steal half of
the pesos or materials, respectively,
from the next player. If that individual
is broke, then you don’t get much.
However, if you’re the last player, you can pick any other person to
filch off of. Add to that a role that
offers some protection, and you have a good design to acclimate players to
spite. Plus, be glad the game doesn't
include any of Castro’s jack-booted thugs!
The Skinny: This is a humorously fantasy-themed war game
that doesn’t use dice. Instead, combat
is determined by simple math: if you have more troops than your opponent, you
win. Movement and control are still
standard in that both are area-based.
The distinctive element to Small World revolves around the unique race
you play. You’ll get to control more
than one through the course of a session; and these races change every game by
randomly pairing with a unique trait that gives them a second special ability. So if you ever wanted to be a Diplomatic
Troll, now’s your chance!
The Appeal: Small World is a stripped-down war game, so
it is confrontational by definition.
Thankfully, its simplicity makes it accessible to casual gamers and even
children, though I recommend no younger than 3rd grade. Rather than a game about eliminating your
enemies – in fact, there is no player elimination – victory is points-oriented. Your race’s attributes and unique trait will
dictate which regions you want to takeover in order to maximize points. This strategy really tempers the spite. Victory points are also hidden, so the common
“gang up on the leader” effect is rarely an issue. Plus, games last a concrete number of
rounds. So, time forces you to be
efficient, rather than personal; and peace will always be on the horizon…until you
set it up all over again!
The Skinny: This social game is all about arguing, lying
and sabotaging missions – or figuring out who’s trying. All players receive a role as either a
resistance operative or a spy. Spies
know who is who, but members of the Resistance do not. The game is a series of missions where everyone
argues about, and then votes on, who gets to go on a mission. When that’s decided, the mission team plays
cards to either pass or sabotage it.
When three missions succeed, the Resistance wins. When three fail, they lose. No matter what team you’re on, you’ll need to
bring some tall accusations and sound convincing!
The Appeal: The Resistance is a simple concept, but it’s active
interaction requires a little more player engagement. That is why it’s higher up on this list. Completely social in scope, the “game” is all
about convincing players who to vote for or not. As such, it will intrigue fans of reality
competition shows like Survivor, Big Brother, or the Bachelor. And while no one likes to be voted out, there
is no elimination in Resistance. Even if
others sort of figure out who you are, you can still participate in the game’s
wild campaigning!
The Skinny: Another card game, players try
to earn money and build the best medieval city.
The game’s heart and soul, however, is in the card drafting mechanic in
which everyone selects one of the eight roles.
Each character has a special ability; and turn order is always resolved
by role in the same order every round.
The fun part is that roles remain a secret until time for a character’s
turn. Four of these characters are a bit
seedy…and spiteful. The Assassin can
choose another role to kill off – whoever picked that character loses their
turn! The Thief can choose another
character and steal all that player’s gold.
Meanwhile, the Magician can force another player to trade hands, while the
Warlord can destroy part of another player’s city – for a cost. Not all roles
will be in play every round, so there is always some guessing.
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