Remembering Your First Play Of A Favorite

Celebrating a new game order by making it rain packing peanuts!

I wouldn't describe myself as being a member of the Cult of the New, a notorious title for people who like to play only the latest and greatest games.  In fact, I've only played 9 games that were released this year and am still catching up on last year's Essen catalog.  However, I cherish the experience of playing a game for the first time (regardless of when it came out).  There's something about exploring the possibilities in a new game and marveling at an elegant design.  Maybe it's the excitement that comes with discovering a new mechanic, seeing a clever twist on your favorite formula, or immersing yourself in a new setting.  Whatever it is, first plays are certainly memorable and after dozens or hundreds of plays chances are you'll still remember that first time.  Don't get me wrong, I still love to explore the depth that comes with repeated plays but that first play is special.

News Bits: 12/16/2013

Another week, and here's the NEWS:

Hanabi Extra released in Germany [Link] Bigger cards (Dixit size) and card racks. This is the kind of Hanabi Deluxe I'd be willing to shell out for. I'm not sure it's coming to the US, though.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (a review of Bruges)

Lots of things are going wrong in the town of Bruges. Money is tight, even the king and queen are hiring their services out to wealthy merchants, and threats of plague, flooding, fire, and raid loom on the horizon.

There's no better time to be an entrepreneurial mover-and-shaker in Bruges. Now's your chance to build canals, bolster your reputation, and erect houses for your helpers, all while flaunting what little wealth you've got in a bid for prestige.

Take This Job and Place It (A Guide to Worker Placement)

A lot of people dream about being their own boss.  No taking orders from anyone.  Work at your own pace.  Keep all the money.  Problem is most of us are the grunts, performing the day-to-day routines that keep the world running.  Meanwhile, the one who gives the orders garners all the attention.  If you’re one of the multitude who thinks they can manage people smarter, faster, and more productively, then our next game mechanic analysis gives you the chance to prove it.

No really, ALL the Creatures (A Review of Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small)

[Ed. Note: We'd like to welcome our newest reviewer to the team, whom will will refer to only by the mysterious name of "Andrew."  Starting off with this review of Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small, you're going to see a lot more of this guy around here.  We're excited to have him and excited that we keep growing so we can put out more of the highest quality reviews on the interwebnets!]

The concept of a farming simulation may seem incredibly boring on first consideration. But as anyone that has played or watched a game in the Harvest Moon series can attest to there is a certain charm that turns menial chores into addictive game play. I think part of what makes it work is the intuitive nature of a simple farming simulation. Everyone has a pretty good idea of what needs to be done around a farm to keep things running: grow some crops, manage some animals, clear out some space to expand for your growing family. It’s also fun to build something from the ground up and such a simulation literally lets you watch the fruits of your labor grow and multiply. As long as you keep things simple you’ve got a winning formula in an unexpected place.

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss (a review of Stone Age)

The game set up for four players

Dice are most of the time anathema to Euro gamers. The numbered cubes are seen as the center of luck-driven games. Almost all of us have a tale to tell of knocking on the door of Irkutsk with a giant army only to be fended off by a few lucky rolls.

So it's with fear and trepidation that I approach a Euro game that integrates a heavy dice element. Such, for example, was how I approached Stone Age. Was my fear merited? Check out my review below!

I (Don't) See My Friends (a review of Friday)

It's not often on iSlaytheDragon that we review games solo. After all, our shtick is nemesis reviews. Basically, solo reviews happen when one of us goes on vacation or when the other one has a baby (or, more appropriately, his wife does). But today's solo review is a result neither of sun nor son. Rather, the game itself dictates the review style: Friday is a solo deck-building game. So how does it stack up? Read on, intrepid adventurer!

My Year in Games

Apparently I played a lot of 7 Wonders this year...

I'm something of an archivist and always have been. I enjoy documenting and tracking both collections and the things I do. For several years I've kept a logbook of every book I've read throughout the year. Around April 2011, I began tracking my board game plays on Board Game Geek. Since that time, here are my "nickels and dimes," games I've played 5+ and 10+ times:

FDQ: What Is Player Interaction?

In recent twitter activity, the question came up as to what exactly player interaction is.

I've noticed that with certain games, some will praise it for subtle interaction while others will disdain it for being essentially "multiplayer solitaire." Aside from the fact that solitaire does actually have a two-player variant, how can one game be thought of so differently?

Okay don't answer that. That's not today's FDQ. Today's actual FDQ is, how do you define player interaction?

@Futurewolfie answers:
Honestly, to me player interaction comes in all different forms. It can be direct and impactful, or very very subtle. I think anytime the other players can do anything that affects the game for other players, that counts as player interaction. Regardless of how subtle it is, it forces players to keep at least some tabs on each other and react accordingly—and that's a form of interaction.

Case in point here is Dominion, which is sometimes called a "multiplayer solitaire" game. However, I disagree with this notion. Sure, you build your own deck and most of what goes into it is completely up to you. Other players have little chance of affecting your hand once your turn has started. However, attack cards aside, the central supply keeps all players connected. Sure, you could build a perfect deck and then buy up all the points if you were playing on your own. But the challenge comes from having to do it faster than the other players. Each time a player takes a province, not only does it push the game that much closer to ending, but it prevents any other player from getting that province, quickly dwindling the supply. Thusly players have to keep tabs on each other to make sure they don't wait too long. They have to react to the things other players are doing. And that's interaction.

If Dominion was, say, a turn-limited game, it would be much more solitary. Then you would simply attempt to build your deck in a specified amount of turns, regardless of what the other players were doing. I think there's a huge different there.

@FarmerLenny's answer:
I think player interaction is anything another player can do that forces you to change your plan. What typically passes for player interaction is conflict, where players are allowed to directly influence a player of their choice (an attack). I think there are other forms, too. For example, there is competition over choosing an action or role as in Agricola or Puerto Rico. There's the interaction of trying to read what your opponent will do as in Race for the Galaxy (though, admittedly, this game can be played without much interaction at all). There's the interaction of monitoring a common supply and trying to determine what your opponents are up to as in Dominion (granted, this game can be played without much interaction as well, especially if your goal is the baseline silver gambit). I don't think there's an ideal level of player interaction for any game (though there must be some; otherwise, what's the point of finding other players at all?); it's up to individual players. For me, I prefer games that avoid direct conflict and love games that find other ways for players to interact. My three favorite games—El Grande, Dominion, and Acquire—all cause interesting player interactions without direct attack. (Okay, there's some in El Grande. For some reason that game gets a pass.)

NaGaDeMon Update #1: Prognosticators, the Spark

I mentioned in my last National Game Design Month post that I would be working on a game codenamed "Prognosticators" during the month of November. Here's what the game is about.

I don't know if any of you remember last year's World Cup. No, not the actual soccer matches. What caught my attention was the curious bit about Paul the Octopus, who accurately predicted the outcome of Germany's matches in the 2010 World Cup as well as the final. Paul, regrettably, died later in the year, before he could predict for 2011 March Madness.

Friday Question: What Game Is the Tensest?

Games are meant to be a medium for fun social get-togethers with friends, family, and sometimes even strangers.  Still, every once in a while you run into that game that causes a lot of tension between players, whether it be from savage player interactions, intense and complex rules, or sometimes just poorly-worded or unplaytested games.  Some games just end up causing more trouble than fun. Which leads to today's question: Which game causes the most tension? And if you'd like to take it in another direction, which game causes the most good tension, the kind of situations that keep you on the edge of your seat?

@Futurewolfie answers:
I've found that most bad tension comes from arguing over poorly-worded rules, whether something is worded confusingly or not explained completely, or in some cases because something is just missing.  I've also experienced some tension when a game becomes imbalanced, leaving someone out of the fun.  I'm looking at you, MUNCHKIN.  As a note, I enjoy Munchkin but sometimes the luck of the draw, especially when combined with inexperience, results in one of the players not having enough power to do anything useful.

Arkham Horror, being the epic desperate-fight-against-evil that it is, brings on the tension in a good way - that's part of what makes the game fun.  Last Night On Earth is also a fun-high-tension game, especially when you're down to the last item you need to escape but the zombies are flooding in...  And some games, such as Incan Gold, thrive entirely on the tension of "should I stay or should I go now."

@FarmerLenny answers:
The game that has probably caused the most fights in my life is, surprisingly, the Christian collectible card game Redemption. Redemption was meant to be a nicer, less demonic version of Magic: The Gathering. It succeeded in being less fun, but it wasn't a good alternative. The rules were poorly written, and the wording of the special text on the cards was not streamlined, so we were never quite sure what some cards did. If I played the card, I wanted the definition that was best for me and worst for my opponent. Of course, even in the same game, if my opponent played that card, I argued for its being much weaker. We were playing with cards that depicted the fruits of the Spirit, but these were not exactly exhibited among the players during gameplay. This is why the Star Wars CCG saved my junior high and high school friendships.

As far as good tension is concerned, I'd say the winner here is either Pandemic or The Resistance. Both games succeed in making the players feel on edge the entire game. I love both games for the atmosphere they create, though sometimes you need a break afterward. (Agricola does a good job at creating tension, too--how will I feed my family?! That's probably third on the good-tension list.)

Gaming Gestalt

This is one of my favorite games--but what an
unappealing package!

I appreciated this post by John Garcia on telling newbies about hobby board games. He says that sometimes it's hard for new players to grasp the fun of a game just hearing what it's about. "So...you settle an island? Why would you want to collect resources? Who cares if you have the longest road?" He suggests just jumping in—that many times a game is greater than its explanation or what's contained in the box.

I find this is true for the most part. If a game has an unappealing package (El Grande); an unappealing (Pandemic), boring-sounding (Agricola), or abstract (Carcassonne) theme; or an appearance of complexity (Dominion), it doesn't matter how awesome the game is, it's much harder to get uninitiated players to try it. And the bigger the box, paired with these frightening traits, the less likely a person is to be willing to play the game. Ugly art and a big box tells non-geeks that they are about to enter a stifling realm of B.O. and arcana—more components, more to keep track of, greater chance of immersion, less chance of coming up for air. Best to come up with an excuse why you need to leave and cut your losses.