An incredible game review article

[Obryn]

So I'm guessing every single comment is based on a link to that article being posted on BoardGameGeek. I see it like a board invasion, basically.

-O

 

[Asmor]

Wow.

Ok, Pandemic is definitely not a game that a bunch of non-gamers should be trying. Non-gamers with at least one gamer to help them out? Sure. But not when they're all non-gamers.

But come on, calling Incan Gold complicated? Did they read the rules? That's like the simplest game ever made. This goes for Ticket to Ride as well, which is damn near as simple and on top of that has an absolutely awesome manual which walks through everything.

 

[Umbran]

Agreed. it is dumb. Fortunately that is not what I said.

I quote from The Rules:

2) If you really, really disagree with a moderator's position on a [moderating] issue, please don't argue about it on the boards. That means no calling out of moderators, no challenging their decisions in the thread, and certainly no attempts to go over a moderator's head....

If you want to discuss a point of moderation, take it to e-mail, please. Our addresses are all available in a post stickied to the top of the Meta Forum.

 

[mearls]

Another thing is without someone there who has played the games non gamers can have more difficulties. I know Carcassonne was considered too much by my brother and his friends until I sat down and showed them. On their own as guys that just don't play games it was not making sense to them. Having someone who knows what they are doing to show people how the game is played can make all the difference.

I think this is important. Ticket to Ride, D&D, and other geek games have a certain dimension to them that the rulebook can't get across.

For instance, Ticket to Ride could easily look like a dull game. It doesn't click until you really understand how everything works together. You have to see how the economy of cards, scoring, competition for limited routes, planning routes for optimal scoring, and the timing of the end game all combine. The rules don't really do that.

It reminds me of the time I tried teaching a few of my wife's friends how to play Settlers. They refused to do any trades, because they couldn't see how helping someone else would be good for them, even if the trade also helped them. The game turned into a long, drawn out snooze fest.

IME, the line between a "hobby game" (D&D, Eurogames) and other titles is that our games require the players to put effort into them beyond the rules. You have to invest in the world, in your character, or in finding strategies to really get the most out of them. It isn't a simple matter of complexity versus simplicity.

I wonder if their impressions would be different if they were able to watch a video tutorial of the game, with someone explaining how the game works beyond the mechanics of the rules.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Another thing is without someone there who has played the games non gamers can have more difficulties. I know Carcassonne was considered too much by my brother and his friends until I sat down and showed them. On their own as guys that just don't play games it was not making sense to them. Having someone who knows what they are doing to show people how the game is played can make all the difference.

To me, this is the fundamental problem that role playing games have. If you don't have someone who knows about them in the first place show other people, a group of five people who've never played just picking up the core three books and the first adventure and having at thee so to speak, just isn't likely to happen.

 

[Mark]

I wonder if their impressions would be different if they were able to watch a video tutorial of the game, with someone explaining how the game works beyond the mechanics of the rules.

The Days of Wonder demo DVDs are great. A gamestore would do well to have a TV and DVD player to show these to potential buyers.

Days of Wonder | Image | BoardGameGeek

 

[Crothian]

When I was trying to teach myself Agricola I found a video that was very useful and I doubt I'd have really gotten the game without it.

 

[OchreJelly]

So I'm guessing every single comment is based on a link to that article being posted on BoardGameGeek. I see it like a board invasion, basically.

-O

Yep, there's a corresponding thread there, complete with a call to arms.

 

[MerricB]

When I was trying to teach myself Agricola I found a video that was very useful and I doubt I'd have really gotten the game without it.

Can you imagine if they'd tried to review Agricola?

I'm amazed that they "got" Pandemic, actually. Yes, they didn't like it much and considered it too complicated - which, to be fair, it is for casual play - but it's a fair review.

Once they get to Incan Gold and Ticket to Ride, we wander into the worlds crossing, and I wonder if they were tired by this stage. Honestly, rules are hard, and many people don't actually have the ability to learn new things on their own. Clue? Played that in childhood - know how it goes. Ticket to Ride? Didn't play that in childhood; nothing to compare it to.

I know that my brother - a gamer all his life - had a lot of trouble learning Ticket to Ride: Europe. Admittedly, it was Christmas day and he'd had a couple of drinks, but I still found it surprising. Rules are hard!

Unfortunately they posted their review online, which meant that people all around the world could see it...

Cheers!

 

[Obryn]

Yep, there's a corresponding thread there, complete with a call to arms.

Hah. I can't get to boardgamegeek from work, but the comments bore all the hallmarks of a drive-by board invasion.

I doubt if any of those comments are actually from locals. As such, I find it pretty hard to root for them, you know? It'd be like if a group of us headed on over to a local paper's review of 4e or Pathfinder.

IMO, it should be taken as instructive. The reviewers basically said, "I really don't get this game." They're not hobbyists, and they're not experts. Their opinion means that - for people without a hobbyist friend - even the easier "geek" games are pretty tough to get into. They're a niche product, and it's hard for connoiseurs of a niche product to understand that not everyone is like themselves.

-O