Boardgames List

[InzeladunMaster]

I played Arkham Horror at GenCon a while back. I felt like I spent 3 hours looking for useful items and finding none. Meanwhile, a couple of powerful characters were busy fighting and going through portals. Near the end of the game I decided risk my life, fight my way to a gate and try to close it (I'd found a tome of some sort that would let me close it easily). I died before I got there. yay.

I can see that. I guess the atmosphere just wins for me on that game. I only played it once, but I still think about it, imagine owning it, wanting to play it again.

I can also imagine that a Con is not filled with people really interested in teaching people how to play the game. That alone would sour me on the game as well.

 

[Grimhelm]

Well, I agree with your number 2 complaint. The games you mention are like that, and it is something I have said many times. And though I was the one that taught you Powergrid, I am slightly offended to think that you thought I was giving bad advice so I would win. I gave you bad advice because sometimes I screw up! The last thing I enjoy is a total blow out against weak competitors. I like a game and players of skill that challenges my own. Anyway, I can see your complaint, but this should be a passing thing for you and not a reason to throw away consideration for the games overall enjoyability.

This has sent me off on a tangent but it fits with something I read today that Muhammad Ali said about Joe Frazier (boxers). He said, "I know I always bring out the best in men [his competitors], but Joe Frazier brought out the best in me, and god bless him for it."

This is why I love playing games. I love being challenged and then rising to that challenge. Bob can attest to the fact that I like this, otherwise I would not keep playing stupid St. Petersburg with him all the time! Anyway, we all have our reasons for playing games, but winning is not mine. I like to win, but what I like more than anything is the challenge...

 

[thormagni]

I bring this up, not to brag, but to remind folks that we've got a lot of games that are very fun that don't get played that often.

Oh, I would definitely be bragging. Cause nothing gets the ladies interested like a long, long, list of role-playing games sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Except maybe an excessive amount of knowledge of pro wrestling trivia.

I really make no bones about my long list of RPGs being a sign of my own mental quirks. For some reason, I just LIKE to accumulate game books. I realize that if I narrowed my books/boxes down to just those games that I actually play, or expect to play in the future, I could fit them on one bookshelf.

And really, that is what I have done. I have a small shelf of D&D 3.5 and Mutants and Masterminds near my desk. The rest are in the other room on their shelves.

As for board games, I thought Pandemic was a lot of fun. Things I liked - it didn't take forever to play. It had rules that were easy to grasp. It had cooperative play.

 

[Grimhelm]

Yes, Bob, you are right! I was actually thinking of Shogun the other day. I wouldn't mind giving that one a try again. Especially because I can't seem to win it!

 

[InzeladunMaster]

And though I was the one that taught you Powergrid, I am slightly offended to think that you thought I was giving bad advice so I would win.

I was really referencing Settlers of Catan with that one, not Power Grid. That one just bored me. I couldn't get into it at all, and sometimes there was simply nothing I could do to win. Complaint 1 & 2 fits with Power Grid, not 3. I felt like you did your best to help me with that one, but complaint 2 trumped the help you gave.

I do tend to think that when the teacher loses the first game to the student, then the game was well-taught. After that, the ante can be upped.

Anyway, to be 100% honest, I prefer to have you, Mark, teach me games because, as per my fencing example, I always get the impression your are more interested in building a challenging future foe than in getting the easy kill right off the bat. You make a good teacher because you don't make students feel inferior, and I, for one, appreciate that.

 

[Grimhelm]

As for board games, I thought Pandemic was a lot of fun. Things I liked - it didn't take forever to play. It had rules that were easy to grasp. It had cooperative play.

Absolutely! And, it has a theme that gamers like Vince could get into. I think it might capture his imagination and problem solving mentality. I have been thinking about the game and how it really could be used to promote team building in many facets of work and education...

 

[InzeladunMaster]

I'd be willing to try it, then.

 

[Grimhelm]

I was really referencing Settlers of Catan with that one, not Power Grid. That one just bored me. I couldn't get into it at all, and sometimes there was simply nothing I could do to win. Complaint 1 & 2 fits with Power Grid, not 3. I felt like you did your best to help me with that one, but complaint 2 trumped the help you gave.

I do tend to think that when the teacher loses the first game to the student, then the game was well-taught. After that, the ante can be upped.

Anyway, to be 100% honest, I prefer to have you, Mark, teach me games because, as per my fencing example, I always get the impression your are more interested in building a challenging future foe than in getting the easy kill right off the bat. You make a good teacher because you don't make students feel inferior, and I, for one, appreciate that.

Enough said! I wasn't that upset or anything, and I appreciate your sentiments. Let's forget it!

 

[BobProbst]

Settlers and Powergrid are both very unforgiving to new players joining an experienced group. Early mistakes will wreck any chance of competing late in the game.

The alternative is to have the experienced players "play" the newcomers early game (no fun for the newbie) or the new player can accept the imbalance and learn from the others.

 

[Fyrestryke]

Several reasons, actually.

1. They don't excite my imagination. Running energy factories is boring - flying airplanes is exciting. I can daydream about the latter, but not the former. Same thing with Ticket to Ride - the very concept is boring.

I guess the concept of a game doesn't matter much to me. I enjoy the mechanics, the socialization, and the fun.

3. I have to admit also that (especially Settlers of Catan), my bias may also have a bit to do with the way the game was taught to me - wherein I feel I was given mediocre to downright bad advice so the teacher could win. (A good game teacher should set aside his competitiveness on the first game, and give the best advice possible).

That's the way I try to teach people. I tell them exactly what I would do and why. If I lose, I lose.

I suppose I could try again if I felt I wasn't going to get my ass handed to me by vastly more experienced players who are going to use the training game to show off their impressive talent (who really shouldn't feel they have anything to prove in the first place, as I know in a real game they could easily defeat me).

Well, I ranked 9th out of 100 or so people playing Settlers "competitively" in 2006. But, it's still a work in progress. I still get my butt handed to me on a regular basis when I play online, and I still say that Bob and Mark are both better than me, I just had a good run in 2006 and I had to play very ruthlessly to accomplish that. Playing a game ruthlessly just goes against my grain...

But, I see your points. =) Also, I think you need to play any boardgame at least two or three times before you can truly appreciate or hate it. I feel you need to give anything a fair chance before you dismiss it totally.

Most anything is like that. Songs, things like that. You might not like it at first, but it "grows" on you. I hated the cartoon "Courage the Cowardly Dog" when I first saw it, but after I watched it a few times, I really like it now.

There's a point in that rambling somewhere. If you can find it, lemme know. hehe