My 4 Favorite Types of Games

Honorable Mention--Kids' Games One of my favorite ways to interact with my children is through playing board games. Why is this only an 'honorable mention' then? For the most part these games are difficult to compare to the vast array of games I play with adults since they are primarily designed for kids. So, though I may enjoy playing some of our kids games just as much as the other games in my collection, it is very difficult to rate them on the same scale.

Not only do we own a decent handful of good kids' games, but Abby is old enough now that I can play many lighter adult strategy games with her as well. If we only have time for a short game I'd probably reach for Cheese Snatching, a cute little push your luck game by Haba. If the whole family wants to play, either Suitcase Detectives or Chicken Cha Cha Cha would probably fit the bill. If it's just Abby and I and we have a little time to spend, I'd probably go for Carcassonne, which we both love and that title even scratches that strategy game itch.

4. Heavy Strategy Games Games in this category often have complicated rules, many difficult decisions, and take several plays to really get a firm grasp of the rules and a feel for some of the strategies involved. Though I admire the designs of all the heavy strategy games I own, they have been somewhat hit or miss as far as my enjoyment goes. I love Puerto Rico, Agricola, and Race for the Galaxy (RftG), but thus far games like El Grande and Caylus just haven't clicked for me.

Heavy strategy games tend to rely very little on luck so all the hard work and tough decisions that one makes along the way tend to culminate in an appropriate outcome--if you've played the best game, you are almost certain to win. Strategy games in general tend to function best with a small number of players, tending to play best with 2-4 participants (a number that does not function well for party games in general). There is a lot of work to be done in these games, but a good job is very well rewarded with victory and satisfaction. With the right group of players who have all played the game a number of times and each of whom is thinking independently and pursuing diverging strategies, these types of games have no equal.

There are a number of potential downsides to heavy strategy games, however.

1. Many people don't want to have to think that much about a board game, especially if they are playing one to relax after having to think all day at work, and therefore it can be difficult to find people who will willingly play them!
   
2. They feature very steep learning curves. The rules are often somewhat difficult to understand, and even once you have a grasp on the basic idea of how to play you still have little to no idea how to form an effective strategy. A couple of experienced players teaching one of these games to newbies will have a huge advantage, and it will generally take many plays before the playing field is somewhat level.
3. Heavy strategy games are all about making many tough decisions and thus players must spend most of their time and energy during the game thinking. This tends to make for fairly quiet gaming experiences. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, of course, but often it is nice to have a more lively gaming experience.
4. If you have a large group of people on hand you just can't play one of these games.
5. Heavy strategy games tend to take a fairly long time to play, especially with a larger number of players and/or a number of new players. Agricola, for instance, plays in about half an hour per player--that's 2 1/2 hours for a five player game, plus time for rules explanation if it's anyone's first play. While I have no problem with this, it can be a hurdle to getting other people on board.
   

3. Party Games These are essentially the opposite of heavy strategy games in almost every way, yet I like them just as much! My favorites (as described in my previous post) include Time's Up: Title Recall, Ca$h'n Gun$, Say Anything, and Wits & Wagers. Two that have potential but for which I harbor some reservations are Dixit and Cluzzle.

Party games have a lot going for them. They tend to be very highly interactive, easy to teach, generally accommodate large groups (at least 6-8 players), and tend to favor creativity or lighthearted fun over difficult decisions.

On the flip side, party games have a weaker connection between making good decisions and victory--quite often the victory conditions are just a guide to maximizing the fun factor along the way. If you're looking for a game that will challenge you at every turn and will culminate with a victory if you've had the best strategy or made the best decisions over the course of play, you should avoid party games! Also, the flip side of the 'accommodating large groups' feature is that party games simply don't work with two players and are not optimal for small groups of three or four.


2. Light Strategy Games These are much like the heavy strategy games above, but tend to be somewhat more dependent on luck, easier to learn, have simpler strategies, and play in much less time. My favorites in this category are Carcassonne and Dominion, though I also enjoy a host of others including Metropolys, Wasabi!, and Settlers of Catan.

Light strategy games are a good middle ground between heavy strategy and party games. They are much more accessible than the former, and still have more strategic elements than the latter. New players have a better shot at winning than they would with heavier games, and really have the opportunity to have more fun with them almost immediately. These also tend to play in much shorter amounts of time than their heavier equivalents, so it may be possible to play two or three games in the same session as opposed to one.

1. Cooperative Games Though I really only own two games in this category (Pandemic and Ghost Stories), they are amongst my favorite games, and I do intend to add more to my collection in the near future.

Coops place much less pressure on new players than competitive strategy games since they don't force each participant to make all their own decisions and come up with their own strategy independently of the other players. It is also less important to give a complete explanation of the game before play, because there is no harm in teaching some of the rules as the game is played. This being said, Pandemic and Ghost Stories are both very challenging games that demand much thought for players to be victorious over the game, the pressure is simply off individual players to be fully responsible for the entire strategy.

These games succeed when they throw down the gauntlet and players have to brainstorm together to come up with creative ways to combine their abilities and game options to be able to deal with the situation on the board. These lively debates are the real core of the game, and it is possible for the session to suffer if a couple of the players just aren't into it. Also, some gamers might just not get the point of playing a game when there is no winner crowned in the end. For me, there is a place for each of these types of games, but most recently the majority of my favorite gaming experiences have been with cooperative ones, and thus they make the top of the list.

Anyone find it odd that my last post made a big deal about only being able to come up with lists of four, but I follow it immediately with a list of five? Lame.

My Top 4 Party Games

So I've been thinking of writing a series of 'top 10' posts, with the only catch being that I don't own or play enough games to be able to come up with a list of 10 for any particular category. Until I can remedy that minor detail, I'm thinking some lists of four might just do the trick (perhaps this means I'm currently operating at 40% of board game capacity?)


For My First List...Party Games!

I would classify most of the games I play and enjoy into two distinct categories: strategy games and party games. Some examples of popular games that would fit this mold: Strategy--Monopoly, Risk; Party--Cranium, Balderdash. Though I've felt in recent years that I lean heavily in favor of the strategy end of the gaming spectrum, recently I've been engaged by a handful of stand out party games. In no particular order:

• Wits & Wagers The trivia game with a twist--you don't actually need to know any trivia to either win or have a great time! In Wits & Wagers you don't receive points by giving the correct answer, but rather by wagering poker chips on the answer you think is closest to the correct one. The game is quick, light, and a lot of fun. It can handle up to 7 individual players but also works well with teams so pretty much any number can join in the fun.
• Ca$h'n Gun$ Right out of the box this game seems like it must be a blast to play--it comes loaded with six orange foam pistols. Each player takes on the role of a gangster and takes turns pointing their weapons at each other attempting to be one of the last one standing and thus earning a share of the loot. Everyone who survives eight rounds of mayhem counts up their total haul and the richest player wins! I was lukewarm on this one at first, but now that we've started playing with the more advanced rules (each gangster gets a super power: a secret special ability that will influence who they shoot and how they act) that add a much needed layer of intrigue to the game.
• Say Anything If you've ever played Apples to Apples, this is somewhat similar but far more interesting. Players take turns drawing a card and reading one of the six questions listed, such as "In my opinion...If I could have a "BIG" anything, what would it be?" Each other player quickly writes an answer to that question, aiming to appeal to the active player's personality in such a way that their answer will be chosen. Players receive points if their answer is the one picked as the best, but there is also a betting mechanism that rewards players for being able to judge which of the given answers will be chosen. Like Ca$h'n Gun$, Say Anything is a game that needs to be played in a very lighthearted manner--it's important not to agonize too much over your answers, just write down the first thing that pops into your head and go with it, no matter how crazy (or dirty...as the case usually is!)
• Time's Up: Title Recall My favorite game of the bunch, this one is an amazing experience. Somewhat of a combination of Taboo and Charades, Time's Up forces players to communicate with their partners as the rules for what you are allowed to say and do change each round, moving from being able to say anything except the words on your card as hints, to the final round where no verbal clues are allowed at all. As the rules get more restrictive, players have to find more creative ways to hint at the answers on their cards. An amusing misleading clue in an early round can morph into a very useful hint in later rounds--and hilarity almost always ensues! Time's Up is one of the most interactive and creative game experiences I've ever had, and it is always fun to play. The only downside to this game is that younger players who don't have a large knowledge pool may have a tough time playing, as will anyone who is very reserved and isn't willing to get a little crazy or creative to get their message across.

When the Mrs. Goes Away: RftG, Party Games, BSW

Race for the Galaxy (Thursday)

I taught David the game on Thursday, and it occurred to me that I'm really not very good at game explanation! I felt like I chose a very poor route to describing the game and realize now that I need to start coming up with a game plan before teaching any game. Luckily, David knows his board games and was able to stumble through the weak explanation and manage to learn the game well enough to beat me despite this being perhaps my 7th or 8th play to his 1st...

This experience also makes me wonder if I may let my guard down when teaching games. David also beat me in our first game of Agricola, though I suppose that was his second game overall, just his first in a year or two.

Race for the Galaxy is a space themed card game that uses similar mechanics to the legendary Puerto Rico board game--namely, that each player chooses a particular role at the start of the turn to determine which actual game phases occur that turn. For instance, if no one chooses the 'Settle' card, then the Settle phase doesn't happen this turn, and no one will have the chance to settle a new world.

Race involves lots of strategy, but is fairly quick playing. The cards are marked with a system of icons that take a little time getting used to, and the game explanation is a bit lengthy, but thus far I've been very impressed with the game and would love to start playing it more often.

Party Games (Friday)

We had a five person group over for more light-hearted games on Friday night. The glaring omission here would be Time's Up, which we still haven't managed to get to the table in 2010, though we love it so! The fact we had an odd number of players dissuaded us here, though there is a five player variant in the rules that we will have to try sometime.

• Ca$h'N Gun$ People do seem to enjoy this one, though we have still only played with the basic rules which really do not interest me very much. Certainly next time we play we'll have to move up to one of the more advanced variants, either the one with the specialized player powers or the 'one of us is a cop' version.
• Dixit I have enjoyed this game every time I've played it, but I'm still not fully sold. Dixit is creative, which I like, but it seems a little too subdued to be considered a party game. Not sure what niche it will ultimately fill, but I hope it does find a place because there is some potential here. Currently, however, I would reach for Time's Up, Say Anything, or Wits & Wagers before Dixit.
• Dancing Eggs The kids' game that works better for grown ups made an appearance at the end of the night because it is just so simple to explain and quick to play. I even won this one because Sarah wasn't present and she always wins! The game is fun enough that I won't turn it down when people want to play it, but I certainly wouldn't suggest it myself...

Carcassonne (on BrettSpielWelt, Tuesday)

I've been playing a lot of Carcassonne lately, both in person with Abby and online with the likes of Ben, Trevor, and Tom. This session was with Ben and we played two games, each of us winning one of them. I really like the idea of playing this one online, but unfortunately it is hampered by the inability of players to look at their next tile during the downtime when other players are taking their turns. In face to face Carc this really helps the game move along at a brisk pace since you can plan most of your strategy between turns.

Pandemic (on BrettSpielWelt, Wednesday)

We've hit a bit of a rough patch with Pandemic as of late, probably because we haven't been playing it much recently. This time we played on Legendary difficulty (7 epidemics), players were Tom (Dispatcher), Trevor (Containment Specialist), and myself (Researcher). We were doing a pretty good job at keeping the diseases down, I dished cards to others to get the cures and we were able to construct several research stations. In the end we were two turns from victory when back to back epidemics hit and the second one landed in a city with a cube already in it next to a 3-cube city. Red ended with -15 cubes and we had probably 15 outbreaks as well...

Well, that just about does it for my week of gaming: 7 straight days of board games that helped me pass the time until my love returned from Las Vegas. Not mentioned were a number of games I played with the kids including Yahtzee, Heroscape, and Carcassonne: the Castle, all of which we enjoyed immensely. Here's to many more games in 2010!

Sizing Up My Collection: The Rest

The only games in my collection left to cover are the odds and ends: filler, party, and abstract games.

Party Games

Wits & Wagers
16 plays
8/10

This is a great game that works well with almost any group of people. There is a little strategy, but mostly it is a light party game and a lot of fun.

Say Anything
8 plays
7/10

Say Anything uses a few of the same mechanics as Wits & Wagers but comes across as a completely different game, almost a half-way point between Wits and Apples to Apples. Whereas Wits & Wagers forces quick play through its timer, Say Anything can drag a little if players aren't really getting it. The game definitely needs to be played quickly and not too seriously to be fun.

These two games have certainly convinced me that party games are a good idea, and I can see owning several more, though perhaps not in the near future.

Filler Games

For Sale
6 plays
7/10

Really my only filler (unless you count Dominion, which is close), For Sale features interesting decisions in a light, quick-playing auction game. The Mrs. doesn't like it, so perhaps it won't be useful as a filler after all. I wonder, though, if she would like any filler, or if they're just too light for her.

Abstract Games

Blokus
6 plays
7/10

I like Blokus enough, but I have yet to play it 4-player where it is supposed to be very good. Still good with 2, but since neither the Mrs. or I are that into abstracts, it rarely gets played. I suspect that I may grow to enjoy it more, but I'll need many more plays and the right group of people.

Well, that does it for my designer board game collection. In the coming days I'll most likely think about these games a little more and put together an updated board game wish list.

Sizing Up My Collection: Light Strategy
Sizing Up My Collection: Heavy Strategy

Developing My Board Game Progression Chart

As you've probably gathered by now I've been playing lots of games recently, in particular lots of party games. All of these recent sessions have been fun, but I've begun to notice that there has too often been something missing.

I've known all along that my gaming preference is for strategy board games. Looking back on my childhood my favorites were Stratego, Risk, Monopoly, and Clue. Not always the most exciting titles, especially by today's standards, but certainly strategy games. I've never been opposed to other types of games, but when I say I want to play a board game I'm not talking trivia, party, or word game, I'm talking STRATEGY! Those other types of games are fun (usually...) activities, but generally if I'm not getting strategy I'm not getting my fix.

A Separate Category?

In fact, I would take the 'fun activity' label a step further and lump those other types of games in with other fun group activities much more readily than I would with strategy board games. So... We could play Scrabble, disc golf, Trivial Pursuit, Say Anything, Wii sports, go out for karaoke, or go bowling. On the other hand we could play Settlers of Catan or Puerto Rico. I'd probably enjoy anything in the first group, but if I really want to play a board game (and I almost always do!) the second group is the one I would choose.

What I've realized more recently is that the situation isn't really as static as I made it out in the example above. As far as board games go, instead of lumping everything into two categories, I could probably come up with a whole progression of games starting with those farthest from my ideal game (but still lots of fun in their own way) all the way to my perfect gaming experience. I've really started thinking in this way because of these recent gaming sessions that have been very light on strategy games. I've begun to notice that even when adding a game like For Sale (light 'filler' strategy game) or Pandemic (cooperative strategy game) to a game night along with party games, I still don't feel like I've scratched that board game itch.

I'll try to lay out a basic list here, although much more thought and many more plays will be needed for fine-tuning. Games will be listed from most like a fun activity at the top (group #1) to closest to my ideal strategy board game at the bottom (group #5). All games on the same line are at a similar level.

My Board Game Progression Chart

(fun activity)

1. Say Anything, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble (#1, almost any trivia, word or party game)
2. Wits and Wagers, Sorry Sliders (#2, party, dexterity, with slightly more strategy than above)
3. Blokus, For Sale, Metropolys, Clue (#3, abstract or light strategy)
   
4. Dominion, Alhambra, Pandemic (#4, cooperative, light strategy)
   
5. El Grande, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Fury of Dracula, Puerto Rico (#5, heavier strategy, strategy with high levels of interaction and/or theme)

(ideal strategy board game)


Some comments:

• The number of rows I chose for my list is somewhat arbitrary. I could have condensed this to three groups of games and probably still made my point, but I felt that five groups would be much more accurate. Given enough time and thought I could probably rank every one of my games along this progression, each with its own unique position, but that isn't necessary for my purposes here.
• Just because a game is higher on the list doesn't mean that I like it less than the games on the bottom. In fact, I like Wits & Wagers just as much (if not more) than many of the games lower on the list. The reason this chart is necessary is because simply playing games based on how much I like them isn't enough to get the most out of a game session.
• As you can see by the group description I list in parentheses, I feel that weight is an important consideration here in many cases. Thus Dominion, one of my favorite games, falls into group #4 instead of #5 because it is simply too much lighter than the games in that group.
• I suspect that Pandemic doesn't make it into #5 because it is both cooperative and fairly light. Perhaps a heavier coop like Arkham Horror would make it, but I don't know.
• I don't know if my ideal game night would include only games from #5, or if some amount of balance between groups would make for a more fulfilling session.
  

What exactly does this chart tell me?

If a game night is featuring mostly party games, I will do my best to fit in one of the games from group #5. Two weekends ago when we were playing with Emily and Scott, I should have pushed to play El Grande rather than Pandemic. The latter would probably be best during a session including other fairly substantial strategy games, rather than in the midst of party games as it was that evening. That same weekend when we played with Chris and Lucy, the games were For Sale, Pandemic, and Say Anything. Though this might have been a slightly better mix, the group #4 Pandemic wasn't enough to make it a great board game session.

This chart gives me a guideline for planning a game night and for packing games for a trip or vacation. One of my next posts will be my thoughts for which games to bring to Vermont with us this weekend, and I will certainly consider my games progression list in that process.

Thinking about games in this way presents another useful way of deciding which games to buy next. Already I think about types of games I'll enjoy, accessible themes and simple games to attract new players to the hobby, games best with different numbers of players, and game categories in which my collection is lacking. In the future, my collection's balance in regards to my board game progression chart will be another important consideration.

Too Many Puppies

We have a cute little book about a girl with a dog who has a litter of puppies. The puppies are adorable and cuddly and the girl's mom shouldn't make her give away the puppies! She is going to keep all the puppies.

But then the puppies start to get bigger, more rambunctious, and more trouble than they're worth. They take up all the girl's time and space. Puppies are a hassle! Perhaps she should give away all the puppies.

I am that girl. Except I don't have too many puppies. I have too many party games. They are taking over my life. It seems they are forever spread out upon the table demanding attention. My poor strategy board game collection sits there: sad, lonely, and ignored upon my game shelf.

Dominion takes it pretty well, being young himself. He sits there looking dejected, not making a sound.

El Grande is a little tougher and is used to standing up for himself (after all he is old enough to have a decennial edition, and he's an award winner), so he puffs up his chest and tries a demand: "Play me!"

"SILENCE!" Shrieks Wits and Wagers. "Do you think we care about you? You could be on Ebay in 10 seconds flat!" El Grande whimpers and backs down. The rest of the games simply cower silently in the corner.

Somebody help. I have too many party games.