My Boardgaming Obsession: A retrospective

I have a pile of games. Here's a photo of most of my collection.


So, how did this happen? When I was growing up, I had encountered the same games as most kids in the early 70's. The classics like checkers and chess; commercial games like A Game of Life, Monopoly, Clue, Stratego, Sorry, and Chopper Command; card games like Uno--you get the picture. My game playing died out a bit, in my teens, except for some poker and other games when my grandma would visit on holidays. In my early 20's, I played a bit of rummy and commercial variants like Phase 10. I loved playing cards and other games, but I wasn't exactly surrounded by like minds.

One game that was introduced to me around this time was the old Avalon Hill game Acquire. I had a group of friends who would get together at least every few weeks for a game or two of Acquire, and there was much smack talked. I was convinced that there were other games out there that I hadn't encountered that offered the same depth and ease of play of Acquire, but I didn't really know where to look. All I knew is that I loved playing board games for the competition and the relatively structured social time with friends.

Most of the games that arose in the intervening years were party games like Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary and Cranium. I loved Cranium because I love to ham it up, but I'm too shy to do it under normal circumstances. Fast forward to 2002, when I met my wife. We played a lot of Scrabble, but found that we were too evenly matched (and too competitive), such that the game would inevitably grind to a halt as there would be nowhere to put letters! So we were often found in the game aisle of big department stores, looking for something that played well with two people.

Then, one fine day, I was looking at the front page of Wikipedia, where they list the recent submissions, and there was a description of a game called Barbarossa. The link from the article took me to Boardgamegeek, which is an amazing database of thousands of board and card games. Tens of thousands of people visit the 'Geek every day, and they form a great community of mostly well-spoken personalities. Every game has its own page with its average rating on a 10 scale, and a ranking as compared with every other game. I've been addicted to the website and the hobby ever since. I never bought Barbarossa, but I have accumulated a lot of really fun games that have brought me many hours of joy.

Most of the games that I ended up purchasing are not widely available. They are referred to as designer games, Eurogames, or German-style games, and they are usually found in hobby shops, dedicated game and comic shops, or at online retailers. A full boardgame usually costs between $24-$50, which can be a bit off-putting for someone unfamiliar with these games. Gaming evangelists will usually cite the cost of going out to dinner once as opposed to playing a good game over and over.

There are a few things that make these games somewhat more desirable than the games in the aisle of Target or Toys 'R Us:

• Mystique -- They are not widely available, and this novelty itself can be attractive. "Designer" indicates that the designer's name is usually on the box lid, and hobbyists develop favorite designers.
  
• Components -- There's often a lot of love that goes into crafting these games, and it shows in the thick cardboard, wooden tokens, and creative artwork
• Strategy -vs -Luck -- An effort is usually made to minimize the randomness of the outcome, allowing player decisions to have a greater effect. Roll and move, ala Monopoly, is verboten.
  
• Simple Rules -- Non-mainstream gaming can conjure images of huge rulebooks (wargames and role-playing games). Euro rulesets are usually pretty simple, though not so simple as to be printed on the box top.
  
• Theme -- Theme is often sacrificed for streamlined gameplay...there is always a theme, such as 'gaining influence in the court of Louis XIV', but the game can usually be reduced to an abstract. This is unlike "American-style games" which are laden with situational rules exceptions to satisfy the theme.
• Game length -- Euros, optimally, last no more than 2 hours, and normally last 60-90 minutes, including setup. This is for a group who is already familiar with the game, and assuming that you're playing with an appropriate number of people. Some games have so many decisions to be made, that each additional person can add 30 minutes!

So this is why I love the designer boardgames. I should point out that I do like a number of traditional and American style games (some of which could be called "designer", as well).

Next, I'll cover basic mechanics in games so that anyone unfamiliar with these games can follow any game reviews that I post in the future.