To let you all know where I am coming from..

I enjoy playing many of the Euros my gaming group has introduced me to. I find some of the games well balanced, with little in the way of randomess that might turn a game on it's heels. Many of them encourage long range planning or have multiple strategies that one can attempt during subsequent games. All of these things are what I look for and enjoy in a game.

However, like many people here I began my serious enjoyment of boardgames in the heyday of Avalon hill and SPI, playing games like Dune, Civilization, and I played many of the comsims, even though I was not the best at military strategy and usually got my butt kicked. These games had theme and conflict in them, which is something I enjoyed, but I can certainly understand why they would not be to everyone's taste. I also enjoyed some of the old games like Clue, which I think had more universal appeal.

Then of course came settlers and a the wave of Euros. I caught the settlers wave, but missed the big rise in boardgames as I bought a house and started a family and some of my best game friends moved out of town. In the last year I have met people in a local game group and have been introduced to a LOT of the games I have missed in the last 10 years. OK - enough of the Bio - it's not essential, but I think it helps to understand my POV, and to put my comments in context.



There was a time in my game group a few months ago when I played Cuba, Guatemala Café, Taj Mahal and Notre Dame (among others) within the space of 2 months (I list them in order of enjoyment BTW - Did not care much for TM and ND). As is typical for many Euros I watched the token move around the edge of the board, noting the Victory points, and I started to think about how VP's seem so abstract to me sometimes. It's hard to get excited sometimes about POINTS, especially when so many games use the idea. I could not help feel that a little GREED, a little bit of the profit motive, a little bit of COLD HARD CASH would increase my interest in the games. What is so wrong with being an unrepentant capitalist? Money is already used as a resource in many Euros, it would not take much to alter the game a little so that one gets a return on investment instead of getting VP's.



The intellectual part of me says "It's all the same thing! - it's just a way of keeping score". But the less rational part misses money as an objective in some of the games. I like holding it, I like stacking it in my playspace, I like counting it. I like watching the stack increase as a game progresses. You ever try to wave around a stack of Victory points to intimidate or lord over your opponents? It's very unsatisfying.

It does not even have to be money; Give me trophies of some kind, anything other than just POINTS on the board! If you can't do that, then give me a goal, something to strive for other than points. I think this is why Power Grid has been one of my favorite Euros so far. Money is by far the biggest, most important resource in the game, and there is a clear goal to strive for. It definitely fills in some of the things I find lacking in some other games, and gives me a sense of theme and accomplishment. Part of me says it would not take much to make some of the Eros feel more thematic and help me enjoy them a lot more.

That's what would make me enjoy some games more. Give me some money, give me a goal. I would also say give me the ability to really screw over the opposing player better, but that's a completely different topic dealing with game design..