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Stephen Keller
Canada
Calgary
Alberta
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Sometimes it's striking to me how different the games we play can be from each other. A little while ago at a weekly game group I was sitting down for an intense learning session of the worker placement game Vinhos. Wow, what a session. It took about an hour to get through the preliminary rules and then at least 2 hours to slowly stumble through our first game. To be clear, I quite enjoyed the end result and look forward to future plays but the experience was pretty taxing.
It was some point half way through this experience that a minor bit of hilarity hit me. Here we were embarking on this mind breaking quest to conquer this fairly complex game and at the table next to us was a completely different atmosphere.
"We're going to have a breakfast fight. The side with the most yummyness wins." The oddity of hearing that nearly made me burst out laughing. You see, while my table was engaged in a fairly rules-heavy and intimidating game the other table was enjoying Food Fight by Cryptozoic. My table was dealing with the ruthless competition of producing and competing of fine wines while the other table was having a battle of a different nature with the likes of Mean Burrito, Big Bad Bacon, and First Sergeant Fish Stick.
Speaking of theme alone, who's to say which game is "better". Although I've spent the majority of my gaming time on increasingly complex euro-style games with increasingly dry themes I can't deny the appeal of the lighter fare. My table was mostly quiet. You could almost hear the thinking. Looking across the room, the other table actually looked like they were having more fun. Smiles abound, laughing could be heard occasionally. These two games couldn't be more different.
There's really no deeper meaning to this post other than me voicing that games are designed for entertainment. Entertainment can be derived from a multitude of criteria. Don't judge a book by it's cover and maybe you'll find enjoyment in things that you'd otherwise turn your nose up at. I've been approaching numerous games with a different outlook recently and the rewards have been great. I would have never tried the surprisingly engaging Martian Dice, as well as many others, otherwise.
** originally posted on http://reviewswithoutpants.blogspot.com **
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