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Fragile: Not the Same As "Broken"

Posted by Mark Jackson

01 Mar 2011

Mark Jackson

(gamemark)

United States
Fresno
California

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Let's get this clear... a "broken" game is one that, played by the rules as written, does NOT WORK as a game. It locks up, it spirals needlessly until the players long to run from the table, it creates situations that keep the game from reaching the conclusion intended.

"Broken" is not "inadequate development", either - while I will never play Vox Populi again (due to woefully bad playtesting/tuning of the action cards), that doesn't mean the game is unplayable - it's just unbelievably irritating to play. (I feel the same way about the end game of Krieg und Frieden.)

So, with those two things out of the way, the question remains: what is a "fragile" game?

Since it's my blog, we'll go with my personal definition:

A fragile game is one that is highly susceptible to newbie and/or substandard play.

And with that description, I realize that my personal frustration with fragile games is in inverse proportion to their length and in direct proportion to their gamerly qualities.

4 Comments

Tue Mar 1, 2011 8:30 pm

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(markgravitygood)

United States
Norwood
Massachusetts

Based on recent sentiment, it appears that "Puerto Rico" would qualify.

Posted Tue Mar 1, 2011 8:52 pm
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David Bush

(twixter)

United States
Lexington
Virginia

Twixt suffers from this. "Once you lose the first battle there is no way to get back into the game." Start a new front! You don't have to link to your previous peg! ||sigh|| At least, with just two players, there's no kingmaking problem. There's no king!

Posted Tue Mar 1, 2011 10:21 pm
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Dave Dubin

(ddubin)

United States
Champaign
Illinois

I've been in Puerto Rico games where Player B lost his temper because of Player C's suboptimal move. But personally, I don't see that as something wrong with the game: the problem is with Player B.

On the other hand, there are games like Darkover and US Patent Number 1, where if players aren't familiar with the end game, and don't realize how to prepare for it, the game just will not conclude until everyone gives up in frustration.

Edited Tue Mar 1, 2011 10:43 pm
Posted Tue Mar 1, 2011 10:42 pm
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Todd Redden

(tmredden)

United States
Manchester
Connecticut

"Don't pray in my school, I won't think in your church."

Twilight Imperium (third edition). Players need to know fine points of play from experience in order to choose their own strategy, and to prevent King Making, Death Spiral, etc. of other players. But, you don't enter the game with experience. Any game that requires knowledge of card hierarchy (Some cards are prerequisite to other cards. How do you know the desired order of card access, and the goals of such access, without studying the deck?) is fragile at least. The game is certainly playable, but not with a mixed group of gamers/noobies, unless victory is not the goal.

Posted Thu Mar 3, 2011 3:50 pm
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Fragile: Not the Same As "Broken"

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