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My euro gaming rollor coaster ride
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 14:45:57
Edited On: 2007-09-14 14:47:25
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I have always liked playing games, but never the standard, traditional board games. Even as a kid I always searched for the weird or thematic games. That's why I got into SPI, Avalon Hill, and TSR. The 80s were a great time for this type of gaming. The problem? You guessed it: Players. My parents never played games and my older siblings were not interested. I "recruited" my little brothers and sisters into playing with me, and even a few friends along the way, but I was always the guy that searched out and collected the games. |
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 13:55:58
Edited on: 2007-09-14 14:06:28
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Even after getting married, I continued to collect games like these. I learned early on that my wife did not like my type of games (just like everyone else, it seemed). As my children grew, my first daughter took after me (her favorite games currently are Antiquity and Civilization), so I was starting to build up a player base. Alas, my second daughter took after my wife. My third child, a son, well, instant gamer. |
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 13:57:38
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I can't remember the year, 1997 maybe, I bought Settlers of Catan. I knew nothing of the game. It was just sitting there on the shelf in a boring box. At first I thought it was just another abstract puzzle type game. It had no aliens, no elves, no armies, yet I was intrigued. On closer inspection, it seemed enticingly different. The guy at the hobby store had never even heard of it. I paid the whopping $30 dollars and knew that I would regret it. Boy was I wrong.
For the first two or three weeks we played it every night. It was insanely addictive and involving. It improved my gaming life in several ways. First of all, my wife Yvette actually played it with me, and liked it! I even got my mom and older sister, neither of whom ever played games, to play it. I still remember my sister in the middle of her first game (in which I had to force her to play), when she paused and said in a surprised voice, "This is really fun." That same event has happened I don't know how many times since. |
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2 Comments []
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 14:03:30
Edited on: 2007-09-14 14:08:21
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The next few years were spent hunting down more of these German designer games. I couldn't get enough. Then, towards the beginning of the 21st century, an amazing event occurred that would deeply impact on my life: Boardgamegeek was born. Between BGG and Funagain, I was able to research and find every game I wanted, many of them German style designs. I was in heaven. I was playing some great games that were heavy on strategy and light on bookkeeping and fiddlyness. My favorite among favorites during this period was Princes of Florence. |
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 14:18:52
Edited on: 2007-09-14 14:50:50
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Of course, I was still playing the old American designs, wargames, and RPGs, but when I played the Euro games, I could always find opponents. Then around 2004, I noticed that I was craving the old narrative and thematic designs more and more. Euros were starting to feel a bit samey.
However, I still enjoyed the interesting ways that the Euros meshed familiar mechanics to create a unique whole, until I bought Alhambra. There was no saving grace in this game for me; no unique mechanic or idea. It had all been done before in previous games, and implemented better. |
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 14:20:47
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My Euro game buying took a nose dive, as well as my Euro game playing. I didn't give up even though that old been-there-done-that feeling was starting to get very annoying. I took a chance with Cleopatra. Ugh. That did it. Cleopatra is just a very simplistic set collection game with a tacked on mix of mechanics that add no real choices and that do nothing to lift this game to even mildly engaging. The palace is just an overblown place holder that is the same every game. I have now backed way off from Euros. The new releases that would have pegged my interest meter back in 2002, now barely register a blip. |
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 14:23:30
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Stonehenge seems like the perfect microcosm for the overall state of Euro games today. Take some fantastic designers, give them cool bits, let them mix and mesh familiar mechanics, slap on a theme, and then publish a game. It's like talented musicians experimenting with variations on classical music themes: interesting for a while, but before long it starts to grate. |
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 14:24:33
Edited on: 2007-09-14 14:42:01
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Euro designs are pure elegance. Clean and perfect. Every perceived negative is scrutinized. Unbalance? Check. Player elimination? Check. Excessive luck? Check. Downtime, king-making, runaway leader? Check. Check. Check. It seems that the designers are so focused on eliminating every perceived negative that they handicap themselves. They make safe, sanitized games, yet they seem to be scared to take chances.
I missed the risk taking in some of the old designs. They were clunky and rough around the edges, and some ideas completely missed, but I loved the excitement of getting something really different and unique; something with character. I know that when I buy a Euro, I will be getting a fair and balanced game, but rarely do I get the thrill of discovering something new, like I did in the 80s, and like I did with Settlers. Love it or hate it, Magic Realm is Magic Realm and Awful Green Things from Outer Space is Awful Green Things from Outer Space. Nobody mistakes them for variations on a Rummy theme. |
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Posted On: 2007-09-14 15:09:33
One of the best things a gamer can hear.