Does your Gaming Ego Allow Simple Games???

Simple rules don't necessarily relate to a simple game. Go is the quintessential example of that. The rules:depth ratio is astronomical.

Go is not a simple game though. You're right, rules don't necessarily make a game complex. There's plenty of older games that have boatloads of rules but aren't very deep. For some reason, PRINCESS RYAN'S STAR MARINES springs to mind.

What is the precise relation between Simple Complex Fun Boring Good Bad ? ..... what ? ... no relation - well fuck me.

I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh with my lad when he was younger because we both ENJOYED it. When he is not slave to the Satan360 machine I play him at Star Wars: Episode 1 - Clash of the Lightsabers card game because we both like it.

Family Business, Munchkin, Fluxx, Cutthroat Caverns, Wings of War, Memoir '44, Nexus Ops ..... fun ?

Not Sure wrote:
"Just don't play with this guy:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/375825 "
Now I know why rule books say 'lay the board in the middle of the table.

I've played Loopin' Louie; great fun when your all in a silly mood. I also enjoy abstracts like Santorini and Vesuvius . Sitting Ducks Gallery is also fun. A bit more Ameritrash ones could be Escape from Atlantis or Get Bit!

And of course die Schlacht der Dinosaurier .

I think the "inbetween" games have given easy games a bad reputation. I'm talking about the games that have just enough complexity to make them appealing to the hobby crowd, but not enough to satisfy anyone who's ever played one of the better AH games. It doesn't help that there has been this impetus to reduce competition and interaction in order to make games simpler and less threatening to tender feelings.

One of the most fun game sessions I've ever had was when I played Will Kenyon's adorable little girl in a game of BLOKUS. I think BLOKUS is dumb. It's not much fun at all to me and I'd pretty much never play it outside of a situation like this. She was damn good at it, and I joked around with her the whole time riffing on this pony she had at the table. She beat me (yes, I played sloppy on purpose to try to give her opportunities) and I had a great time. This was in the middle of a big game event where most people were hunched over POWER GRID, CAYLUS, etc. and ruing the fact that somebody let kids into an ADULT event.

TIME'S UP is another one...I hate party games. But it's a game that anybody can play because there's only like three rules and the gameplay is all in the interaction and conversation. If you don't bust out laughing at least five times then you're made of stronger stuff than me.

It does come down, really, to who you play with. I played CA$H AND GUN$ once with Eurogamers and I wanted to put the gun in my mouth after watching these fucking Eurogamers point at each other sheepishly and giggle. "What now?" one of them asked. Then the avalanche of "is this really a game"/"there's no game here"/"this is an activity, not a game" comments started pouring out. I played THE GOTHIC GAME once with a similar crowd and that's a sure bet for some ridiculous behavior, hysterical hijinks, and ruthless gameplay. They'd roll the die, move, and then wonder why all they were doing was drawing cards. Two simple games wrecked by people looking for something completely different than I do when I sit down to play a game.

But I'll literally play anything with Rob Martin, Steve Avery, Frank Branham, Dan Baden, Billy Motion, Will Kenyon, the Bradford Boys, Psuedointellectual and his family...because they're awesome people and we'll have fun playing anything. That point was brought home the night we played BLACKBEARD. Terrible game. But afterwards, Baden, Robert, and I played this god-awful MIAMI VICE board game and had a blast. More fun than we had with big, mighty BLACKBEARD.

But I'll literally play anything with Rob Martin, Steve Avery, Frank Branham, Dan Baden, Billy Motion, Will Kenyon, the Bradford Boys, Psuedointellectual and his family...

He said it! You all heard it. i've got it in writing.

Break out Circus Imperium, racer knights of falconus, and heroclix...WHOOHOO! ITS PARTY TIME


Steve"Running-to-get-plastic"Avery

Sorry for the redaction, an error slipped into that post-

But I'll literally play anything with Rob Martin, XXXXX XXXXX, Frank Branham, Dan Baden, Billy Motion, Will Kenyon, the Bradford Boys, Psuedointellectual and his family...

moss_icon wrote:

I would much rather play a simple game than a supposed "heavy" Euro.

I'm totally in that camp now. My perfect day of gaming would be alternating between some big bad Ameritrash games and some stupid short fun games. At Euroquest this year I had a pretty perfect day of gaming: StarCraft and BSG followed by Wings of War, Shadow Hunters and a couple games of Battleball than we were ready for some Fury of Dracula. Also, Tumbling Dice and Rock'em sock'em Robots have become a must bring to any con. Lately, Micro Mutants has been a big hit.

KingPut wrote:

moss_icon wrote:

I would much rather play a simple game than a supposed "heavy" Euro.

I'm totally in that camp now. My perfect day of gaming would be alternating between some big bad Ameritrash games and some stupid short fun games. At Euroquest this year I had a pretty perfect day of gaming: StarCraft and BSG followed by Wings of War, Shadow Hunters and a couple games of Battleball than we were ready for some Fury of Dracula. Also, Tumbling Dice and Rock'em sock'em Robots have become a must bring to any con. Lately, Micro Mutants has been a big hit.

But aren't you the Caylus champion?

I can play simple games, it's just that some games are plain pointless and boring.

Of the simple games I've played, I am willing to play Ticket to Ride again, and Heroscape is actually one of my most favorite games. On the other hand, Lost Cities, Pirate's Cove and Battleball are just dreadful.

It's not about whether I think a game is too simple, but whether or not it's fun.

Mr Skeletor wrote:

KingPut wrote:

moss_icon wrote:

I would much rather play a simple game than a supposed "heavy" Euro.

I'm totally in that camp now. My perfect day of gaming would be alternating between some big bad Ameritrash games and some stupid short fun games. At Euroquest this year I had a pretty perfect day of gaming: StarCraft and BSG followed by Wings of War, Shadow Hunters and a couple games of Battleball than we were ready for some Fury of Dracula. Also, Tumbling Dice and Rock'em sock'em Robots have become a must bring to any con. Lately, Micro Mutants has been a big hit.

But aren't you the Caylus champion?

Busted

KingPut wrote:

Mr Skeletor wrote:

KingPut wrote:

moss_icon wrote:

I would much rather play a simple game than a supposed "heavy" Euro.

I'm totally in that camp now. My perfect day of gaming would be alternating between some big bad Ameritrash games and some stupid short fun games. At Euroquest this year I had a pretty perfect day of gaming: StarCraft and BSG followed by Wings of War, Shadow Hunters and a couple games of Battleball than we were ready for some Fury of Dracula. Also, Tumbling Dice and Rock'em sock'em Robots have become a must bring to any con. Lately, Micro Mutants has been a big hit.

But aren't you the Caylus champion?

Busted

But I just traded away Brass a "heavy" Euro for Star Wars Epic Battles a MB kids game. In the last week I've played Heroscape more times than I've played Caylus in the last 6 months.

Isn't simple a relative term? Are we talking simple as in simple for hobbyists like Wings of War or Battle Line or are we talking simple as in mainstream like Yahtzee or checkers?

Either way I'll play anything as long as it's fun, regardless of complexity. I like Yahtzee, Can't Stop, Phase 10 and I like Descent, Arkham Horror and Marvel Heroes. So I can't really say I have a gaming ego to even swallow.

I really hate myself for doing it, but I do get bored with simple games fairly quickly. Even when I was a kid I'd try and come up with some house rules for Monopoly or Risk; not to fix "broken" sections, you understand, but to try and introduce some complexity into the game before I got bored with it.

I hit my sweet spot with AT stuff, and I'm happy to play only AT stuff and the occasionaly RPG from now on. I don't want to come across as narrow minded, but I've tried Advanced Squad Leader and found it took complex for me, and I've tried Euroshite like 6 Nimmt and Carcasonne, and I find it boring, and I worry that I'm going to start to look like the Sex Offender I'm playing with*.

When playing a simpler game, I'm polite...maybe even enjoying it a little...but there's always a little voice at the back of my head saying "Brad, we could be playing Arkham Horror right now!".



*All Eurogamers look like sex offenders. Prove me wrong.

Notahandle wrote:

And of course die Schlacht der Dinosaurier .

Ahhhh ... I've just sold mine this month to a lad in the mid-West somewhere. I miss it.