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The Rise of German Board Games

theatlantic.com

31–40 of 128 posts

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#33

Wow, this explains so well why I despise Eurogames. Instead of eliminating opponents, everybody plays until the end after some arbitrary score limit is reached (or turn limit or whatever). I play Dominion or Catan and I'm working away and suddenly somebody says "game over! I won!" and I'm thinking, well that was a waste of time. I'm resentful and frustrated - what did I do all that for if it ends at such a meaningles…

It is fascinating to me that something you hate about Eurogames is what I love most about them. Vive la différence!

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#34
post #3

Clearly the author has never played Settlers of Catan, it does not make friends. Hence the memes: https://imgur.com/a/tUGcn

Catan is still friendlier than many of its counterparts. In terms of the old marquee games, Catan is really most similar to Monopoly: buy property, barter with the other players, collect matched sets of things, and hope the dice make your property investments pay out. Obviously the topology of the game is completely different, but compared to the bloodthirsty game of Monopoly, Catan is quite congenial - youre not out to bankrupt the other players, just amass more VP than them.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#35

Wow, this explains so well why I despise Eurogames. Instead of eliminating opponents, everybody plays until the end after some arbitrary score limit is reached (or turn limit or whatever). I play Dominion or Catan and I'm working away and suddenly somebody says "game over! I won!" and I'm thinking, well that was a waste of time. I'm resentful and frustrated - what did I do all that for if it ends at such a meaningles…

Because you aren't thinking about the game right. Victory is elimination. Watch the other players like a hawk, keep an eye on everybody's score, and orchestrate a pile-on when somebody gets a visible lead.

Try playing some of these group games like Carcassonne or Splendor in a 1v1 format. 1v1 strips away the chaos and makes every victory a corresponding defeat, and teaches you the mechanics in their barest form.

Then you come back to a big 4-player table with a newfound grokking of the game.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#38
post #6

Wow, this explains so well why I despise Eurogames. Instead of eliminating opponents, everybody plays until the end after some arbitrary score limit is reached (or turn limit or whatever). I play Dominion or Catan and I'm working away and suddenly somebody says "game over! I won!" and I'm thinking, well that was a waste of time. I'm resentful and frustrated - what did I do all that for if it ends at such a meaningles…

How is that meaningless ? Do you also consider races meaningless ? Do you consider most sports meaningless ? You probably don't like it because that's not how you learned to enjoy games, not because it's inherently worse than Ameritrash

Sports don't stop the race randomly because somebody has found 'victory points' under their chair. Payers' efforts are rewarded with clearly recognized progress (down the field/on the scoreboard). There are time limits and buzzers and some sense of tension. Not just grind along and then, randomly, 'its over, and you lost'.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#39
post #31

Since the article mentions Monopoly in passing: it is NOT fine for children; it was created to teach about inequality; it is a horrible game even for children (or especially for children). If you are forced to play it, use this https://imgur.com/gallery/vX3zm tactic, it won't happen again.

As the oldest of 6, I can confirm that a pleasant game of Monopoly can turn south real quck. That & "Sorry!"

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#40
post #34
post #3

Clearly the author has never played Settlers of Catan, it does not make friends. Hence the memes: https://imgur.com/a/tUGcn

Catan is still friendlier than many of its counterparts. In terms of the old marquee games, Catan is really most similar to Monopoly: buy property, barter with the other players, collect matched sets of things, and hope the dice make your property investments pay out. Obviously the topology of the game is completely different, but compared to the bloodthirsty game of Monopoly, Catan is quite congenial - youre not out…

Catan has significantly more adversarial aspects than Monopoly; Cutting off roads that players need, controlling the placement of the robber, choosing who to steal from, denial of trade of resources. I think one of the things that makes Catan so rage-inciting, is that it's quite common to take actions to deny the other players points, even if it has a negative effect on your overall position.
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