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The Rise of German Board Games

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#71

Post by jonreem »

detaro wrote: post #5
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

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…

At least with Dominion, I'd say that predicting when the game is ending and adjusting your play is an important part of the game. And unless it's really one-sided (which sucks, and maybe there is an argument that Dominion lends itself to develop one-sided games without recovery) or whoever you are playing against is keeping mental count of everyone's point (which wouldn't be impossible, but I've never met someone act…

When I play I always count victory points - how do you know what to do if you don’t know how many points people have or how close the game is to ending?

Adjusting your play during the course of the game as the game gets closer to ending is a crucial part of the game. If you’re surprised when the game ends you weren’t paying enough attention!

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#72

Post by EdwardDiego »

koonsolo wrote: post #64
5_minutes wrote: post #9

I love playing board games with my kids, gets them away from anything digital: nintendo’s, ipads or tv stuff. And hey having a 8 year old thinking about his Stratego setup, is a good thing!

For me, it's always a challenge to play board games with my kids. They are now 8, 6 and 4, and none of them wants to lose. It always ends up with someone crying, sometimes with all of them crying (including the winner). For other parents who have the same issue: I was able to "fix" this situation by declaring the winner as the person who is able to take defeat without crying. After that I mostly can declare all of th…

I love Pandemic with my kids - saving the world together? Hell yeah!

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#73

Post by cycrutchfield »

joshvm wrote: post #32
tonydiv wrote: post #3

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

Have you ever played Diplomacy? It makes Catan look like a picnic. https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/11/diplomacy-the-most-evi...

Can confirm that a game of Diplomacy will take a group of happy friends and turn them into scheming backstabbers who will never trust one another ever again for the rest of their lives.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#74

Post by qznc »

koonsolo wrote: post #64
5_minutes wrote: post #9

I love playing board games with my kids, gets them away from anything digital: nintendo’s, ipads or tv stuff. And hey having a 8 year old thinking about his Stratego setup, is a good thing!

For me, it's always a challenge to play board games with my kids. They are now 8, 6 and 4, and none of them wants to lose. It always ends up with someone crying, sometimes with all of them crying (including the winner). For other parents who have the same issue: I was able to "fix" this situation by declaring the winner as the person who is able to take defeat without crying. After that I mostly can declare all of th…

I believe dealing with your emotions (especially frustration in the case of losing) is one of the big teachings of board games.

At least, this believe is my only reason for playing certain games with my kids like Snakes-and-Ladders. I fail to recognize them as actual games because there are practically no decisions to be made. With most games, I can let my kids win by making stupid decisions. With Snakes there is no such option. The dice can force me to win and my kids have to deal with losing.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#75

Post by wallace_f »

koonsolo wrote: post #64
5_minutes wrote: post #9

I love playing board games with my kids, gets them away from anything digital: nintendo’s, ipads or tv stuff. And hey having a 8 year old thinking about his Stratego setup, is a good thing!

For me, it's always a challenge to play board games with my kids. They are now 8, 6 and 4, and none of them wants to lose. It always ends up with someone crying, sometimes with all of them crying (including the winner). For other parents who have the same issue: I was able to "fix" this situation by declaring the winner as the person who is able to take defeat without crying. After that I mostly can declare all of th…

Years ago when I was younger and overseas, I played Monopoly with a group of European 20-something girls and one of them ended up crying as defeat became clear.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#76

Post by Angostura »

koonsolo wrote: post #64
5_minutes wrote: post #9

I love playing board games with my kids, gets them away from anything digital: nintendo’s, ipads or tv stuff. And hey having a 8 year old thinking about his Stratego setup, is a good thing!

For me, it's always a challenge to play board games with my kids. They are now 8, 6 and 4, and none of them wants to lose. It always ends up with someone crying, sometimes with all of them crying (including the winner). For other parents who have the same issue: I was able to "fix" this situation by declaring the winner as the person who is able to take defeat without crying. After that I mostly can declare all of th…

For playing with kids try Forbidden Island. Has elements of Pandemic apparently (I haven't played Pandemic) cooperative, games typically don't take more than about half an hour.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#79

Post by qznc »

Fnoord wrote: post #69
5_minutes wrote: post #9

I love playing board games with my kids, gets them away from anything digital: nintendo’s, ipads or tv stuff. And hey having a 8 year old thinking about his Stratego setup, is a good thing!

I've been pondering what the point [nowadays] is of all these board games I played as a child. Risk, Axis & Allies, Colditz, Monopoly, Stratego (I played all these games below the recommended game). As well as PnP RPGs, card games, and collectible card games. My problem is that, at an older age, I don't regularly meet friends anymore in physical space "just because", and on a birthday this doesn't fly either. Things…

> I don't regularly meet friends anymore in physical space "just because"

We regularly invite some friends for a "game evening" not "just because". Have dinner together, bring the small kids to bed, then have a round of Dominion, Alhambra, whatever.

That does not work for long games like Axis & Allies, because you would need a whole day, though. Fortunately, there are plenty of shorter games as well.

Re: The Rise of German Board Games

#80

Post by qznc »

cycrutchfield wrote: post #73
joshvm wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever played Diplomacy? It makes Catan look like a picnic. https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/11/diplomacy-the-most-evi...

Can confirm that a game of Diplomacy will take a group of happy friends and turn them into scheming backstabbers who will never trust one another ever again for the rest of their lives.

Some people can deal with that. I played Diplomacy with my whole group at work and everything is fine.

I wonder if that is a learned skill or a personality trait? In the former case, it might be valuable to teach it.

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