What games? Why?

[EricJ]

ok, so after my time at Gencon and seeing 1000's of games being played, most of which I NEVER heard of, I was starting to wonder, just what games people play, like to play, and why they've picked to play those games over others? I'm not talking computer games, more board/card/mini/RPG games.

What makes a game better than another? What keeps you playing, and what makes a game not worth a 2nd try.

[Ritual]

Count me out of this discussion! I don't play any games at all...

[Malebolgia]

Takes a deep breath...

Currently playing:

WARMACHINE

HORDES

Full Thrust

Legends of the Old West

Supersystem

Other games I play:

Warhammer

Necromunda

Void

Warzone

Fearless

Gorka Morka

Confrontation

Games I WANT to play:

Dirtside II

Stargrunt II

Dark Age

Infinity

Rezolution

This list explains why I hardly have any army fully painted

What do I seek? Game balance...cool rules that aren't clunky...depth and a lot of possibilities...fun...cool miniatures. The game we play most now is WARMACHINE (each Thursday night at my place). I just love the world and warjacks and I think the game system is just fantastic. It offers a lot and rewards agressive play. The miniatures are very nice too and no two games are the same. You'll have to think each second. It is THE game of punishing mistakes and trying to avoid mistakes. Yes, even the smallest mistake can cost you your warcaster and thus the game. The other fantastic element is the whole "boosting element" where you can choose to 'buy' another dice for attacks and damage with magic...thus giving influence on chances. A brilliant idea that is well executed.

Other than that we are now playing Full Thrust...a fantastic space combat game by Jon Tuffley from Ground Zero Games. The ships are very nice and cheap and the game is just awesome. I would like to play Dirtside II and Star Grunt too so we can do mixed campaigns...but first we keep it at Full Thrust.

Games that can really frustrate me are Warhammer and WH40K. I find the rules extremely clunky and often very poorly designed too. I have a lot of models, but often I just get back overly frustrated after a game...therefore I stopped gaming WH for a while now. Other games I found kind of sucky are Combat Zone (I hated the initiative system and the "6 is always a hit" thing) and Chainmail.

In addition, I hate MOST games that use 1DX instead of 2DX in a skirmish setting. Using two dice gives a 'Bell shaped Chance distribution' while the chances with one die is equal (the chance for rolling a 1 is equal to rolling a 6). Rolling 1D6 in Warhammer as the large number of dice filters out most luck and gets quite average scores. Skirmish games where a lot is decided by 1D6 often disgust and frustrate me.

And finally I just HATE the '1 is always miss/no damage' rule. It often happens in Warhammer or Confrontation that your uber-hero rolls a 1 (or couple of 1's in WH) and does nothing against a puny creature. Good thing about games like WARMACHINE that if you have enough power, it does not matter what you roll for damage...you splat it (but hitting the model usually is harder!).

[witchfire]

i play :

Warmachine

Hordes

DarkAge

a Sky Full of Ships

[Sergeant_Crunch]

I play CAV by Reaper. Now if they'd just get off their duffs and release the freaking new rules. I've always been a sucker for big stompy robots. CAV plays smooth and scales from small games to big games pretty well, unlike the daddy of stompy robot games, Battletech. That and I prefer the CAV robots to the BTech ones.

I've got the rules for Warlord, but need to paint the minis I do have and get some more for them to fight against.

I've been eyeballing some of Majestic Twelve's games lately as well, primarily Starmada, For the Masses, and Defiance. MJ12 has solid rules that allow you to use any miniatures you have and create your own stats for units while retaining game balance. Though convincing the wife to let me get them might be difficult. I really need to start a gaming club or something.

Used to play 40k but got fed up with several aspects of GW and their game.

[LeadAsbestos]

I play:

The Rules with No Name- free Old West skirmish, brilliant turn sequence, cinematic gunfights ala spaghetti westerns

Age of Blood- free Viking age skirmish, similar to LOTR rules, fast and fun

Warmachine/Hordes- see Malebolgia above, great fun!

Warhammer Ancient Battles- rarely play, but a good feel to the system, if a little removed from the feel of "real" battles

I prefer a good skirmish game to a ranked up battle, and free rules are great if you aren't sure abt starting an era or mini line.

[Wren]

My current game group focuses on board games and card games. Primarily games called Euro games or designer games. Most, though not all of these are from Europe. Germany in particular is very big for these type of games, and holds yearly awards called the Spiel de Jahres, which are sort of like the Academy Awards for games. (In more ways than one, since people often feel that the 'popular' rather than the 'best' choice wins.) Some people call them designer games since it's fairly common for the designer's name to be known and featured on the game packaging, and for people to have favourites amongst the designers. Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride are probably the examples people are most likely to have heard of, or the big flashy Fantasy Flight games like Descent or Game of Thrones.

There are a couple of members of the group who acquire a LOT of games. That includes myself and my husband (discount from working at game store bad for budget...) and the guy who started the group, who writes reviews for game magazines and stuff and gets sent all sorts of free review copies. So it's often the case that we're rushing to try something new or that needs to be reviewed rather than returning to someone's old favourite, however loved. There is some variation in the group - some people lean more to the party/social/fun games which are a bit lighter, while we have several members who thrive more the deeper the strategy and the more open the conflict. For me personally, I tend to favour the ones which play in under two hours, and which have reasonably clear/simple rules/actions, but take a decent amount of strategic thought in how and when you take a particular action.

For anyone interested in board, card or mini games, I recommend taking a look at http://www.boardgamegeek.com. This is a massive database of almost all games of that type, which will include photos, FAQs, variant rules, reviews, news updates and all kinds of info. The average user is slanted to the type of game I described above, and there are little quirks like a lot of people hating collectible games, but it's a site worth looking into if you have a limited budget of time/money and want to research your game purchases.

[Jubilee]

The only wargame-y game I play is D&D minis. Why? Because the rules are simple and easy, especially coming from a D&D d20 background. Why pre-painted ugly crud? Because then I don't spaz out about 1. getting miniatures painted before I can play 2. not wanting to play with the miniatures I've painted because they'll get beat up.

/ali

[Steph-E]

Well, I dont have any more time to play seriously to a mini game, due to kids, job and all the stuff here at Wyrd, and no more friends at a resonable distance from me to try to play something.

So, I was playing a lot of 40K in its first edition (rogue tradder) because it was very british, a little like Judge Dredd that I'm keen of. The next "more pro" 40k editions lost the original soul.

So I was playing lot ok GW games, because I was very liking that, until I work for them in the late 90's. after being fired 2 years of incapacity for me to see a mini...

so, I dont play any GW except BB and S Hulk, the 2 best games that I ever play. Fast playing, simple rules, lot of suspence and fun, lot of blood! Yeah!! That's what I like in a game: action and suspence, like in a movie.

I'm playing now to" Zombie!!!" because it's as crazy as the good old GW games, and, of course, the pabletop game that I'm the humble creator, "Crushing!".

It takes place in the deep 70's, in america, in a tipical blacksploitation style.

If you dont know the game, well, fell free to download it for free here

[green stuff]

I haven't played in a while du to life, job, painting, ... but I do like :

WH40K

WHB

Confrontation

Hybrid

Bloodbowl

Space Hulk

Warhammer Quest

Warmachine

and various card games (Elixir, Munchkin, ...)

@Steph : guess who lives nearby .

[Steph-E]

Cedric>> ho yes, and we'll play lot of the near comming best games in the univers very soon!

[green stuff]

So true Steph, so true .

[gi6ers]

same as Ritual but i do enjoy the odd game of Zombies!!! (which is a boardgame really)

[cdukino]

I play any game that doesn't take hours of getting to know how it works (the shorter the better often)... but only IF I can find people to play it with in advance... which rules out almost 100%... Noone wants to play with me ....

(well not totally true but somehow it just almost never happens... people having no time, to tired from work, don't like to play the particular game I suggest (or not able to... hence me never tried to get into wargaming/scirmish mini games (I would not mind trying that out, Rackham for instance... I should have enough to build a small army... Dwarves most likely even ) and whatever reason out of 1000)

[vincegamer]

I don't have a game group.

When I get the chance I will play Dune, Magic Realm, or Kingmaker and a few other old classic Avalon Hill games.

Currently I play Magic Realm by email or solitaire.

I like games that are not predictable and that have a minimum of luck. Dune is probably the best example of a game where luck is almost completely eliminated, and at the same time one that is unpredictable and doesn't unduly favor the human calculator types. Every random element is softened. For example, there is a planetary storm that moves a random amount around the board each turn - but the Fremen know exactly where it's going. The cards are drawn off the top of the deck face down to be bid on by the players - but the Atreides can see what the cards are before anyone bids. There are no dice.

If I'm lucky I will be able to convince some people to play tonight.

[vincegamer]

Count me out of this discussion! I don't play any games at all...

except mind games of course :laugh:

[lauth81]

For RPGs, I play Dungeons and Dragons both as a DM and Player. I´ve got almost all of the Earthdawn stuff because I like the setting, but have actually never played it. Some friends of mine are getting a Serenity RPG going in the next month or so, and I´m willing to try that.

The only miniatures game I play right now is Blood Bowl, but this one very often. I´m playing in 2 different leagues and visit all the tournaments I can afford to go to. NAF member? Of course ... sheesh ... And there´s online BB via fumbbl.com.

I´ve got some Warlord minis and the rulebook, but that game is not widely known in Germany. Sadly, I must say.

If we go for a classical boardgame, its mostly Settlers or Starfarers of Catan, Carcassonne and Runebound. I played the new Civilization boardgame by Eagle Games recently, and I liked it despite the flaws it has. There´s also the german version of an old GW game, Dragonquest, which gets played sometimes.

[EricJ]

So, I guess what I'm wondering now more is WHY?!

What makes the games you play worth playing? What do you look for or read in the rules and thing "cool!". Or what "flaws" make games unplayable, or pitfalls do games commonly fall into?

Any Poker players?

[Steph-E]

well, first of all, ass kicking minis. Minis that are better than what it's on the market. when I start playing 40K, Citadel was really outstanding. not perfectly sculpt but with something that I call "soul". It was the same with BB and S hulk.

now GW minis are soulless. Except Bryan Nelson's green skins.

So,If the minis are not "sexy", I dont try the game.

Now, you'll tell me :" do you think the "ZOMBIE!!!" minis are sexy???

no, of course not. But the game is Dark Fonk powered. Something absolutly mad, bad tasted, insane and lot of humor. Just What I like.

[vincegamer]

I already answered that.

[Malebolgia]

Me too

[EricJ]

yeah! you two did, not everyone!

[Skya]

Why do I play games? Always an interesting question. It depends on the type I suppose. Roleplaying games are about doing and being something that I wouldnt otherwise beable to. Losing myself in an intersting setting the way I would a good book. CCGs are much more competative. Partially they are about the puzzle of putting together a good deck from a massive selection of cards to choose from. When it copmes to actual game play though they give a one on one back and forth highly competative play evironment. When I was younger I enjoyed doing tournaments just for teh adrenaline rush. THese days I much prefer playtesting CCGs. Figuring out how the mechanics interact and what will break them is very satisfying and of course my obsesive compulsive side enjoys the editing part as well. Board games are a lot the same for me. Figuring out the puzzles of game mechanic interaction but combined with the vaugaries of trying to predict what other players will do in the same situation. I imagine other people do the same with miniatures games but I personally have often found a distast for dice based games especially when actual measuring is involved as well. I prefer my random elements to be a bit more controlled or even just none existant. I'll play Warmachine or Hordes as a random amusing games, but it's certainly not something I'll takes very seriously. I do throughly love painting them though.

[Sergeant_Crunch]

What I look for in rules are simple complexity. (Right up there with compassionate conservatism, eh?) What I mean is the much touted "easy to learn, difficult to master."

I also like good balance, even from later supplements. I hate it when I get a force all ready and then a supplement comes out and the only chance I have is to completely cheese it out. I want good balance because it makes the game against the other player (with the luck of the die) rather than against the rules or force lists.

The minis are important too, otherwise I'd be playing games with counters rather than minis (though there are some excellent games that use counters). I'm really starting to like rules without dedicated miniature lines too as I can pick and choose the best ones (depending on what my definition of "best" is at the time).

Finally, I want a fun game. Of course everyone's definition of what "fun" is will be different. It's like asking everyone to describe why their favorite color is their favorite color. For me, a fun game is one where the rules run smoothly without having to reference 20 bagillion charts and diagrams and can scale from a small game for a quick fix or a large game with nary a square inch of table uncovered for epic battles.

[Drake Farstrider]

I currently run a D20 D&D Forgotten Realms campaign and I will be playing in a D20 Star Wars game, starting this wekend. I also like the look of Hordes, but I have not picked up the rules yet, but I do have the makings of an Everblight army.

As too why I play the games I do, its because, I am a fan for both the Forgotten Realms and of the Star Wars universe, plus my game group are also long time D&D and Star Wars fans. I think both games are simple to learn and are very enjoyable to play.

I have also in the past played d20 Judge Dread (I am the law!) which was a blast and a home brewed 40k roleplaying came, which was based off of WFB.

I have played the Star Wars CCG, from Decipher, what a fun game that was. Magic the Gathering, impossible to keep up with all the new cards although it was fun for a while. I have also played the Raw Deal ccg, which was fun to play when I was a fan of the WWE. Now I just can't get into it.