[Spin-Off Central] What Constitutes a Game?

I was going to review Hive, an abstract chess-like game that has been reviewed very favorably by lots of people I like.

The game looks cool and appeals to me due to the two player nature. It's portable and seems straightforward enough, and doesn't have any math or random elements- all of these were plusses in my book. 

So I busted it open and discovered that to ME; it's not a game. It's a problem that needs solving. It didn't have "rules", it told me what I could do with certain pieces. There weren't any examples of "how to play". It confused the crap out of me. I decided I was not smart enough for the game and put it away.

(I will be totally fair and let you know I will give it another try before completely writing it off.)

What's the difference between a game and a problem? To ME, the difference is games have rules. Especially with board games, there are clear sequences and operational things to do, with an end goal in mind.

Hive does things differently. It tells you "here are how things work", and then asks you - "how would you make X happen?".

Based on this specific understanding, at the moment, I don't consider Hive a game. I consider it a puzzle. I don't mind that, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

While I was thinking this little idea over, I came across this post and the conversation it generated. I was very taken by the comments made between Sandwyrm and CaulynDarr. Here's the part I found most compelling:

CaulynnDarr: Games on the other hand are math, cognition, and memory problems, with art supporting the implementation.

You can have great process and great products at the same time. Usually great process is the difference between having 1 great product and several great products. Process is often that thing at the end that sends the whole project back to square one if it needs it.

Actually McDonnell-Douglas had the better design, but got out lobbied by Boing and bought out. Though all three designs would be in the same shape now, due to the conflicting requirements.

 

sandwyrm   23 hours ago in reply to CaulynDarr

Don't be silly. Games are not about math or the technical stuff. They're about the experience. The interactions. Making the interactions of a game interesting and rewarding is just as much of an art as any film or video game. The technical stuff has to support an artistic vision, as Star Wars taught us so long ago. As Apple teaches us now. As Blizzard, id, and Valve prove every day.

Good processes require consistency and predicability. But creativity is never consistent or predictable. So you have to optimize on one or the other. You cannot have both together. Or both end up mediocre at best.

I know these guys were talking specifically about miniatures games- table top war games with figure soldiers and dice and whatnot. But the comment put me in mind of something Porky asked me a while ago:

What is a game?

I think I discovered that anything I will consider a game (at least a board game) has to have operational structure- who does what when; that's essential to me. I think that my tastes have shown that I want a combination of math and/or logic problems ALONG WITH the experience and the interactions for almost any OTHER kind of game.

What about you? What do you consider essential components to be considered a game? What turns you totally off? If you understand either answer, why are those your answers? I'd love to hear.

[Review] Tok Tok Woodman

So, TheBoy and I came upon this fun idea. We would play a bunch of games. We would have fun. We would learn more about the products we sell at the store, and I could review them for my little blog.

We started out innocently enough with the Axis and Allies game. That was a blast. We had so much fun playing that game. I think we will play it a few more times so that I can get a chance to win. (Fat chance, but chance nonetheless.)

We have tried a few games. We loved some and didn't like others at all.

Tok Tok Woodman is one of our perennial favorites.

This game is billed as a "dexterity game", which means it involves hand/eye coordination. This is something I am usually truly bad at, but I STILL love this game.

It's more like a twisted version of Jenga than anything else.

The premise of the game is that you have a tree that you are trying to cut the "bark" off of without knocking any of the wood out from the base of the tree.

You do this with an axe, of course.

The axe pictured is actually from the expansion, but you get the idea. (Yes, there is an expansion. It's just as fun as the original!)  You tap the tree three two times, trying to knock the bark off but leave the discs of wood intact. Every piece of bark is worth points, while the wood COSTS points. Whoever ends up with the most points wins.

I have to say that for me, the largest portion of this game's appeal is how ramped up TheBoy gets. He is absolutely like a little kid, being given permission to break stuff. With an axe. (Yes, it's a little plastic axe, but it's an axe.)

I have sold this game on numerous occasions as a "party game". It's a great icebreaker or timewaster, without any complex strategy or overall need for thinking. It's just silly. The best part of the party game is that if you add drinking, it just gets sillier. I can only imagine making shots a part of this game.

There's no real rules breakdown, or complaint about pieces, or discussion of confusing something or other. This game is straightforward, and fun. It's even better when the folks you play it with understand it is meant to be silly, and get into it with the over the top actions (and reactions) to make it more entertaining.

The only downside I can think of is that if you like a serious, intelligent game, this isn't it.

I think you should play this game, and enjoy some good laughs.

[Review] GW's How to Paint Citadel Miniatures Book/DVD

I am probably the perfect customer for this product. I'm a casual painter with absolutely no real training. I taught myself, but I have a notoriously heavy hand and I find my work to be sloppy, grungy and just plain messy. If anyone needs help learning to paint, it's me.

A sample of my work. 

I love products like this, with step-by-step PICTURES of how those guys behind the curtain accomplished their magic. I bought the Privateer Press DVD as well, and watched it several times in the vain hope that talent would be transmitted through the screen to my feeble self.

I really enjoyed the P3 video, but I thought it went a little fast and missed some vital "up close" materials a NEW painter would want to see. Not so with the GW book. I've only browsed through it a few times and quickly gone through the DVD, but I can tell you that I will be checking both out over and over again.

So here's a look at the actual book:

It's got a "kickstand" or easel that's intended to help the book stand up right in front of you was you paint. The pages are magazine thickness and glossy, and spiral bound to make flipping to a specific page a breeze, with no worries about breaking your binding or pages falling out.


There are several sections of the book that I found super helpful, and others were "meh". The only issue was sometimes these were on the same page!

Warning! Blurry Pic. 

This example is from the "Shades" page. They show 3 examples of using their shades products. Example 1 is super clear about what they used and where. Example 3 is also perfectly clear- what shade was used, how much, and why. Example 2? VAGUE AS HELL. It also had a small box of text about "how much is too much" that I found to be counter-intuitive for a beginning painter, advocating a "laissez-faire" attitude on washes. For a beginning painter, this was not helpful. However, it's countered by two great samples, so it works out to be a "meh" for me.

I have only checked out two sections of the DVD so far. One was the "Basecoating" section, and the other was the "Glazing" section. The Basecoating section has been super, super informative for me already. Just by watching the demonstrated watering down technique, I can see where I have room to improve. (Uh, that would be everywhere, folks!) I also saw how OTHER people hold their brushes and their approach to the model that has given me a hint that maybe more is NOT better after all.

The glazing section was incredibly cool for me. I truly enjoyed seeing ways to add depth and intensity to models- it was sort of like watching someone get their hair glazed... but with models. (Dudes, ask your lady people about hair glaze. It's awesome.) I want to try it (someday).

The DVD comes right IN the book- no weird sleeve or taped in envelope to lose. 

I've had a couple people in the store balking at the price. I can understand the concern, as it IS spendy. I did (and will) point out to those that are concerned on cost that I GLADLY spent $25 for the P3 video, used it over and over and over; and find the GW Guide to be FAR superior. It is well worth the money to me, especially with the well designed format and obvious THOUGHT that was put into how someone might want to use something like this.

The breakdowns and sections on each step of the modeling process inside the book are full of tips that I found very helpful (along with an interesting outright admission that FINECAST products are prone to warping and bubbles from the injection process), making the book more than a "painting guide". It's a great primer and starting point for a beginning or inexperienced hobbyist.

For the more advanced model enthusiast or painter, this product is a little tougher to see as useful. I didn't see anything "to write home about" unless the start-to-finish army guides are your thing.

Just having this book out and open ALMOST makes me want to break my models out again to start painting... which could well be worth the $50 price tag if it means my procrastinating streak is broken and I get SOMETHING done!

So there you have my take on it- I found it useful and will use it a lot, assuming I get back to painting. It is intended for a starting or inexperienced painter, but it's a well made product with thoughtful touches throughout to make a good, solid and useful tool for someone without a good painting background. 

[Review] Axis & Allies Angels 20

I have a giant soft spot for airplane games of any kind. I had pestered the living daylights out of TheDude for copies of Wings of War (now Wings of Glory), but he really didn't listen. (Sad panda!)

When Axis & Allies newest expansion line: Angels 20 came out, HiSign tried VERY hard to get me to buy it. I kept resisting, and he kept tempting me. I wasn't interested at first, and then I was worried I would spend too much, and I just didn't have anyone to play against.

Then TheDude bought a starter box. We all checked out the contents and were pretty impressed with the quality and quantity of items for the price. TheBoy started poking me about wanting to "play airplanes", and my resistance was wearing down.

The other day TheBoy out and out cheated. He asked me- "Mommy, will you play some airplanes with me?" He then proceeded to make cute engine and shooting sounds and batted his enormous eyelashes at me.

I bought a starter box and a booster.

DON'T YOU JUDGE ME!

The map- pretty nice quality

The starter set comes with 3 German and 3 British planes, along with dice, stands, a rulebook and counters. I wish I had actually READ the box before buying it, because I didn't want Germans, and TheBoy wanted British.  TheBoy got an entire flight (or bunch of planes), and I got zero planes I wanted. (More Sad Panda!) TheBoy took pity on me, and bought 2 boosters. I wound up with some Americans, some Japanese and some Russian planes. I still don't have a full flight of any one faction, but I have lots of choices.

We decided to try to play today. We set up the map, which is made of nice magazine thickness paper. There's not any obvious markings as to how they fit together, but after turning the map around a couple times, we figured it out.

Building my list of airplanes was really tough. With a point limit of 100 points, it was difficult for me to get more than 2 planes. I saw several options of 3-4 plane flights if I mixed factions (ie, 1 Poland, 1 Fin, 1 Britain) but single factions made it tougher.

For our first time around, I went ahead and played the Germans, even though I really didn't want to, because I had the most options that way.

This is what I picked from.  I had a bomber, an ace and two "average" planes to figure out what to fly. I picked the bomber and an ace.

These are the planes TheBoy had to pick from. They were pretty sweet, to be honest.

We figured out initiative and movement pretty well. There was a little confusion on whether and how to turn (and when), but after a little discussion, we got that decided. We opted not to use altitude because the rules were wonky and we wanted to get the basics down first. We just pretended we were at acceptable altitudes and went on our merry way. Lots of "merrrrroooooooooooom" noises were made.

My planes after movement

Movement went really fast. TheBoy had an ace that had movement almost double mine, so in one turn, it went from what you see above here to the picture below:

There was a little more movement (getting planes into place) that put us within a hex of each other. Unfortunately, we were situated in such a way that TheBoy was outside of my firing arc, but I was smack dab in the middle of his.

We did some shooting. TheBoy tore me up. It was awful. I am ashamed at getting beaten so badly by my lil punk so and so of a son. =/

I will take this moment to let you know that the rulebook is what I consider 'typical Hasbro/WotC' in that it is laid out badly and needs more examples. If I had any idea HOW bad it was, I would have brought TheDude's rulebook so I would not have spent so much time flipping back and forth from section to section for rules as we played.

We were interrupted quite a lot, so we didn't get more done, which is too bad. It was just starting to get fun. We both agreed that the game has a lot of promise to be extremely entertaining, but the map was way too small. There was not a lot of room for manuevering or moving around. Now, if the idea is to move the maps as you play, that might change things, but with the map staying static, we found it to be crowded.

We still had a blast and made way too many fun lil' airplane sounds as we tried to shoot each other up.