Changing domains!

I was alerted to the fact that another “Meeple Speak” site existed, so I’m moving this content over to a new site, “The BoredGame Guy,” and this site will go away! See you there!!

http://boredgameguy.wordpress.com/

Americans Need to Grow Up and Play

Why is it that over in Europe, China, and Japan, adults are getting together to play board games in public places, and having a great time, but here in the US games are very often dismissed as frivolous child’s play? Are they wasting their time and energy engaging in child’s play? Or is there something Americans are missing?

No two ways about it, in my opinion: this is a deep problem with our culture. I won’t even begin to speculate about why this is the case – there are no doubt many reasons that have accumulated over the decades to result in this state of affairs. I will say again, however, that it is a deep problem with our culture. Consider these data on how Americans spend their leisure time:

If you were going to design a society, would you slice the “leisure-time pie” like that, where 3 of every 5 hours of that time was spent watching tv? Only 20 minutes reading, or 17 minutes physically engaged are bad enough. I value liberty as much as anyone, but I would say that if liberty is a rope, we have enough of it to hang ourselves – and that’s what we’re doing. TV has its place, but too much tv is the hobgoblin of modern American living.

I do not want to change the US into another country, but it would be pure vanity (which unfortunately runs rampant in our country) to think that the US couldn’t learn from any other cultures. There is a healthy energy in places where groups of adults, young and old, get together, eat, drink, and socialize, while playing board games. There is a vibrancy; an atmosphere of friendly competition where there is room for myriad tastes, styles, and personalities.

I could wax poetic about the value of board games, but I’ll save that for a different post. Suffice it to say that board games serve as an entertaining way to sharpen one’s wits. Board games enhance us intellectually, emotionally, and socially. It should be obvious that the positives of board-gaming completely outweigh the negatives. Any society that can afford to embrace a tool like board gaming, but fails to, does so at the cost of blunting the intellectual, social, and emotional potential of its citizens.

The very word “games” conveys, to too many Americans, a sense of frivolity that really undermines the very idea that they can be useful. They are inaccurately seen as children’s playthings. That is unfortunate, but it doesn’t have to be the case. If you are already a fan of board games, you already know what they are worth. Your passion, accumulated across all the game-loving country, could be all that’s required for a much needed sea-change in American culture.

Board gamers need to come out of the closet * and realize that there is a hunger for such a worthwhile hobby. Regardless of what a person says, there is a game (or games, more likely) that would suit them perfectly and have them engaged, challenged, and interested, if they only gave it a try. Some people aren’t going to like party games, some won’t like trivia, some won’t like word games, and some really hate strategy games; still, there is a game out there for everyone.

Then again, those who profess to disliking games aren’t even the most important ones out there. There is a vast number of people who would play if they could. Are there any gaming groups out there? Are they accessible? Is there any good reason why, if you like games, you haven’t invited friends over for a game night at your home or local tavern or library? The board gaming hobby is truly a “if you build it, they will come” situation. There are people in your community just hoping for the chance to get out and play. All they need is a reason, and you might be just the one to provide it.

My next post will go over some ideas about how to host a successful, recurring game night. Stay tuned!

jh

* Thanks to Kevin Schlabach of Seizeyourturn.com
for coming up with that very apt metaphor, and for inspiring me to get moving on this whole idea of catching the board game wave. Check out his blog for more!

Mensa Mind Games, 2011

Mensa Mind games was held in San Diego this past weekend. I have been attending since 2000, and it has been one of the only reasons for me to remain in Mensa, until my local group became active about two years ago.

Game manufacturers submit games to Mind Games, where game-loving Mensans spend over 40 hours (Friday to Sunday) and get very little sleep to play them. The games are rated, and each Mensan votes on his or her top seven. The top five games are awarded the coveted Mensa Select sticker to adhere to their games, and many, many shoppers have learned that the sticker means there is a great game underneath.

Here are the top five for 2010:

Dizios (Mindware):

Players alternate adding square heavy cardboard tiles to the ever-increasing tabletop grid. The tiles have 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 dots in their center, and are decorated with a single or multiple-colored swirling pattern such that each tile edge consists of either one or two colors. Tiles must be laid so that edge colors match exactly, and points awarded are equivalent to the total number of dots in any previously laid tiles (which may of course be from one to four tiles). The tiles were very attractive, which I think had a lot to do with this game winning. My own opinion is that it was a nice little game, but not terribly stimulating – not any more engaging than regular dominoes, at least, because one’s options on each turn are very limited. It is effectively just a matching game, at least initially. Just like dominoes, however, once a player understands which tiles are still not on the table (they are systematically coded in terms of dots and color patterns), one can strategize more. I think this game won because it was a unique take on an old idea, it was visually appealing, and one didn’t have to work hard to understand how to play.

Yikerz (Wiggles 3D):

Up to four players alternate placing tumbled, flat-sided, magnetic, hematite stones onto an arrangement of four pads, with the goal of being the first to place their final stone. The four pads are basically thin mouse pads cut in half diagonally, and can be arranged into different patterns to make the stone placement more or less challenging. The challenge is to place each stone without attracting other stones, or pushing them (via magnetic repulsion) into other stones. Any stones caused to attract have to be picked up into that player’s hand. This game was a surprise, because even after reading my explanation it doesn’t seem like a winner. At first it didn’t look appealing, and the name wasn’t appealing (to me, that is, but I know several others who felt the same way); it just looked kind of gimmicky. But the magnets are strong and when they attract, they move quickly and meet with a sharp snap! One also quickly learns that one can use the magnetic repulsion to move the other, existing magnets out of the way in order to make a spot to place a magnet. This was a pleasant surprise for me.

Anomia (Michael Innes; self-published):

Players each have a single card in front of them, and there is a common draw pile; cards have symbols and categories. On their turn, a player quickly flips a card onto their own pile – if the symbol matches any other player’s symbol a quick face-off ensues in which one has to name something from the other’s category. The first to blurt out an acceptable answer wins the other’s card – revealing a buried card that might precipitate another face-off. Wild cards are played in the middle and show two different symbols, so when any two players have those symbols they also have a face-off.

I think this game won because it blends fast-paced multi-tasking with categorical knowledge, and every player is constantly involved. it certainly was among the loudest and most exciting tables at Mind Games this year.

Forbidden Island (Gamewright):

Players compose a cooperative team of adventurers, racing against time to retrieve four treasures from a sinking island, and then escape before the water rises. Each player takes on a different role, each having a special (but not outrageously powerful) ability, which aids in the three main tasks – getting around the island, “shoring up” the island (undoing the effects of rising water), and moving/claiming treasure. The island itself consists of tiles laid out randomly  in a cross-shaped grid. Some tiles are labeled as places to claim treasure, and some are labeled with pawns, and serve as starting places for that player (pawn colors correspond to the identity and special ability of that player). Players alternate, performing three actions per turn, from this list: Move to an adjacent tile, Shore up a tile that has been flooded (i.e., unflood it), Give a treasure card to another player, or Claim a treasure (use four treasure cards to claim an actual treasure by being on the appropriately labeled tile). After the actions are taken, players draw two treasure cards – one of which might actually be one of three “Waters Rise” cards in the deck. At that point, “Flood Cards” are drawn, revealing which tiles will be flooded. Those tiles are physically inverted, or, if they had already been inverted, they are GONE from the game. Yikes! As the game progresses, water levels only get higher, so more cards are drawn, and hence more tiles flooded, when the Waters Rise cards are drawn. To make matters worse, when the Waters Rise cards is drawn, all the flood cards previously drawn are reshuffled and placed on top of the draw pile, so they are the first to be drawn again.

Word on the Street (Out of the Box):

Players form two teams, and have 30 seconds to name, and spell, something from a given category (as determined by a drawn card). Sounds fun, no?

There is more to it, of course. The board is long and thin, and consists of two, two-lane roads separated by a median. Most letters of the alphabet (no vowels and no J Q, X, or Z) occupy the median in a long column from B to Y. As the words are spelled, one of the spelling team members moves the appropriate letter into the roads from the median, toward the edge of the board. Then the other team does the same, with a new category. The result is a sort of alphabet tug-of-war. When a team manages to use a letter enough to move it off of their side of the board, they win it. The first to win 8 letters, wins!

I expected this to be a winner. It’s exciting, it’s nice to be able to form teams, and it’s especially great for people who are fond of words with repeated consonants…(peppermint, Guggenheim, Mississippi, etc).

Inaugural Post!

Hey-Ho! Welcome aboard!

I started this blog as a companion to my first one – Games By Johnny (gamesbyjohnny.wordpress.com), because that one is strictly for game reviews. I really want to answer questions and discuss other board game related stuff, and stuff about the board game hobby and all its implications.

So that’s what this is about. Feel free to follow along and chime in, or start a new topic or ask a question. We have all night!