summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2008-05-31 09:59 am
summercomfort) wrote2008-05-31 09:59 am
Tigris and Euphrates!
Last night was a BADASS game night! We met at Jono's and played 4-person Tigris and Euphrates. It's an awesome board game!
Let's look at my aforementioned "ideal game play for Sushu" list:
- easy to learn
Yes! I've discovered that I like playing resource games because they're generally easier to learn than moving all these different troops around, and each turn takes like 15 minutes and other people are really bored. In this game, each turn has only 2 actions, and fights are resolved not by a second set of troops or whatever, but by the same resources that you're fighting over. Straightforward!
- flexible in time spent
There's a set end time of "when the tiles run out", which last night took 2.5 hours, which is decent game time. And if we want a shorter game, it's totally feasible to cut the # of tiles in half or some such.
- more using of existing worlds/characters and less creating of new worlds/characters. (Whether in-game or out)
It's a resource game, so I didn't have to create an "Urn" Dynasty, or an "Arrow" dynasty. When I played Dune, I felt pressured to act my role of the Bene Gesserit and be crafty and stuff, and that was no fun. Here, I could interact with an existing board landscape with existing tiles.
- allows me to be myself
Yay! See above. Another example is when I was playing the Global Warming Game, I felt weird pretending to be a Tiger Country or a 3rd World Country or whatnot.
- many changing alliances that also allow for fun interactions between players
Even though each turn has only 2 actions, you can use one action to pick a fight, and not necessarily involving you, but perhaps profiting you. It's cool because it might get the waiting players involved in a fight that they don't want. It also means that with each turn, the potential for drastic change to the board is so high that the waiting players can't run themselves ragged trying to plan ahead. This also means lots of interactions between players!
- The process of the game is unique to the players and can be re-told and shared with relish to someone who wasn't there.
Um... not so much, but that's generally true of board games. But I did learn that my brother is a crafty one when it comes to board games.
Also, I LOVE the way resources are handled on Tigris and Euphrates-- you don't get resource points for maintaining land, you get it for putting down land. Of course, if you maintain land, then there's a higher chance of winning in a fight. But it was pretty awesome when my initial kingdom was destroyed, I was like, "hey! I still have 3 points! I don't have to give it up!" The resource tiles are just so multi-functional it's awesome. :DDD
Let's look at my aforementioned "ideal game play for Sushu" list:
- easy to learn
Yes! I've discovered that I like playing resource games because they're generally easier to learn than moving all these different troops around, and each turn takes like 15 minutes and other people are really bored. In this game, each turn has only 2 actions, and fights are resolved not by a second set of troops or whatever, but by the same resources that you're fighting over. Straightforward!
- flexible in time spent
There's a set end time of "when the tiles run out", which last night took 2.5 hours, which is decent game time. And if we want a shorter game, it's totally feasible to cut the # of tiles in half or some such.
- more using of existing worlds/characters and less creating of new worlds/characters. (Whether in-game or out)
It's a resource game, so I didn't have to create an "Urn" Dynasty, or an "Arrow" dynasty. When I played Dune, I felt pressured to act my role of the Bene Gesserit and be crafty and stuff, and that was no fun. Here, I could interact with an existing board landscape with existing tiles.
- allows me to be myself
Yay! See above. Another example is when I was playing the Global Warming Game, I felt weird pretending to be a Tiger Country or a 3rd World Country or whatnot.
- many changing alliances that also allow for fun interactions between players
Even though each turn has only 2 actions, you can use one action to pick a fight, and not necessarily involving you, but perhaps profiting you. It's cool because it might get the waiting players involved in a fight that they don't want. It also means that with each turn, the potential for drastic change to the board is so high that the waiting players can't run themselves ragged trying to plan ahead. This also means lots of interactions between players!
- The process of the game is unique to the players and can be re-told and shared with relish to someone who wasn't there.
Um... not so much, but that's generally true of board games. But I did learn that my brother is a crafty one when it comes to board games.
Also, I LOVE the way resources are handled on Tigris and Euphrates-- you don't get resource points for maintaining land, you get it for putting down land. Of course, if you maintain land, then there's a higher chance of winning in a fight. But it was pretty awesome when my initial kingdom was destroyed, I was like, "hey! I still have 3 points! I don't have to give it up!" The resource tiles are just so multi-functional it's awesome. :DDD
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Also, from reading this, it seems like you take roles really from a deep motivation point, so that might be worth thinking about for roleplaying in the future.
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Yay! Maybe you can come down to Jono's again some time. I know South Bay is Totally Far Away, but it was fun last time, right?
> (I haven't played tons of boardgames, so this is where you school me).
Actually, I haven't played many board games myself. ^^;;
>Also, from reading this, it seems like you take roles really from a deep motivation point
What do you mean by that, "deep motivation point"? I'd like to hear more.
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a. You could play your character thinking about what is "best" for the character in a logical fashion ("If I manage these resources like THIS, then I get more resources1")
b. You could play your character thinking about what would make the best story(drama, comedy, whatever), and looking at it from the standpoint of an author/audience, make your decisions based on that. ("It'd be great if he fell in love with his half sister, but never knew it!")
c. But it sounds like you play your character thinking about how your character would think, what motivations he or she would have, specifically, as the basis for how you play. ("He really just wants to raise his family, why would he go on this adventure").
(There's other ways you could come from any of these, or places between, but these are sxamples).
So when you're playing roleplaying games, you'll probably want to:
1) find out if the game or people you're playing with are expecting you to play in one fashion or another.
2) let the people playing know how you like to play so they can help set up situations that fit with your character and work with that in play
3) think of ways which you could set up your characters from the beginning to have motivations that fit with the general style of the game ("What kind of person goes on adventures anyway?")
For example, The Emperor's Heart strongly comes from the school of B above- you don't need to have deep motivations initially- two people are fighting with swords- but through play, you create, develop, or make up motivations that make for a good drama - "ZOMG! They're really lovers who THINK they betrayed each other..."
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Anyways, I will definitely take your suggestions into account next time I find myself in a roleplaying situation. :)
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