Over the years tabletop games have evolved to include a variety of different styles, types, and formats. Some game-play mechanics (mechanisms) have been around for hundreds of years while others have been more recently developed to support the different types of games. Some board games may employ one primary mechanic while other games may mix multiple mechanics to accomplish varying goals and themes. Terminology used to describe different mechanics/mechanisms and game types can be difficult to understand, especially for those relatively new to hobby board games. I've attempted round up and define many of these mechanics & styles in a list to aid you. Action Selection - Players select an action to perform from a menu of choices. Area Control (also Area Majority) - Players compete by having the most pieces in particular areas of the board or completely controlling an area, scoring points or as a victory condition. See also Majority Control. Auction (Bidding) - Players place bids on items or resources within the game. Cooperative - All players participate as a group or team to complete the game objective(s) together. Card Drafting - The primary purpose is to gradually select cards (draft) to form decks that can then be used to play the game. There are several variants. Following are some examples. a) players acquire cards by selecting them from a face up display. b) players select cards from a subset of the available cards to form a deck or hand or to select the next card to play. c) players each start with a hand of cards and select individual card(s) before passing the remaining cards to the next player. In addition to cards, there are other forms of drafting: dice, objects, units or characters. Deck Building - Players each begin with a small, similar base deck of cards. Through the course of the game additional cards are selected for inclusion in the players' decks making each deck somewhat unique. As the deck is built upon and strengthened, the new cards are drawn and used in future reshuffles of the deck. Often these games require players to discard their hand each turn forcing a high rate of card turnover. The game which is credited as the first to use this mechanic is Dominion. Dexterity Game - Requiring physical activity to play. Moving, flicking or balancing objects (such as chips, tiles, bricks, dice, discs, etc...) to shift to specific locations or align with other objects to meet the game's objective(s). Dice Game - This is fairly self explanatory. A game in which the primary mechanic is rolling dice. See also Roll & Write game. Rolling dice is one of the oldest game mechanics. Economic Game - Models the economy of a city, state, nation, planet, galaxy, etc. Players will have to invest in various factors of production: capital improvements (like power plants, RR track, settlements & cities), raw materials/resources (fuel, grain, wood, coal, ore, wool) & labor, in order to gain income, which is then re-invested into more factors of production to produce more income, etc... Hidden Movement - Usually a one-vs-many game where one player moves secretly around the board, keeping track of their path or current location with cards, by writing their location with paper & pen, or through the use of an app. Typically the other players attempt to find and defeat the hidden character(s). Hidden Traitor - Typically found in a Social Dedection or Semi-Cooperative game. One player is secretly assigned to be a traitor and work against the group somehow. They are hidden from the rest of the players until found out or they reveal themselves. The traitor has a different objective from the group in order to win the game. Legacy Game - These games "remember" what happened from one play to the next getting permanently altered while playing it. The game may require players to permanently mark the board or cards, tear up cards, or take other actions that change the game. The board or cards may change based on the outcome of past game plays or the choices players make along the way. The game is often still playable after the legacy campaign, however it may not be possible to completely reset it. Also listed in the Tabletop Gamers Glossary. Living Card Game (LCG) - A term trademarked by Fantasy Flight Games and described as a variant of Collectible Card Games. The contents of ‘booster packs’ in Collectible Card Games are randomized, the contents of Living Card Game packs or boxes are known. Other games use the non-trademarked term Expandable Card Game to represent a similar idea without running afoul of the trademark. Also listed in the Tabletop Gamers Glossary. Majority Control - Players score for having the most items of a particular type. Negotiation - Players make deals and trade resources or favors. Pick Up and Deliver - Players pick up goods from a location and attempt to efficiently deliver them to another to maximize their benefit. Typically found in economic and train games. Press Your Luck - Players repeatedly choose to perform a random event such as rolling dice on their turn. They may keep some of the result and try to improve upon it by performing the event again. The player must voluntarily end their turn to permanently keep the points or risk potentially reaching a limit or spoiler that forces the turn to end with little or no points. Race - Players compete to be the first to finish a given course of travel or set of tasks. Role Selection - Players select a role that they will take on for the current turn/round. Roles correspond to specific actions or benefits. Roll and Move - Players roll a die or dice on their turn, then mandatorily move according to the results. Often the term roll-and-move is used in a defamatory or condescending tone, implying that a randomizer replaces tactical movement and thus involves relatively mindless play. Roll and Write - Players roll die or dice on their turn, then record a score, mark off a combination checklist, or draw a shape on a erasable marker board or paper tablet. Some games use cards as the randomizer instead of dice. The most common example is Yahtzee. Route (or Network) Building - Nodes are located across the board. Players attempt to connect to form a route or network. This can come in the form of trains, utilities, communication, etc... Set Collection - Players work to collect sets of cards, tiles, cubes, tokens, etc... to score points or spend by turning in a specified set. Social Deduction - Typically refers to party games which use a mechanism of attempting to determine who the other players' characters are (see also Hidden Traitor). Sometimes this is done through the use of discussion or card play. Tech (Technology) Tree - This mechanism is most typically used to simulate technology progression in civilization-type games, however it can translate to other game themes as well. Building at the low end of the tech chart will then allow players to research items higher on the "tree" and so on. Building up technology throughout the game. Moving up the tech tree can result in gaining more resources or more powerful units. Tile Laying or Tile Placement - Players place tiles or other components on the table during their turn to earn points. Placed tiles/components may have to align with others already in play. Trick Taking - Players sequentially play a card and the player with the highest value of the led suit wins the hand which is awarded to that player (or team) as a "trick". Many recent variations of this mechanic change the criteria of what is required to win a trick. Worker Placement - Players, in turn order, place workers (tokens, meeples, cubes) to select various actions presented on a board, cards, tiles, etc. Once an action/location is claimed it often prevents someone else from playing on that spot during that turn. Below are the other sites referenced to help create this list and define the mechanics/ mechanisms and types of games: Board Game Geek, Pub Meeple, Entro Games The different terms used to define the types of mechanics/mechanisms in tabletop games can vary. I've attempted to compile the above list to include the most commonly used terms. Designers will certainly continue to stretch their creativity and bring new mechanisms and styles to board games. Hopefully I've been able to shed light on one or two terms that you may not have heard of or helped better define mechanisms you've come across during games played. Keep exploring new tabletop games, keep reading my blog posts, and...
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I haven't played near enough games to rank the top game designers, though I have played enough games to know which I like. Some have a designer in common. I have also developed a general knowledge of game mechanisms and themes associated with certain designers. I decided to share a few of my favorite game designers. I hope you will chime in with some of your favorite game designers in the comments. Eric M. Lang Eric Lang has become one of the top designers in modern board gaming. He has been credited as the designer or co-designer of a large number of games. Currently, Eric is the Director of Game Design for CMON. My favorite game of his is Blood Rage: An awesome game design that includes territory control, card drafting, and incorporates the use of beautiful miniatures with a Viking theme. Some other games designed or co-designed by Eric Lang I'd like to highlight are: Chaos in the Old World: This Fantasy Flight game based on the Warhammer universe is probably the first Eric Lang game I ever played. Rising Sun: A feudal Japan themed game is the follow-up to Blood Rage. Unfortunately I've not had a chance to play this one. Ankh: The third in the series following Blood Rage and Rising Sun. Ankh will be a Kickstarter project this fall. I've seen the miniatures and it looks great! Dice Masters: A very popular collectible dice game system by Wizkids. Cthulhu: Death May Die: Co-designed with Rob Daviau (see below). I had a chance to demo this yet-to-be-released game at Gen Con 2019. Its a fun adventure, mission-based game set in H.P. Lovecraft's horror world. Bloodborne: The Board Game: Co-designed with Michael Shinall. My friend Nikki and I had a chance to demo this upcoming game. Another mission-based co-op adventure game set in the dark world of Bloodborne. Eric even sat in as the demo leader for a round of the game we played... what a thrill! For more information about Eric M. Lang click here. Rob Daviau Rob is designer or co-designer of a multitude of games and is the co-founder of Restoration Games. Rob Daviau has been designing and in many cases, breathing new life into older titles. My first experience with a Rob Daviau game was probably Risk 2210 A.D.: an updated design of the classic game of RISK. I enjoyed the re-imagining of RISK in this futuristic setting, utilizing moon regions and mechs for troops. Other great titles credited to Rob are: Downforce: A re-envisioning of a classic racing game. Mountains of Madness: A cooperative game based on the H.P. Lovecraft novel. Heroscape: Rise of the Valkyrie: A miniatures adventure and skirmish game with constructible terrain. Pandemic Legacy: The legacy edition of the popular Pandemic series. Axis and Allies: Pacific: Very successful series of World War II themed strategy board games. Betrayal at house on the Hill: A semi-cooperative adventure game. See my previous post with a critique of this game. For more information about Rob Daviau click here. Martin Wallace Martin has been a top designer in this modern era of hobby board gaming for many years. Some of his titles go back to the 1990's. Age of Steam in 2002 was probably the first game of his that I had heard of. He is noted for a number of "train games". In 2018 he designed two vastly different games that both caught my attention. I have included them as the first two games in my highlight list below: AuZtralia: This game draws from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos and ties it to an alternate reality where the Old Ones are awakening in the outback of Australia. A wonderful mixture of resource gathering, management and combat. Wildlands: A card-driven miniatures skirmish game. Easy to learn/teach, especially for this genre of miniatures skirmish games. A Study in Emerald: The predecessor to AuZtralia, this game takes place in nineteenth century England, combining the world of Sherlock Holmes with the Cthulhu mythos. Discworld: Ankh-Morpork: Based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld. I enjoyed playing a demo game during Gen Con several years ago. Steam: One of Martin's most popular "train games". A reimplementation of his earlier game, Age of Steam. Brass: Lancashire and Brass: Birmingham: The former "Lancashire" is the original game of Brass which is a relatively complex Euro-game from 2007. The latter "Birmingham" is the equally complex sequel released more recently in 2018. If you'd like to read more about Marin Wallace on Board Game Geek click here. When I first started gaming, I didn't pay attention to whom the designer was. Many times publishers like Milton Bradley and Parker Bros. who mass produced board games didn't always credit game designers. Now, in this modern era of hobby board gaming, designers are receiving credit and gaining notoriety. The designers I have listed are just three of the ever-growing list of great board game designers. The body of work from these three alone is quite impressive. You may have other game designers whom you admire. Share your favorites in the comments below or post on King's GameNight Facebook page and weigh in on whom you think are the best board game designers.
Enjoy this awesome hobby and... Game on! One of the games I like to break out as we near Fall is Betrayal at House on the Hill. This game has been around awhile and for good reason. It's a fun dungeon-crawl/adventure style cooperative game. Recently we played Betrayal at my game night and in doing so it conjured up some concerns and issues with the game. Betrayal at House on the Hill The second edition of this game was released in 2004 and was designed and developed by Bruce Glassco & Bill McQuillan. By modern board-game standards its a bit old. When we played Betrayal at House on the Hill recently some of these more dated mechanics and issues were apparent while others were less of a concern. None-the-less, I thought it would be fitting to give a critique of the concerns I have regarding the game and some of the fixes (if any) to mitigate them. Make no mistake. I still really enjoy Betrayal at House on the Hill. I think its a fun game that has truly stood the test of time and continues to be fun to pull out and play with friends. I am just highlighting areas that might be worthy of noting and making adjustments for when you play. Recent versions and expansions have made some of these improvements already. Overview of the Game For those unfamiliar with this game, let me briefly summarize how the game is played. This is a "cooperative" game for 3-6 players. Each player selects an explorer character card and miniature from among 12 combinations. The explorers are tasked with entering a mysterious "haunted" house and adventuring through it to unearth its secrets. During the early course of the game, characters move throughout the house venturing through doors to reveal new rooms. Rooms are added to the game by selecting an appropriate tile, flipping it over, and placing on the ever-changing board/map. Many times the room has text describing any special rules for that location and may also show an icon for an event, item or omen. Events are cards that when drawn and read add to the story of the adventure. They describe something that happens and many times have an effect that requires an explorer to make a roll against one of the attributes. Items that are picked up in the locations allow for explorers to collect useful equipment and prepare for what is certain to be a battle of some sort later in the game. Omen cards are more mystical in nature. They too add to the story, and may also reveal a special item that the explorers can use. When a tile requires an explorer to draw an Omen card the player must make a haunt roll at the end of his/her turn. This roll determines when the next phase of the game will start, the "Haunt". The haunt roll consists of rolling 6 of the special dice containing sides with blank, one pip, and two pips. If the sum of all pips is less than the number of omen cards played by all players, then the haunt begins. The Haunt is the turning point in the game. When the dice roll doesn't meet the required number, the haunt will start. Players refer to a table which cross-references the Omen card that triggered the haunt with the room in which it was found and assigns a haunt number (50 in the base game) and explains which of the explorers has now become the "traitor", while the remaining explorers are "heroes". Each has a special haunt booklet. The traitor moves to another room to read the specified scenario and rules for how he/she is to now win the game. The heroes typically stay put and read the scenario in their booklet explaining how to proceed and win the game. Once both parties have read their new roles and possibly gathered additional tokens as specified in their haunt instructions, they come back to the table to complete the second half of the game. It has now become a one versus many game. Neither party is required to divulge the secrets of how they are to play and win the game unless it becomes necessary to explain certain actions, etc. In many scenarios the traitor may gain the control of monsters or special abilities to use in an additional turn each round. Once either the traitor or heroes have completed their win objective the game ends. This is such a fun game. A unique and innovative concept, especially at the time it was released. Starting the game working together gathering information and items, only to have one of the group turn against everyone at the mid-point changing the way the game is played. Just like in a good horror file, this game provides a plot twist in the form of the "haunt". This game usually leads to a lot of table banter and discussion, further lending itself to an enjoyable group experience. Though a lot of fun, Betrayal at House on the Hill still has its shortcomings. Some of those stood out to me as we played this week, while others are issues that have been discussed by many over the years. Let me explain some of these concerns and how to possibly keep them from having a negative impact on your experience. The Issues and/or Concerns Character cards with clips
Traitor Apprehension
Final Thoughts
If someone were to look only at my laundry list of concerns/issues, they might assume that Betrayal at House on the Hill is not a good game or that I don't like it. In fact, the opposite is true. I really enjoy this game. I have had many fun experiences playing and plan to break it out again in the future. I have just become more cognizant of these areas of concern and want to share options on how to mitigate potential issues. I hope by sharing this with other gamers, we can ensure that everyone continues to have fun playing this modern classic. To link to the Board Game Geek entry for this game click here. It is also pertinent to mention the new variations and expansions for this Betrayal at House on the Hill. Some of the concerns I mentioned above have been addressed and altered in these newer iterations.
Game on! Last Friday I had a chance to attend my friend Troy's game night. He has a large selection of horror themed games that we are attempting to play in September and October as Halloween approaches. We got to play a couple games at this most recent gathering. Last Friday Last Friday night was the 13th of September and a full moon adding to the fun of playing horror themed games. First we played Last Friday: Return to Camp Apache, this is the expansion to the original game Last Friday. It is designed by Antonio Ferrara and Sebastiano Fiorillo and plays up to seven players. Last Friday is a hidden-movement, one versus many game. In this case, the majority of players play cooperatively as stereotypical college students within a horror setting – at a camp in the woods. The players are periodically made aware of the previous locations of a maniac and a demon who both make hidden notes of their movements behind a screen as they stalk the campers. The game is played over the course of two chapters. The results of the first chapter determine the setup for the second. During the first chapter the camper players (college students) attempt to locate keys located in tents around the camp which unlock different cabins as well as find equipment and helpful items by discovering clue tokens along the way. The goal in the scenario we played was for the campers to find the Sheriff and a Witch inside cabin locations and attempt to protect them for 15 rounds. The maniac and the demon had the goal of attempting to kill the campers and/or the Sheriff and Witch. In our game, the campers ended up having two or three casualties and the Witch was also killed. The Sheriff and a couple of campers survived through the first chapter. This was a favorable chapter end for the campers. Next, we started the second chapter. This is where the expansion Last Friday: Return to Camp Apache get's a bit tricky to follow. In the second chapter, the campers who had been running from the maniac and demon trying to protect the Sheriff and Witch, must now continue to evade the maniac while attempting to find and defeat the demon. The player playing as the demon (predator) must now attempt to find and defeat the maniac (prey), while eluding the campers. The maniac must try to kill the Sheriff and/or all the campers while avoiding being found and killed by the demon (predator). It's a circle of terror. Each entity is attempting to elude one enemy while hunting the other. Also, to add to the confusion, one cabin catches ablaze and the fire spreads during the first three turns of the second chapter. This narrows the trails and locations players can traverse thus shrinking the map. While playing this second chapter, our group was a bit concerned and confused as to how some of the mechanics and timing would work out. As we got underway, it didn't take long for the players playing the campers to locate the area in which the demon was lurking. The campers ended up finding/defeating the demon. A victory for the the four of us playing as the campers and thus the end of the game. This was my first time playing Last Friday. I have only played this expansion and not played the base game before. The expansion was innovative in how it utilized two "bad guys". I don't believe I've played another game quite like it. It's not too often you can play a strategy table-top game with seven players. Most seven-player games tend to be more social or party games. That being noted, it did feel like there were some loopholes in the second chapter rules. Although it didn't occur in our game, it seemed like there could be an opportunity for the maniac and demon to cross paths, not knowing it for two to three turns. In that case, there could possibly be a way the maniac might satisfy his win condition without knowing that the demon had in fact already found and killed him a turn or two prior. I'm sure that situation is probably rare, however it was a concern of ours as we interpreted the rules. Overall, I had a lot of fun playing this game. Players get to choose from a selection of characters with slightly different abilities and the cooperative aspect was fun. The maniac and demon players had some special abilities they could use to their advantage, making there hidden movement even more difficult to track. All seven of us seemed to enjoy the game and the banter. The theme certainly fit the date. Since this was my one and only play of this game, I'm not prepared to give any definitive statements regarding Last Friday: Return to Camp Apache. If my overview and description sound interesting to you, then you may want to look for this one. You can also link to the Board Game Geek page by clicking here. Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu The second game we played at Troy's lair was the H.P. Lovecraft themed Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu. If you haven't played any of the Pandemic games, I highly recommend as a cooperative game option. Many consider Pandemic to be the first choice when introducing people to coop games. Click here to learn more about the world of Pandemic on the Z-Man Games site. Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu is a cooperative game for 2-4 players, and plays in about an hour. This version of Pandemic is set in an H.P. Lovecraft horror setting. Players each choose an investigator card and corresponding miniature. Each with its own unique special ability. The game is set up with a number of locations on the map being occupied by cultists. The goal of the game is for the players to seal gates located in four different towns, thus preventing the Great Old Ones entry to this world. The old ones will spawn Shoggoth's and Cultists on the board as play progresses. Investigators can lose sanity during the game. Once insane, the player flips the character card over to the insane side with altered stats and special abilities typically hindering that investigator. If the group is successful in sealing all four gates before time runs out (when card deck is depleted or all cultists on the board), then the investigators win as a team. If not, Cthulhu claims victory and all players lose. In our play of the game, Troy, Mike, Rich and I did well. I don't think any one of our characters went insane. At one point there were only about three cultists left, if they would enter the board before we could defeat others, then the game would end in defeat. Luckily, we bounced back from that point, defeating several cultists and shoggoths along the way. As time was running out, we had only four cards left in the deck. That meant that we would have three more player turns in which to achieve victory or suffer defeat. Thankfully we had the cards and abilities to do it. With on player turn left to go, our team of investigators defeated the Great Old Ones and won the game! Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu was a lot of fun. In many ways, I think it was a bit less complicated than the original Pandemic game. If I owned this game, I think it would replace my copy of Pandemic. I enjoy the Cthulhu theme and its altered style of play. The artwork was well done. The graphic design and color schemes worked well. I think the simplified map and the use of the Great Old Ones cards on the board to alter game play were all nice variations on the original. If this theme is up your alley, I would most definitely recommend playing this version of Pandemic. If cooperative games and/or horror themed games aren't your cup of tea, you may want to steer clear of this one. To read more about Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu click here for a link to the Board Game Geek page. The group enjoyed playing games on Friday the 13th at Troy's lair. I want to pay a special thank you to Troy for inviting me to his game nights and for allowing me to take some photos during gameplay. If you have any thoughts to add about either of the games played or other horror-themed games, please share by clicking on the comments option within this blog post. Feel free to connect with me through my contact page on this site. And...
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