Beyond "Good" and "Bad": Expanding the Art of Reviewing Board Games

Summary

The video discusses the challenge of liking popular board games that may not resonate with everyone. It explores how gamers can better understand their preferences by analyzing a game's features objectively rather than relying solely on subjective reviews. The speaker highlights five key elements: complexity, motivation (mechanics vs. theme), interaction, artistry, and strategy. By examining these aspects, players can make more informed decisions. The video also introduces an accompanying web app for rating games based on these criteria, encouraging the community to engage in more structured game discussions.

Takeaways

• 🎯 Kickstarter board games can sometimes fall flat for individuals, even when popular with others.
• 🤔 It’s hard to give an honest response when a game isn't enjoyed but is loved by everyone else.
• 🎲 Identifying what type of games you enjoy comes with time and experience. For example, dice worker placement mechanics can help predict enjoyment.
• 📝 Board Game Geek's top-rated games might not always align with personal preferences, even if they are popular.
• 👀 Reviewers can be helpful in guiding choices, but personal preferences aren't always fully covered by a single reviewer.
• 🔍 Objective metrics for measuring board games, like complexity, exist but are limited. A more comprehensive vocabulary for describing games is needed.
• 🧠 Games can be divided between mechanically-driven (like Wingspan) and thematically-driven (like Redwood) designs, each appealing to different types of players.
• 👥 Games can have varying levels of player interaction, ranging from isolated experiences to highly involved ones.
• 🎨 Artistry in board games can vary from extravagant to minimalist, both having their own unique appeal.
• 📊 Strategy can be based on luck, skill, or a blend of both, and this greatly affects the accessibility and enjoyment of the game.

Q & A

What challenge does the speaker describe when being invited to play a highly praised game?

The speaker describes the challenge of disliking a game that everyone else enjoys, making it difficult to share an honest opinion without feeling isolated.

Why does the speaker find it difficult to determine if a game is right for them, despite popular opinion or reviews?

The speaker struggles with relying on popular opinions or reviews because personal preferences may differ, even when a game is highly praised or considered a top-rated game on platforms like Board Game Geek.

What method does the speaker suggest for finding games that match personal preferences over time?

The speaker suggests that with time and experience, players will learn to recognize the characteristics of games they enjoy, such as specific mechanics like dice worker placement, and to follow reviewers whose tastes align with their own.

What problem did the speaker encounter with their own 'perfect board game formula'?

The speaker's 'perfect board game formula' had two main issues: it wasn't intuitive for people to understand, and the use of a 10-point rating system made it seem subjective, despite the speaker's intention for it to be objective.

What is the widely accepted, objective metric for measuring a quality of board games mentioned by the speaker?

Complexity is the most widely accepted and objective metric for measuring board games, often printed on game boxes to indicate how complex or simple a game is to play.

What are the five elements of game design that the speaker believes can objectively describe a game?

The five elements of game design the speaker identifies are: motivation behind a game's design (mechanics vs. theme), degree of interaction, artistry, strategy (skill vs. luck), and complexity.

How does the speaker distinguish between a game motivated by mechanics and one motivated by theme?

A mechanically motivated game, like Wingspan, focuses more on the gameplay mechanics, while a thematically motivated game, like Redwood, integrates mechanics inspired by its theme, making it harder to re-theme.

What does the speaker identify as an example of a balanced game in terms of mechanics and theme?

The speaker cites the game Barrage as an example of a balanced game, where it is unclear whether the game was motivated more by its mechanics or its theme, as both are well-integrated.

Why did the speaker stop rating games based on their components and shift the focus to artistry?

The speaker realized that rating components didn't work because good components are always seen as a positive. Instead, they shifted focus to artistry, recognizing a spectrum between extravagant and restrained design, both of which appeal to players in different ways.

How does the speaker explain their personal dislike for Wingspan despite acknowledging it as a good game?

The speaker finds Wingspan to be too isolated, lacking enough skill-based strategy for its length, and believes that adding more luck might make the game move faster, which is why the game doesn't appeal to them personally.

Outlines

00:00

🎲 Dealing with Popular Games You Don't Like

The speaker describes the experience of disliking a popular game that others seem to enjoy. They reflect on the challenge of expressing one's dislike in these situations, especially when everyone else, including reviewers, is enthusiastic. They use Board Game Geek's top 100 list as an example, noting that while many games are highly rated, they may not resonate with everyone. The speaker explores how individual tastes vary and how identifying what you personally enjoy in a game can help find better matches.

05:01

⚙️ Mechanics vs. Theme: The Two Ends of Game Design

This paragraph introduces the idea of two main motivations behind game design: mechanics-driven and theme-driven games. The speaker contrasts Wingspan, a game with a strong bird-watching theme but primarily mechanics-driven gameplay, with Redwood, a thematically rich wildlife photography game. Wingspan's core mechanic can be re-themed, while Redwood’s mechanics are inseparable from its theme. The speaker explains that games can exist on a spectrum between these two extremes, with some games balancing both mechanics and theme.

10:03

🎨 Interaction, Artistry, and Strategy in Games

The speaker introduces additional elements of game design: interaction, artistry, and strategy. Games can vary in player interaction, from isolated experiences to highly interactive ones like social deduction games. Artistry is described as a broad spectrum, from extravagant components to minimalist design, both of which have their own appeal. Strategy also ranges from luck-based games to skill-heavy games like chess, with Euro games often incorporating a balance between luck and skill. These elements all influence how a game feels and is experienced by different players.

📊 Using Elements of Game Design to Evaluate Games

The speaker outlines five key elements to describe games objectively: motivation (mechanics vs. theme), interaction, artistry, strategy, and complexity. They explain that while other factors like player count and duration are important, these five elements help provide a structured way to evaluate whether a game is enjoyable or suitable for a specific player. The speaker uses Wingspan as an example, noting that its level of isolation, strategy depth, and complexity make it less appealing to them personally, even though it’s a popular game. Finally, they invite viewers to explore a web app where users can rate games based on these elements.

Keywords

💡Complexity

Complexity refers to the number of rules, interactions, and depth involved in understanding and playing a board game. It is one of the most widely accepted and objective metrics for assessing board games. In the video, complexity is mentioned as a way to describe whether a game suits an individual's preferences, such as someone enjoying more complex games over simpler ones like 'Rhino Hero.'

💡Mechanics

Mechanics are the systems and rules that govern how a board game operates. The video contrasts mechanics-driven games, where gameplay revolves around specific actions and strategies (e.g., 'Wingspan's' action selection mechanic), with games where mechanics are deeply tied to the theme. Understanding mechanics helps players determine whether a game fits their style.

💡Theme

Theme refers to the narrative or setting of a board game, often influencing its story and context. In the video, the speaker discusses how some games, like 'Redwood,' are thematically driven, meaning the mechanics are designed to immerse players in a particular experience, while others like 'Wingspan' have a theme but are more focused on mechanics.

💡Interaction

Interaction describes the level of player engagement and involvement with each other during a game. Some games are highly interactive, such as negotiation-based games like 'Katan,' while others are more isolated, with players mostly playing alongside each other, as seen in 'roll-and-write' games. The degree of interaction can heavily influence a player's enjoyment.

💡Strategy

Strategy refers to the level of skill and planning required to succeed in a game. The video contrasts games that rely mostly on luck (e.g., 'Bingo') with those that are entirely strategy-based (e.g., 'Chess'). Many Eurogames balance luck and strategy to make games more accessible and engaging, even for less skilled players.

💡Artistry

Artistry in board games refers to the visual and aesthetic components, including the design of the board, cards, and pieces. The video mentions how games can range from extravagant to minimalistic in their artistic approach, appealing to players on a personal level. The speaker emphasizes that both approaches are valid and can enhance the overall experience.

💡Motivation

Motivation behind a game's design can be either mechanical or thematic. The video explores how certain games, like 'Wingspan,' are more mechanically driven, while others, like 'Redwood,' are thematically motivated. This understanding helps players determine what kind of experience they are likely to enjoy based on the game's design motivation.

💡Objective evaluation

Objective evaluation refers to assessing board games based on measurable qualities rather than personal opinions. The speaker advocates for a system that evaluates games based on elements like complexity, interaction, and mechanics rather than subjective reviews. This approach would provide players with a clearer understanding of what to expect from a game.

💡Eurogames

Eurogames are a genre of board games that emphasize strategy over luck and often involve indirect interaction between players. In the video, the speaker refers to 'barrage,' a Eurogame that blends mechanics and theme seamlessly. Eurogames are contrasted with more luck-based games or games with heavy interaction like negotiation games.

💡Personal preference

Personal preference plays a major role in determining how much an individual will enjoy a board game. The speaker emphasizes that not every popular game, even if highly rated on Board Game Geek or endorsed by reviewers, will appeal to everyone. Understanding your preferences in terms of mechanics, theme, complexity, and interaction is crucial in selecting games.

Highlights

Discusses the feeling of not enjoying a popular game, even when everyone else seems to love it.

Explores the challenges of determining whether a game is suitable for you, despite its widespread acclaim.

Mentions Board Game Geek's top 100 games, and how not all highly rated games resonate with everyone.

Highlights the importance of understanding personal preferences in game mechanics, such as the dice worker placement mechanic.

Critiques the use of subjective ratings in board game reviews and calls for a more objective way to describe games.

Complexity is described as the most widely accepted, intuitive metric for board games, used to describe how complex a game is.

Introduces the idea of using five objective elements to describe games: complexity, motivation, interaction, artistry, and strategy.

Uses 'Wingspan' as an example of a game that is more mechanically motivated than thematically motivated.

Contrasts mechanically motivated games like 'Wingspan' with thematically driven games like 'Redwood.'

Explains that the degree of interaction is another key element, ranging from isolated to highly involved gameplay.

Describes artistry in games, noting that it ranges from extravagant components to minimalist designs, both having their own appeal.

Discusses the importance of strategy in games, from pure luck-based games to skill-driven games like chess and Go.

Criticizes 'Wingspan' for its lack of balance between its level of strategy and its isolated nature.

Mentions a web app that allows users to rate games based on these five objective elements.

Encourages viewers to join the Patreon page to support further development of this objective review system.

Transcripts

yeah you know the feeling you've been

invited to your friend's house for a

game night to try a game that they've

been raving about for weeks the

kickstarter it exceeded its goal by 30

times over and you hated it and you can

tell by the smile on everybody else's

faces that it seemed to strike a cord

with everyone but you so you're

preparing your response for that

inevitable question what did you think

that was awesome I really

enjoyed being invited over and how much

more difficult is it when a game is

immensely popular and it seems like

everyone likes it except you or let's be

real what about when you're watching a

reviewer and the reviewer claims that

the game is spectacular well still how

do you know if a game is really for you

also I don't know about you but I look

at board game geek's top 100 games of

all time Board Game Geek the largest and

most popular board game rating site on

the internet the top 100 games and at

least half of them don't really land for

me they're not bad

but like I wouldn't consider buying them

how do I find a game that I would really

like there are some solutions for this

problem for example with time and

experience you'll eventually learn the

characteristics of games that you tend

to really enjoy for me I really like the

dice worker placement mechanic so when a

lot of hype came out about the White

Castle right before Essen I kind of

thought that this would be a game that I

would still really enjoy and I do enjoy

it not only that but we look to

reviewers and as we get to know

different reviewers and voices on the

internet we come to identify those whose

tastes we are very much in tune with for

me Tom vassel was that and when I got

into the Hobby in 2010 he was like my

guide to finding new games but this is

insufficient because even though I like

dice worker placement games doesn't mean

I like dice worker placement games just

because of the mechanic I mean I'm not a

huge fan of rajas of the genes and our

favorite reviewers sadly don't cover

every game that we're interested in what

I want what I have been looking for and

what I would love the community to agree

upon is a concrete and objective way of

describing games that doesn't depend on

one's opinions but on the feature and

qualities of a game at this point I'd

like to interject something for those of

you who are familiar with the channel

you're probably thinking this is the

part where I introduced the perfect

board game formula except I'm not

because even though it was a system that

I devised to describe board games I made

two mistakes with it one it wasn't very

intuitive people didn't understand what

I was talking about when I rated theme

in mechanics and two I used a 10-point

system to rate these attributes and a

system like that lends itself to this

expectation that these are going to be

opinions or my preference about these

games when that wasn't the goal I still

want something like that but something

objective and something that makes more

sense so with that context in mind let's

continue the video oh and while I have

your attention if this is a project

you're interested in may be considered

becoming a patron thanks now let's

resume now there already exists an

objective and widely accepted metric for

measuring one quality of board games

this is something that is so

conventional we almost take it for

granted some board game manufacturers

actually print it on their board game

boxes and it's a measure of a game's

complexity you can actually say

something like Rhino hero was a lot of

fun um thank you for showing it to me I

I think I probably wouldn't buy it I

generally like games that are a little

bit more complex or you could say uh it

was a lot of rules I got to admit I felt

lost most of the time I think this level

of complexity really isn't for me and

this is perfect when it comes to

complexity it's an objective way that

you can describe how you feel about a

game that is agreeable to everyone it's

because it doesn't say something about

the game it says something about you now

complexity is the most widely accepted

intuitive and familiar met for measuring

games but it's not the only one in fact

some board game Publishers have their

own metrics and they actually print them

on their board games however for the

hobby at large they're still lacking a

vocabulary to describe games objectively

but in my opinion there are five

elements complexity is one of those

elements and probably the most

conventional so I'll start my focus on

the one that is probably the most loaded

but also the most needed and that is the

motivation behind a game's design this

is probably best understood by looking

at two extremes on one end we have games

that are motivated by their mechanics or

what you're doing when you play the game

and at the other end are games that have

thematic interests or a narrative that

needs to be told and all of the

mechanics are designed to support this

theme now to provide an example I think

we should best look at wingspan the game

that I have provoked more people than

any other because I dared to say that it

has a low theme score now don't get me

wrong wingspan has an undeniable theme

the various birds have different

habitats diets and behaviors the theme

is there however the driving mechanic of

wingspan is action selection compounded

by card effects the objective of course

is to use resources from cards to to

collect other cards to satisfy other

objectives but none of this is inspired

by bird watching this is a really really

fun mechanic and bird watching and birds

complement this game and this is

evidenced by how easy it is to extract

just that core mechanic and rethe it in

games like Earth or gizmos or raising

robots so that is all I am saying about

wingspan it is a game that is more

mechanically motived ated then

thematically motivated and you can see

it because of what it is that drives the

game playay but let's look at an example

on the Other Extreme consider Redwood

which by the way is a game that I don't

own so we'll look at some of the

kickstarter promo trailer footage for it

but this is a game about Wildlife

Photography in this game you move your

photographer by using something like

calipers and you frame your shot by

placing angles of various sizes on the

environment decorated by plants and

animals this mechanic is clearly

inspired by its theme it is in fact so

thematic that is the reason why I don't

own this game because it is so

technically involved that I would rather

go outside and actually take photographs

of animals than than go through the

mechanics of the calipers and the

framing of the shot and all of that

stuff I do think it's I oh my gosh I

think it's brilliant I think it's

amazing but you can't rethe this game

you could rethe it into some other

photography theme but you can't make it

about trains for example this is a

thematically motivated game that is the

difference but here's what I'm really

saying notice that when I tell you that

I don't own the game because it's

essentially too

thematic I'm not actually saying

anything bad about the game I'm rather

I'm telling you something about me but

it's not either or it could be both for

for example consider the game barrage

barrage is a game that's about dams and

the driving mechanic of the game is

blocking other players by preventing

water flow getting to their dams now the

thing about this game is I I honestly

can't tell whether this game was

motivated by its mechanic or its theme

because it it still rings with all of

the characteristics of a true Euro game

which Euro games are usually heavily

driven by mechanics and yet the theme is

is perfectly integrated I would say that

this game is balanced the next element

of game design is something that I think

we all recognize we just don't often use

this to describe games but it would be

the degree of a game's interaction a

game could either be very involved or it

could be isolated isolated games these

are games like rolling rights flipping

rights uh next stop London kuuba draft

and right records they all fall way down

over here sometimes there may be just a

little bit of involvement because you're

competing for first place to achieve an

objective or something but other than

that it's people playing alongside each

other at the Other Extreme are games

where interaction is the mechanic of the

game games that involve negotiation or

social deduction like Avalon or even

Katan and then I think a lot of Euros

fall somewhere in the middle with

varying degrees of interaction on either

side the next element is artistry now

previously I used to call this

components and I tried to say that this

was an objective quality of the game but

wouldn't good components be a good thing

and a low score for components always be

a bad game somebody pointed that out and

I realized yeah rating components

doesn't really work but Artistry I think

ranges from two extremes there are

extravagant games games that go above

and beyond with their components and

then there is another extreme in this

art form which is games that are rest

strained games that have minimized and I

think there's actually a beauty to that

but point being there is an entire

gradient and all of it is beautiful in

its own sense more importantly it

appeals to a person in a very personal

way finally there is the element of

strategy which varies from games that

are pure skill to games that are pure

luck so at the very far end you have

games that are entirely luck like Bingo

or Candyland and then just one notch up

from that are games that are all about

luck but have a strategy that can be

played predictably so games like

cribbage or blackjack or yatsi these are

games that you will certainly lose if

you don't play a strategy at all but the

strategy could be calculated and then

the other end are games that are pure

strategy games like go or chess and

games like this can sometimes be

inaccessible to people or unappealing to

people just because it's a competition

of who is the more skilled whereas the

nice thing about Euro games one notch

back is that just by adding some degree

of luck maybe a little roll of dice or

some cards you can get a game where the

outcome is unknown and even a less

experienced player has a chance these

are games where everybody can have some

fun because it's not just about winning

or losing but rather the game in getting

to the end playing to be efficient

playing the best game that you can

despite possibly not having the best

skill so those are the five elements the

motivation behind a game's design degree

of interaction Artistry strategy and of

course complexity while I may have five

elements that's still still not enough I

mean A Game's mechanics its player count

its duration these are all relevant when

determining whether or not you like a

game however I don't think the value of

a reviewer comes from describing those

things you can identify those

characteristics just by looking at the

back of the box however with these five

elements it does allow us to use them in

combination with each other to

accomplish the thing that we set out to

do at the beginning of this video to

tell an angry mob that we don't like a

game

so for an example and for my angry mob

here's what I think is the real issue

with wingspan this is a more isolated

game which is fine I don't mind isolated

games every now and then however for its

depth of strategy it doesn't have enough

skill involved in order to really engage

me and justify the game's duration and I

actually think that if it had more luck

it would help things move along a little

quicker additionally the game is complet

Lex enough that it takes additional time

to get the game on the table that Al

together is a combination that isn't so

effective for

me

so if hearing games described like that

is something that you're interested in

that is what this channel is all about

and I have many more videos to come but

that's not all I also have an

accompanying web app that has all of

this data recorded with user ratings so

you can get on there find your favorite

game and rate them according to how you

think they would fairly be

evaluated and then lastly if you really

want to support this project go ahead

and check out my patreon page I alluded

to that earlier but if you go there

you'll find that there are benefits with

the Discord Channel where we're talking

together about how Games should be

described and sharing our game

experiences as well as more exclusive

content thank you again for watching in

I hope you found this video useful and

I'll see you next time bye-bye