I was trying, the other night, to decide what the single best game I'd ever had was. The one which sprung to mind was a 4-player game of Settlers of Catan which was so close that we were all on 9 points for several rounds before someone finially clinched it. But why was this such a good game I thought?
I like Settlers, I like it a lot, but when questioned I often argue that it's heavily dependant on the luck of the dice. So why then was it possible to have such a thrilling game, should it not have been a bit like Snakes and Ladders?
The answer, I've decided, lies in the area of (excuse my language) fucking other people up: And this it the area where Catan excels, because when closely matched individualy play one another they can see the tipping points, they can see when one player gains an advantage. This means that whoever takes an early lead quickly gets attacked from all angles.
The areas of interaction are equally important: The game is simple enough in concept that you can keep a close eye on other player's strategies, this means that you know who to trade with and when, it means that you get good banter between players because you're not all wrapped-up in your own game and, crucially, it means that the end-point is obvious to everybodey both before and when it happens.
Catan, as any keen gamer will know, it ranked well below several significant non-dice games. It is my belief that people see these as more intelectual, more highly skilled games. This may be so but it doesn't mean that they are necessarily better games: For all the skill and variety of games like Agricola they are neither as fun nor as close as a truley great game of Catan. This, I believe, lies largely in the fact that you concentrate so hard on your own game that interaction between players and therefore a close, well fought game, becomes all but impossible.
I like all these games, but I think that developers of new games would do well to play a little Catan and remind themselves what can be truley blistering about a close, banter-filled game.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I feel you summed it all up very nicely there.
I was gonna talk about how I introduced yet more people to Catan this weekend, but decided another Catan-based article would be too much. Hence the chair.
Post a Comment