Well as the title of this blog post suggests, I took a break today to learn about some other games that I have heard of - but never played.
The three (3) games that I have taken the time to watch being played are:
- Ticket To Ride
- Small World
- King of Tokyo
Of these three (3) games, the one that I found the most interesting was Small World. I usually like to play Fantasy games and this one is rather cool with all its races combined with a random special ability.
King of Tokyo was 2nd because I liked the fact that it uses custom d6s and players can re-roll several times. This in fact resembles the Girls' Gymnastics game I was interested in designing. That game was sort of like a Yahtzee variant. The game is still in Limbo as I have not had a chance to re-think its mechanics.
In any event, it was nice to have a couple of hours to myself to have a look at these games. All three (3) are very popular and I must say all three are interesting. But, personally, I would not enjoy Ticket To Ride. When I heard the name - it made me think of riding a Bus. :D But a train makes more sense. However I think I'm more into "Train Robbing" games such as this game by Sean McDonald: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9neKxpddOM
Looks fun and cool for kids also!
Comments
Watching Games Being played
I don't want to hijack the thread so we can continue this in another place but I will ask here to start. Do you have some general criteria for what would make you want to watch a game being played? I got the feeling you were watching from a designer POV. For example, does the idea of knowing all the information while the players don't sound interesting? Would speed plays of long games be interesting?
To be precise...
I wanted to take a *look* at these games because they are very well known. Everybody I know says "Ticket To Ride" is an awesome game. Personally I don't *connect* with the theme (Creating railway routes and foiling those of your opponents).
I specifically like to see a game being played out with SOME of the game's internals being revealed. This way I can get a feeling about the game's mechanics and if the game would interest me. Like I said, I would be interested in buying BOTH "Small World" and "King of Tokyo". If I had to choose, I think I would choose "Small World".
Yes - speed plays is what I was watching (20-30 minute) Videos. It takes time out of my busy schedule to find the time to watch those. I watched about 1 whole hour (straight-through): an Introduction to the game, playing through a couple of turns and then fast-track a few rounds, and then back to a couple turns (further along in the game) and lastly fast-forward to the end turns (to see how the game is resolved - winning conditions).
There are SO MANY games out there... I can't spend like 20-30 minutes on each game. And by all means, I'm no expert in any one of these games. But I do get to see custom d6s and how they are used in combination with abilities (King of Tokyo) or some of the many Races in "Small World" and concepts such as having a race go into decline (and lose their ability)...
I don't like to coach (Quaterback) games - it's simply from a Design POV. It's nice to SEE what it takes to make a complete game together. Sometimes my designs feel like they may lack substance. Some designs like "Rain of Fire" never went anywhere because I could not design a 2 player dual... BUT I have managed to create a pretty kewl Sci-Fi Space Game for one to four players! :D
For the choice part? Well I had already heard of the three games I watched. They are very popular. At the same time I enjoy watching Kickstarter video about up-and-coming games... Those videos are usually shorter (like 5 minutes). Playthrough videos are longer. BUT you get a better feel for the game.