I was considering the other day the commonalities that some of the popular and successful games in my local hobby shop share. The games in question were the various CCGs (specifically MtG), the Clix games, and the Games Workshop line of tabletop wargames.
Two of them feature models, but one doesn't. Two of them are collected randomly and traded, one isn't. The list goes on, but what I was interested in were the common denominators. It boiled down to two factors that I could tell;
1. Customizablity or ownership of a role. All three games share a feature that allows the player to make their own role in the game unique. A limited form of roleplay, in a sense.
2. All three games are nominally designed for two players but have extensive variations for three or more. It seems to me that the strength here is that you can never really have the wrong number of players.
What place do these features have in more traditional board games?
-Alex
Hi Alexi,
I don't consider myself an expert but I'd like to give you my opinion on your question!
1. Customizablity or ownership of a role: I think in "standard" boardgames all the roles of the various players are the same or at least have a common aim where to work at. There are some exceptions, most notably in RPG-Boardgames where each player can choose his character, but thats just about it. In a tradidional boardgame it would be a very complex matter to balance various roles. for example: Puerto Rico or Citadels both feature different roles that can be chosen, but in both games all players can choose the different roles throughout the game.
2. All three games are nominally designed for two players but have extensive variations for three or more: Once again the number of players that a game is developed for is crucial to the number of players a game might still work. Indeed standard 2-player boardgames won't work when adding a third or a fourth player. One of the most difficult thing when developing a game is to balance the different number of players that might play the game without introducing to many exceptions in the basic rules.