Game People Calling: Board Gamers: The New Hardcore

[Chipperz]

PS. How are elite boardgamers any different than Games Workshop tabletop gamers? I think those guys are the hardcore of the hardcore. When you PAINT YOUR OWN PIECES...

I painted all the pieces for the World of Warcraft board game, does that count? Still haven't got round to painting the figures from Burning Crusade yet, but fuck, that's a bastard to learn AND play - you have to remember all the rules, while questing so you can level up to do the final raid... While racing the other team! And the game gets more rules, addendums and caveats the higher up you go!

I like to think I'm a fairly smart guy, but my mind just shuts down trying to play the World of Warcraft boardgame...

 

[Jared]

Something I havnt thought about in a longtime...I suppose Board Gamers can be just as hardcore (or more so as senn) than us who play with a console..

Food for thought indeed

 

[Enigmers]

I'm a bit of a board gamer, though I've really only got three games, plus a set of WH40k miniatures I never use.

A friend of mine has all the staples - Catan, Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, they're all great fun. I own a copy of Nexus Ops, World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game, and Starcraft: The Board Game, all of which are fun in their own way. My favourite, though, is Twilight Imperium. If there ever was an "epic" board game, it's Twilight Imperium.

 

[Namewithheld]

Me and my friends have never finished a single game of Twilight Imperium. It is...so...fucking...LONG.

But I still enjoy it.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I play boardgames, Shanghai trader, Talisman, Catan, City Fight and a bit of Car Wars. But I don't really count these as hardcore boardgames. Sure Talisman can take 12 hours to finish but it isn't really "hardcore".

 

[ranger19]

Great article, which speaks true to me. Learning a board game can take time, especially when you've never played it before. Then try explaining it to others.

Board games are not for casuals? They all require massive dedication? What nonsense am I reading? 90% of popular board games take like ten minutes to explain to a beginner, and require no previous board game skills.

Of course, there are also tons of board games that are only for hardcore players. Puerto Rico for example has pretty complex rules. Some of the Catan variants are also pretty tough to get started with.

I'm pretty sure the author's talking about games more like Puerto Rico than, say, Monopoly or the game of life. Those games, with their large target audience, simple mechanics that make most of the game rely on chance, I would almost argue are the "shovelware" of board games, as important as they are for introducing so many people to the.. system?

I was surprised when I came to college at how many people play board games. Just right now there are copies of Dominion, Settlers, and Carcassone all downstairs in my common room with all their associated expansions. It's great fun.

 

[Stackle]

Arkham Horror FTW.

I also enjoy board games, especially those with a lot of detail in them. Wargames also appeal to me, but the only one I own is heroscape(which is pretty damn good on it's own).

Another example I like is card games like magic the gathering.

 

[JEBWrench]

But if you have a truly impressive beard and still remember wether your AdLib or SoundBlaster used IRQ 5 or 7, there are the Old-Schol "hardcore" boardgames. We're talking things ike Avalon Hills Advanced Squad Leader. Diplomacy. Empires in Arms (best played 2 weekends a month over the course of 9-10 months to finish one game). Gettysburg and many others. These are the games in which hundres upon hundreds of little cardboard tokens battle for supremacy on hex grids. Where rulebooks come in several volumes, and grognards thoughtfully consider the effects of encumberance when deciding their next move.

Avalon Hill. FUCK YEAH. *strokes his epic beard*

Also, my SoundBlaster used IRQ 7.

Diplomacy/Twilight Imperium are hardcore since you'll lose friends over them, but no one plays them for that reason.

Diplomacy remains my favourite board game. Not only can it ruin friendships, but the fact that you cannot blame random luck for your failures (because there is no random element) means that it is most definitely for the hardcore.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Board games are actually really easy. My group can't play Arkham Horror since we just beat it every single time, and there's nothing hardcore about Zombies, Small World, etc. Diplomacy/Twilight Imperium are hardcore since you'll lose friends over them, but no one plays them for that reason.

Sounds like a convenient way to break up with your girlfriend.

 

[Eremiel]

I'm a fairly avid boardgamer with an ever-growing collection. It's quite fun to sit down physically with a bunch of friends for a night of boardgaming. We'll order food and have a good time.

Current favorites include Twilight Imperium, Horus Heresy (when we're only two people), Battlestar Galactica, Starcraft and Agricola (who knew farming could be so much fun?).

It's a nice little hobby and I heartily recommend it.

 

[Klepa]

Board games are actually really easy. My group can't play Arkham Horror since we just beat it every single time, and there's nothing hardcore about Zombies, Small World, etc. Diplomacy/Twilight Imperium are hardcore since you'll lose friends over them, but no one plays them for that reason.

*shudders*

We played that game twice. Two times. Neither of the games ever finished, because people didn't want to continue, due to fights. It gets ugly as hell, really damn fast, when you're exploiting your friends' weaknesses.
I knew that one of the dudes didn't have an indoor voice, so I made a plan with him, knowing that everyone in the whole building would hear about it. He got screwed over the next round, wondering how on earth I came out on top. He eventually figured it out, and got mad as hell, which again was a trademark of his, that me, and everyone else knew to anticipate. Which angered him even further.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Game People Calling: Board Gamers: The New Hardcore

With videogames pandering to our gaming wants, board games offer a last taste of that old-school hardcore experience.

Read Full Article

Funny, beacuse my opinion is quite the opposite. Once subject to the "mass appeal" treatment, I think board games are even more "casual" than video games. At least video games require a significant time and monetary investment and can be enjoyed on a purely personal level as well, thus giving them a "hardcore" element. Board games (such as Settlers of Catan), on the other hand, are preety much bound to be only played once in a while, usually at parties or family reunions, and thus bound to remain a "casual" experience.

This is not to say that there aren't any "hardcore" board games that people spend hours upon hours playing. However, those always had a niché appeal and would quickly lose their "hardcore" element if they tried catering them to a wider audience.

Overall, I respectfully disagree with the author. I do not think that board games are immune to becoming "casual". Quite the contrary. If you try to make them appealing to the general public, they become even more "casual" than video games.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

Board games are not for casuals? They all require massive dedication? What nonsense am I reading? 90% of popular board games take like ten minutes to explain to a beginner, and require no previous board game skills.

Of course, there are also tons of board games that are only for hardcore players. Puerto Rico for example has pretty complex rules. Some of the Catan variants are also pretty tough to get started with.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurogames_%28tabletop_games%29

You'd be surprised what depth there is to them. Besides, even the most complex and abstract strategy game I know - Go - takes a mere five minutes to explain the rules, perhaps even less. Yet to call a Go master anything but "hardcore" in the eyes of a video game player would be ridiculous. Boardgames are much like videogames in that they have casual elements, but the majority of well-designed boardgames outstrip video games in terms of their depth and "hardcore" appeal.

 

[Mako SOLDIER]

Board games are actually really easy. My group can't play Arkham Horror since we just beat it every single time, and there's nothing hardcore about Zombies, Small World, etc. Diplomacy/Twilight Imperium are hardcore since you'll lose friends over them, but no one plays them for that reason.

Lol, you're not playing Arkham Horror with expansions then

 

[GloatingSwine]

If you have the time to learn them... ...Memoir '44

Memoir '44 doesn't exactly take a lot of learning, it's a very simple rule set. (Also, you should play Battle Cry instead, because the play mechanism fits the ACW theme better than it fits WWII)

 

[Magnesium360]

For me time does not equal hardcore.
Skill=Hardcore

 

[Ravek]

You'd be surprised what depth there is to them. Besides, even the most complex and abstract strategy game I know - Go - takes a mere five minutes to explain the rules, perhaps even less.

I wouldn't be surprised, because I'm pretty well familiar with board games. I'm not saying board games aren't deep, I'm saying that the far majority of the popular ones take only ten minutes of learning the rules before you can start playing. Go isn't entirely a good example of this, because even though the rules are simple, even basic strategy is pretty complicated.

Obviously there are hardcore communities for lots of boardgames. But that's a whole different thing from saying all (or even most) board gamers are hardcore, like the article does. Like all forms of entertainment, most people do them pretty casually.

I like to get serious at boardgames, so I love games with plenty of strategic depth. But I hate overly complex rules, because they're too cumbersome. My favorite games are Domaine [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5737/domaine] and Citadels [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/478/citadels], both which can be played pretty hardcore, but have very simple core mechanics.

So basically I don't think we have a much different view on board games, I just didn't make myself clear enough.

 

[John Shepard]

Game People Calling: Board Gamers: The New Hardcore

With videogames pandering to our gaming wants, board games offer a last taste of that old-school hardcore experience.

Read Full Article

Agreed, (console) Games for me are all too often watered down and too soft-core for my taste.

I like epic fantasy settings and for me that means fallout and dragon age are my main meals but for every great game with great internal mechanics (e.g. oblivion) there's 20 more whose are A.D.H.D.-inducing/hacky-slashy/slop-for-wits (fable 2, I'm looking squarely at you).

also story's and their worlds are better told in board game's
(look at "a game of thrones" by Fantasy flight Games, based on books by George R.R. Martin)

books also have better stories IMO
(again check out "A Game of Thrones", very highly recommended)

 

[Pariahwulfen]

Board games are a very, very broad term.

For coparsion, let's compare Ludo, Monopoly, Kalaha and so forth to "casual" games.

Many people are familiar with light and friendly board games like settlers, smallworld, carcassonne, frag, zombies, ave caesar, power grid, eufrat & tigris and the like. These typically take 10-15 minutes to explain to a new player, and a game can be played in an hour or two. Following the previous classification for "casual" board games, these are the wiiware/xbox live arcade games. Anyone can pick them up and enjoy them, even if they aren't (board) gamers per se.

After that, you have slightly more complex games. Things like Le Havre, Puerto Rico, History of the World, Arkham Horror, Space Hulk, Doom or Betrayal at the House on the Hill will easily take 3-4 hours to explain, set up and play for new gamers. These are your "console" board games. They have a fairly broad appeal, you can learn them with a little time investment, and they can keep you entertained for ages.

If you have the time to learn them, games like Twillight Imperium, Battlelore, Android, StarCraft (Yes, they made a board game of it), Battle for Armageddon, Through the Ages, Memoir '44, Junta (Viva el Presidente!), Titan (We once had a game stretch to 14 hours), Britannia or Shogun will easily take a full evening of your time. These are the board game equivalents of old-school PC games. You'll have to keep that poster-sized map handy, and the reference booklet as well as the manual.

But if you have a truly impressive beard and still remember wether your AdLib or SoundBlaster used IRQ 5 or 7, there are the Old-Schol "hardcore" boardgames. We're talking things ike Avalon Hills Advanced Squad Leader. Diplomacy. Empires in Arms (best played 2 weekends a month over the course of 9-10 months to finish one game). Gettysburg and many others. These are the games in which hundres upon hundreds of little cardboard tokens battle for supremacy on hex grids. Where rulebooks come in several volumes, and grognards thoughtfully consider the effects of encumberance when deciding their next move.

For what it's worth there once was a geek quiz with a series of questions that went along the lines of:
Have you ever played a board game? yes/no
Did it have hex spaces? yes/no
Did it have over 200 pieces? yes/no
Did it take over 2 hours to set up? yes/no
Did it take over 24 hours to actually play it? yes/no

The scary thing is that there was a company that specialized in these kind of games back in the early/mid 80's.

 

[DragonChi]

I don't really tink you can seperate or categorize gaming in terms hardcore and casual. Board games are seperated by Age groups and preference. and even then there are still exceptions. Older gamers (25-30) like myself play a wide variety of board games all the time. Casual games are for everyone and hardcore games are for everyone, presuming you like it and old enough to understand it.