Monday, July 31, 2006
I've been playing board games heavily for long enough that I now groan when certain games are suggested. In some cases, I'll still play those groaners, but in a handful of cases, I'd rather sit out than play. Unfortunately, some of these games are ones that my most frequent opponents really love.
In all cases, I wouldn't say the game is necessarily bad. It's just not my thing. I either find it boring, not very fun or think there's a similar but far superior game available to play. Over my first handful of plays, I even really liked some of these games. Sadly, they wore thin quickly.
For instance, Rich, Christine, Dave and Jacquie all love Princes of Florence. Here's a game that I enjoyed the first two or three times I played it. The others still love this game, but although I will occasionally agree to play it, I'd often rather go do something else than play this game.
What turned me off Princes of Florence? It's difficult to say -- although this is something I'd like to understand better, as it would make it easier to choose games I'll like in the future. I think the auction element is a nice touch, although I think an open auction instead of a round-the-table-stay-in-order style of auction would add some much needed excitement to this snoozer. And I suppose that's the crux of my dislike of Princes: I find it boring. In fact, I find it so boring that when I do get coaxed into playing, I do my best to rush the game to its final anticlimax.
Sadly, I'm not going to "get" Princes of Florence. When I first rated it on BGG, I think I gave it a seven or even an eight out of ten. It's now dropped to five. Thankfully, I don't see it getting any lower than that, but I don't see my interested in the game ever turning around, either.
Another great example is Carcassonne. Here, though, I think my biggest error was adding to many expansions to the game. That said, Jacquie and I really did over-play it. According to BGG, I've played this game fifty times. I'm pretty sure the last twenty were a lot less fun than the first thirty. To me, the game was extraordinarily fun for its first ten or fifteen plays, kind of fun for another ten or so plays, and then the fun factor slipped away quickly and quietly.
On the other hand, Settlers of Catan (the first Euro I played) got dull after several plays, but I've recently taken an interest in playing the game semi-regularly again. I don't think I'd ever start playing it weekly or anything, but I'm pretty sure I could be convinced to play it once every month or two.
Another big sleeper for me was St. Petersburg. I simply don't understand what's fun about it. I can see there's a strong strategic element to it, but I can see that in Princes of Florence and, a game I finally got a chance to play on the weekend, Traders of Genoa, as well. Knowing there's a strong strategic element doesn't make the game any less dull.
Speaking of Traders of Genoa, our first play through it (with me, Jacquie, Rich, Christine and Logan) didn't go well. I wasn't really impressed. However, one of the biggest setbacks was the rules for how the turn marker is moved ahead were misread. After a few turns, the marker hadn't moved, and I was starting to think it was going to be an incredibly dry four-hour game. By the time we figured out what we were doing wrong and that the game was really only an hour-long game, I was already getting the "I don't wanna play" blues. I'm willing to give Traders a second try, but if it turns out to be as dull as Princes, I probably won't be asking for this one to hit the table any time soon.
And then there are games that seem neat but don't really offer anything of interest. Alhambra was like this. I liked the concept and the game mechanics looked interesting. Sadly, I found it to be yet another snoozer. Rich is going to hate me for slamming a good portion of his favourite games, but it's all true.
I know that one of my issues is that familiarity breeds contempt. That's what happened with Carcassonne. As I played it more and more, my fun factor was lessened -- eventually to the point that I just couldn't find the fun in it anymore. That's a rather unfortunate truth, seeing as I've purchased almost all of the available expansions for the bloody game.
In all cases, I wouldn't say the game is necessarily bad. It's just not my thing. I either find it boring, not very fun or think there's a similar but far superior game available to play. Over my first handful of plays, I even really liked some of these games. Sadly, they wore thin quickly.
For instance, Rich, Christine, Dave and Jacquie all love Princes of Florence. Here's a game that I enjoyed the first two or three times I played it. The others still love this game, but although I will occasionally agree to play it, I'd often rather go do something else than play this game.
What turned me off Princes of Florence? It's difficult to say -- although this is something I'd like to understand better, as it would make it easier to choose games I'll like in the future. I think the auction element is a nice touch, although I think an open auction instead of a round-the-table-stay-in-order style of auction would add some much needed excitement to this snoozer. And I suppose that's the crux of my dislike of Princes: I find it boring. In fact, I find it so boring that when I do get coaxed into playing, I do my best to rush the game to its final anticlimax.
Sadly, I'm not going to "get" Princes of Florence. When I first rated it on BGG, I think I gave it a seven or even an eight out of ten. It's now dropped to five. Thankfully, I don't see it getting any lower than that, but I don't see my interested in the game ever turning around, either.
Another great example is Carcassonne. Here, though, I think my biggest error was adding to many expansions to the game. That said, Jacquie and I really did over-play it. According to BGG, I've played this game fifty times. I'm pretty sure the last twenty were a lot less fun than the first thirty. To me, the game was extraordinarily fun for its first ten or fifteen plays, kind of fun for another ten or so plays, and then the fun factor slipped away quickly and quietly.
On the other hand, Settlers of Catan (the first Euro I played) got dull after several plays, but I've recently taken an interest in playing the game semi-regularly again. I don't think I'd ever start playing it weekly or anything, but I'm pretty sure I could be convinced to play it once every month or two.
Another big sleeper for me was St. Petersburg. I simply don't understand what's fun about it. I can see there's a strong strategic element to it, but I can see that in Princes of Florence and, a game I finally got a chance to play on the weekend, Traders of Genoa, as well. Knowing there's a strong strategic element doesn't make the game any less dull.
Speaking of Traders of Genoa, our first play through it (with me, Jacquie, Rich, Christine and Logan) didn't go well. I wasn't really impressed. However, one of the biggest setbacks was the rules for how the turn marker is moved ahead were misread. After a few turns, the marker hadn't moved, and I was starting to think it was going to be an incredibly dry four-hour game. By the time we figured out what we were doing wrong and that the game was really only an hour-long game, I was already getting the "I don't wanna play" blues. I'm willing to give Traders a second try, but if it turns out to be as dull as Princes, I probably won't be asking for this one to hit the table any time soon.
And then there are games that seem neat but don't really offer anything of interest. Alhambra was like this. I liked the concept and the game mechanics looked interesting. Sadly, I found it to be yet another snoozer. Rich is going to hate me for slamming a good portion of his favourite games, but it's all true.
I know that one of my issues is that familiarity breeds contempt. That's what happened with Carcassonne. As I played it more and more, my fun factor was lessened -- eventually to the point that I just couldn't find the fun in it anymore. That's a rather unfortunate truth, seeing as I've purchased almost all of the available expansions for the bloody game.
// posted by Chris @ 3:44 PM 
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