It’s truly incredible how board gaming as a hobby has grown to have the following that it does today. The last fifteen years have a lot to show for. The board game industry and the culture surrounding it continues to improve and grow in new and exciting ways each year, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. If you rolled back time ten or even just five years, very few people would likely be able to tell you what The Settlers of Catan is. Today, a large portion of people in the United States, particularly young people, recognize the name, and many have likely played it once or twice. Games like Catan have been slowly integrating into mainstream culture, pulling recognition for modern board games along with them.
In this book, you’ll find a lot of the knowledge I have gained from playing board games. I’ve spent the last eight years delving into the hobby, learning a great deal about myself, the hobby, and the culture in that time. This is my chance to share with you the essence behind my biggest passion, and hopefully open the door to a world of possibility for you, your friends and family, and anyone else who may find this book from your suggestion.
Enough of this. Let’s get to the games!
Connor TrippThere really isn’t much to it; modern board games are simply board games! Surprising, huh? Sometimes referred to as designer board gaming or hobbyist board games, modern board games are games created and distributed by companies and publishers dedicated to their production. There are of course exceptions to every rule, but in general, you won’t find modern board games coming from toy companies. There are still plenty of games being churned out by titan of the old days like Hasbro, Parker Bros, and Milton Bradley, but it’s rare that you’ll see one in your local game store or on your closest gamer’s shelf.
To put it simply, the uprising of dedicated board game companies raised the standard for games in every way. Not only do modern board games offer deeper and richer gameplay experiences, they are most often more balanced, offer more strategic decisionmaking, utilize higher quality art and graphic design, and contain nicer components than your average game off the shelves of Walmart. For a seasoned board gamer, differentiating between the two is easy, but for someone new to the hobby, telling red from blue is a tall task. The best indicator is to look at the publisher and designer logos on the box; if the logos have the word “games” in them, they’re probably quality companies that produce good products. That said, no single game is for everyone, so you may not want to rush to grab every game in sight on your next trip to the store.
What’s wrong with classic board games like Monopoly and LIFE? In short, nothing! All board games look good in somebody’s eyes, and they’re certainly fun to play and have a laugh with. Mainstream board games were and are still incredibly popular because people enjoy playing them. While far fewer people would run to the shelf and grab a niche game like Blood Rage than UNO when asked to play a game, those who have discovered modern board games tend to prefer these games over the games of old. The reason for this was hinted at in the previous section; games produced by dedicated companies yield better results because they receive more focus from a group of passionate people. That’s not to say that mainstream games do not receive this love, but if they do, it’s less apparent in the end result.
Popular games of old, like all of the games I mentioned above and plenty of others (Clue, Parcheesi, Sorry!, Trouble, to name a few) share a common element: luck. While nearly every board game ever made has some amount of luck involved, these games rely heavily on luck to do well and win. If you roll poorly on your movement die, you might lose any advantage you had gained from playing well. Winning a game due to sheer luck can be fun and exciting, but often not fulfilling. On the other hand, losing a game to sheer luck is not a good experience, and can lead to spite against the game or even other players around the table. While modern board games contain varying degrees of luck, highly-praised games mitigate or completely eliminate the reliance on luck to win the game, drawing in a community of people who enjoy strategic thinking and the ability to control their gameplay experience.
When considering their views on the hobby of board gaming, a lot of people present thoughts that suggest that board gaming is somehow a waste of time or non-educational. It still surprises me how many people hold stigmas against gaming in general. Gaming, particularly board gaming, comes with a number of benefits that promote well-being and health. Everyone finds value in their hobbies differently, and there is no wrong way to go about it. Finding a reason to stay motivated and fulfilled in your hobbies only makes them more enjoyable.
As a logistical person, I love when my mind is engaged. Having to make strategic decisions and weigh options against what I perceive others to be doing and managing risks are things that light up my brain. I am faced with these challenges almost every time I sit down to play board games. Board games teach, develop, and enrich skills like critical thinking, negotiation, and basic economics. Besides all of that, board games as a hobby provide a much-needed reason to be away from screens and technology that is eerily creeping into our social lives. Being able to engage my mind and make tons of new friends along the way is what keeps the fire lit underneath me when it comes to board games.
One of the biggest challenges when just beginning to get into hobby board gaming is finding a game group to play with regularly. Game groups take many shapes and forms, and even the most experienced gamers can have trouble finding groups at times. I have been very fortunate in having many game groups readily available to me, but not everyone has this fortune. More groups exist than you might think, but figuring out where to look can be challenging.
One of the best and easiest outlets for game groups is checking out a local game store. Brick and mortar game shops often include space for open gaming, which naturally lead into recurring game nights to draw in potential customers. If the closest store to you doesn’t offer a frequent game night, you’re still likely to meet people in the store who do have a group that you can join. I’ll have more on local game stores and their offerings in a later chapter.
If you attend a university or other school, or partake in a church group or other public space activity, ask around! If the space is big enough, it’s quite likely that they will have some sort of game night. Even if the game night is more laid back than you’d like or they don’t have a group, participating in a public social activity might lead to the start of a group for you in the near future.
A big way to get engaged in gaming is to find a small group to cozy up with. In simpler terms, gamers frequently host game nights on a regular basis in their homes, so joining up with a few gaming friends, new or old, is an excellent way to get going. Home-based game groups are more intimate and give you greater opportunities to really get to know the people you play with. This method is particularly effective for people who enjoy smaller groups.
These are just a few of the most common places to find a game group. People who enjoy hobby board gaming are everywhere, and the population is only growing. If you can’t find a game group, you might be interested in starting your own! More on that later.
It’s time to start playing games! Many budding gamers will be eager to jump right into the fray and sit down at the first table they see. Great! Getting straight into the action is a superb way to find a passion, but it should be done with caution. Not everyone is as passionate at the outset, though. If you’re unsure of what types of game you think you’ll like, or simply want a good game to get you going, gateway games are your best bet. A gateway game is any game that is popularly used to introduce people to modern board gaming. These games have simple-to-learn rules, elegant and quick gameplay, and often introduce game mechanisms that are ever-present in more complex titles. Gateway games are sure-fire successes for new gamers, and act as excellent first purchases for the curious minds out there. Below are some of the most popular gateway games that you may or may not have heard of, categorized into what piques your interest.
A great many games deal with various resources (particularly currency of some kind) and how they are spent. Perhaps the most well-known example of this type of game is Catan. Formerly known as The Settlers of Catan, the game asks players to race to ten victory points by building roads, settlements, and cities with five different types of resource cards. There is also trading between players and a bit of backstabbing, which is a great introduction to around-the-table negotiation. Lords of Waterdeep introduces players to the concept of worker placement while immersing them into the Dungeons & Dragons universe. If you’re interested in card games and the concept of building a deck within a game, Dominion is for you. Finally, 7 Wonders challenges players to craft an ancient civilization through drafting cards from a series of rotating hands.
Another popular mechanic in gateway games is a reliance on planning and being efficient with your turns. Ticket to Ride might be the most well-known example of this type of game. In Ticket to Ride, players draw cards of various colors in order to use them to complete routes between American of European cities. Finding the most efficient way to complete your routes without running out of trains can be a tall task. Similarly, Carcassonne involves placing tiles to build a large kingdom. Players need to carefully place their pieces on the board to claim roads, cities, and farms, while being sure they are worth investing in. In Takenoko, a panda and a gardner work against one another to grow and consume bamboo while players compete for various objective cards.
Everyone loves a good party game. Many of you reading this have probably tried your hand at games like Apples to Apples, Bananagrams, and Cards Against Humanity. Party games can be a great way to get into gaming! Party games are immensely popular, and even the best are often available at larger retailers such as Target. The party game currently sweeping the nation is Codenames. In Codenames, two teams compete to give one-word clues that allude to multiple words on a shared grid. The first team to guess all of their words is crowned victorious. If you love chucking dice, King of Tokyo pits six monsters against each other in a brawl for control of Tokyo. Yahtzee-esque dice rolling mechanics keep the game light and fun. Dixit has players giving clues about abstract art cards, trying
to be vague yet descriptive. Fans of deception and lies will love The Resistance, where each player tries to gather votes from other players around the table without knowing who else is on their team.
A big genre found in hobby board games is cooperative gameplay. Most games of old were competitive, pitting player versus player to determine a sole winner. Cooperative games bring people together against the game. In Pandemic, the most popular cooperative game of all time, a team of four scientists travel the world in attempts to cure four deadly diseases. Cards are gathered and traded to build research centers before the disease deck places an overwhelming amount of disease cubes onto the board. If you love a good mystery, Mysterium presents the classic Clue formula in a dynamic way with players working to interpret hints from a ghost player who can’t speak. Betrayal at House on the Hill sends people into a deep and expanding mansion, until a traitor is revealed and the house begins to fall! Adventurers will enjoy delving into Forbidden Island, where unique roles work together to collect four precious treasures and escape the island before it sinks.
Ticket to Ride was my gateway game, but this is by no means an exhaustive list. Everyone has unique experiences getting into gaming, and I’m sure there are fantastic gateway games that I have never even heard of. Dedicated gamers will look to play every game I have mentioned, but don’t feel pressured! These are simply amazing places to start. Being a board game hobbyist is about creating your own fun, which means trying out the games that appeal to you the most.
When starting out as a hobby board gamer, you find yourself quickly running into dozens if not hundreds of games. Wherever you look, be it a local game store, an online retailer, a forum, or a friend’s shelf, you’ll come across games you’ve never heard of. Figuring out which game to jump into first can be a challenge. The ultimate rule of thumb is simply try out what first catches your eye and go from there, but it’s not always that easy.
An important thing to remember when considering which game to learn is that themes and mechanics are two very different things in modern board gaming. There exists games for every theme imaginable, from a classic dungeon adventure to running an amusement park. Choosing a game with a theme that appeals to you is an excellent way to jump into something new, especially if you aren’t picky or don’t yet know what you like and don’t like for game mechanics. If you’re invested in a game’s theme, it’s likely to come easier to you and be more enjoyable to play, particularly if the game utilizes excellent art and graphic design.
The other way to pick a game is to ask someone to compare it to different games you enjoy. If you can name a few games that you like, an experienced gamer will likely be able to draw some stark similarities and differences between them, leading you down a path to the right choice. As you become more experienced in gaming, you’ll continuously grow a profile of what you do and don’t like, and it will become easier to determine if a game is likely to hit it home with you. Exercise caution, though! Just because one game in a particular theme or with a particular mechanic didn’t sit well with you, don’t be afraid to give other games in that theme or featuring that mechanic a try! No two games are the same, and sometimes even the slightest difference between two games can make or break it for you.
As with books, television, movies, music, and other forms of media, board games have genres. As I’ve said before, no two games are the same, but games carry common themes between them. Speaking of theme, this is yet another roadblock where we must stop and consider the difference between theme and mechanics. Modern board games can be given genres by theme, making them science fiction, horror, fantasy, and beyond. Since the presumption here is that you already know how to differentiate a psychological thriller from a starry-eyed romance, I’m going to present some of the most popular board game categories, divided up by gameplay features rather than theme.
Deckbuilding implies exactly what it sounds like: building decks. At the beginning of a deckbuilding game, players only have a few basic cards in their deck, usually consisting of currency, attack power if applicable, and victory points of some sort. As the game progresses, players will purchase and acquire cards to be added to their deck, increasing its size and also its power. Dominion, Legendary, and Thunderstone are all popular examples of deckbuilding games.
Despite popular belief, Euro games are not all games from European countries, although German board games begun the trend. Indirect player conflict and low reliance on luck are key elements that define a Euro game. Euros often task players with competing for
victory points to win the game and frequently have themes that have little to do with the gameplay. Carcassonne, Catan, and Puerto Rico are amongst the most popular games in this genre.
Hidden Movement games are big on stealth and deception. Some of the players, usually just one, move around the map in secret, while the remaining players try to find them. Lots of grids and weighing of options are core to these games. Whether trying to escape, hunt, or complete objectives, the hidden players must move swiftly and carefully to avoid being detected and caught. Fury of Dracula, Letters from Whitechapel, and Specter Ops provide the core of this genre’s titles.
Lies and hidden roles are what Social Deduction games are all about. In these games, players must lie about their roles and deduce small bits of information to discover the truth they need to bring their team to victory. Most commonly, players will not know who is on their own team and where each person’s loyalties lie. Coup, One Night
Ultimate Werewolf, and The Resistance get the a lot of the popular vote in this genre.
In Worker Placement games, players have a pool of workers to send out onto the board each round. Spaces on the board most often can only hold one worker at a time, and give a specific resource or benefit when the worker is placed or activated. In these games, sequencing and forward thinking are critical to success. Agricola, Champions of Midgard, and Lords of Waterdeep are some of the most popular games in this category.
There are many more genres in the modern board gaming world than just these five, but a good start to a journey can last a long time. New genres emerge out of the mist all the time as new and innovative games hit the market. Any given game belongs to many genres, both thematic and mechanical, and could even belong to one that does not yet exist.
Like any hobby or setting with a culture, modern board gaming comes with a few unwritten rules of behavior. Every group plays games differently, but in general, there are some things you should keep in mind, particularly if you are gaming with people you don’t know very well or playing a game that is not yours.
First and most importantly, it is important that you are respectful of games, especially if you don’t own them. We’ve all seen decks of playing cards that look like they’ve been through the wash and mugged outside the movie theatre. Since hobby games are made by dedicated game companies, they run a higher price point than board and card games you might be used to. While everyone has the right to treat their own games however they want, others may be more careful than you. Being mindful of this can go a long way. For example, I have noticed that many people like to use their nails to pick sticky cards up off of a table. This leads to scoffing of card edges which can result in quicker wear on cards and some cards in the deck being essentially marked. Being wary not to bend cards is also important. Most games do not have easily-wearable playing pieces aside from cards, but exercising common courtesy is always a good thing.
On the other end of the spectrum, how you treat other people is just as important as how you treat game pieces. The best and nicest thing you can do as a board gamer is invite other people to play with you! Nobody likes being left out, and newer gamers in particular often are not experienced in approaching tables and asking to join in on a game. By inviting people into the game you are setting up, you are lighting the spark that engages them, and potentially making a new friend along the way. It is also wise to remember that board gaming is an analog hobby. The game table is not the internet, so don’t use games as an excuse to treat others poorly.
Action Paralysis (AP) – A player is considered to have AP when they take long periods of time to complete their turns.
Action Point – Players typically have a certain number of actions they can do on each of their turns, represented by how many action points they have.
Alpha Gamer – The player at the table who tells other players what to do and how to do it.
Ameritrash – An older term used to describe American made games that do not have traditional Euro game elements.
BoardGameGeek (BGG) – A popular forum website with nearunlimited resources related to board games.
Con – Short for convention, this term refers to a large event where many players come together to play games.
Drafting – A game mechanic where players take turns picking cards from a communal pool, sometimes their hands.
Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) – A brick and mortar shop where players go to purchase and play games regularly.
Kingmaker – A player who purposefully takes actions to allow another player to win the game.
Math Trade – A trading system invented by BGG where gamers post games they want and games they have to trade. The system mathematically devises a way to trade efficiently amongst upwards to hundreds of people.
Pandemic Problem – Originated by Pandemic, this terms refers to a common situation in cooperative games where one player essentially plays for the whole table by telling everyone what to do.
Playtesting – The phase in game design where the game is played numerous times to iron out kinks. Companies frequently offer playtesting opportunities to their loyal customers or followers.
Point Salad – A game where there are tons of different ways to gain victory points. These games often have players specializing in one or two ways that work best for them.
Print and Play (PnP) – A Print and Play version of a game contains digital files. All of the components can be printed out and assembled without purchasing anything.
Now that you’ve been playing games for a while, it’s time to become a bit more invested in the hobby. Starting a board game collection can be a daunting task. If you’re considering starting a collection, you’ve probably played a decent variety of games. Finding one game that you’ve played and really enjoy is the perfect way to begin a collection, but not your only option. If your normal game group already owns a lot of the games you really like, it might be best to look for similar games that would be new additions to the group. Having a variety of games available feels fulfilling and can give a sense that you are contributing something to the game nights that you attend. Just as the people in your game group introduced you to the games you now love, owning games gives you the opportunity to introduce them to something they might treasure for years to come. Don’t neglect your local resources! Auctions and sales, either through local outlets or online resources like Facebook and BoardGameGeek, are fantastic options to acquire a bunch of games for cheap. Once you have a few games under your belt, it’s entirely up to you how you want to build out your collection. Perhaps you play an incredible game and pick up a copy, or hear about a new game coming out based on your favorite movie and pre-order it. Once the ship has begun sailing, keeping it afloat is all the more fun!
Deciding you’re ready and willing to buy your own games may be the most difficult step in formulating your own collection, but that shouldn’t dwarf the difficulty of deciding where to buy from. Even seasoned consumers like myself can have trouble juggling the appeal of buying local versus buying online. This particular debate runs rampant through the board game community today.
If you decide to buy local, finding your nearest FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) is the best bet. Some retail titans like Barnes & Noble and Target carry good selections of games, but nothing is more reliable than your nearest hobby shop. You’ll be able to walk right out of the store with your new game, but also have a chance to talk with employees and other gamers in the store to gather recommendations and learn more about your prospects. If nothing else, supporting local economics is a healthy way of living that fights against the creep of online retailers toward full control of the market.
If you fancy online shopping, there are numerous reliable board game retailers in the digital space. CoolStuffInc and MiniatureMarket are at the top of the ladder, providing frequent theme sales and daily deals to keep you hooked. Both websites offer free shipping on orders of at least $100 and have the freshest games in stock and on pre-order in the months prior. Buying games online is an easy way to acquire multiple games at once, but when buying single games, shipping costs and the wait to receive the item can stack up. Lately, Amazon has been entering the board game space with competitive prices, but beware! Due to the rise in modern board gaming, a few counterfeit manufacturers have popped up, some of which use Amazon as an outlet for sales. Purchasing from a dedicated site like CoolStuffInc is always the safest bet, but Amazon can still provide cheaper prices and faster shipping on occasion.
As has been mentioned many times before in this book, local game stores are one of the benefits of being a modern board gamer. Friendly Local Game Stores, commonly abbreviated to FLGS, are any brick and mortar locations where modern board games are primarily. Most commonly, these stores are spaces that offer places to play games and periodic events for different games. Game stores usually also stock popular trading card games, such as Magic: The Gathering, and roleplaying supplies for games like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. It is also common to find large quantities of miniature game supplies, such as models or Warhammer: 40,000 and specialty paints. Local game stores are where many gamers get their start. A day of window shopping can turn into a lifetime of love for a new hobby simply by walking into a good FLGS.
The best FLGS have a few things in common. A large stock of games is a good start. In terms of product, stores that stock the newest hits and have large inventories to choose from will provide good chances to see something new that you haven’t heard of before. Sufficient space to hang out and play games also provides a good basis for a store. The home-run characteristic is the staff. Friendly, knowledgeable staff that can not only help you find a good game but also ensure you are having a good experience in the store helps foster a sense of belonging, which in turn becomes a great community to return to regularly.