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Your hobby is what?
How many times have you heard this question?
What is your Hobbie? Do you play board games? Are you kidding?
As I became fascinated with these modern Eurogames, I got a lot of funny looks from people, including my wife, brother, and sister. His response was “Okay, if that’s what you want to do… I’ve never heard of Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne.” What they didn’t understand is that there is an underground community developing around these games.
For the past half year or so, I’ve had to come up with a description of what this community affectionately calls Eurogames. They go by many names, none of which are known to the general public: board games for adults. modern board games, designer games, German games or Ameritrash games. None of these explain it well for non-players. It really takes you into a deeper hole.
you can’t answer like that
Actually, we don’t play “board games” like you think. In fact, we play modern designer games from Europe. They tend to be quite complex and take several hours to play. Usually no one gets eliminated so everyone has a really good time. They tend to be more interactive and engaging, yada yada… Right. Now your eyes have glazed over and you look like a board game snob.
You are familiar with Monopoly, right?
When presenting the games, it’s important to hit a nerve. Asking about Monopoly is usually my first response. This is a game that everyone is familiar with. They understand that it is a more complex game than the average 7-year-old can handle, with aspects of fiscal responsibility, scarce resources, cards, and strategy. They also know that there are no trivia questions, movie quotes, pictures, or word matching. Well, we have a starting point. You are dealing with a game that is moderately serious and can last for over an hour.
Now think about chess
Then I go to the other end of the spectrum, chess. Again, this is a game that most people have seen or played at some point. Heck, it even makes an appearance in the first Harry Potter book. They understand that this is a deep strategy game that is played by many and mastered by only a few. They also know that it is ONLY two players and that those watching need to be very, very quiet… like golf. They are probably also aware that if you are good at chess, most respect you and consider you smart.
Now, you have your two ends.
Next… Risk
This is a third game that is more complicated and closer to the modern standard board game. And, everyone is quite familiar with it. The thing to keep in mind with this game is that not everyone has had a positive experience with it. It tends to be long and drawn out with two sides fighting until the wee hours of the morning, while the eliminated players go to watch TV or eat snacks and look at the clock.
So modern board games are like risk
In fact, a lot of adult board games can be said to be like “Risk on Steroids.” But, people really enjoy them and most of the time everyone plays through the entire game. These games are strategy oriented. You can shape a country or landscape, run an economy, manage energy infrastructure or run political careers or micromanage small businesses.
Unlike typical board games, the Risk board looks like a world map, with zones that have value. This is much more like a eurogame than Monopoly, where all you do is go round and round hoping to land on GO. o Free parking.
Also, you can talk to them about the imagery of the games. This is something that really appealed to my wife. When she saw the level of artistry involved with Ticket to Ride, she became very interested. Carcassonne is similar: the art is more cartoonish, but you build the city as you go. It is very gratifying to see the final city once it is finished.
Have you ever played video games?
This is a pretty good leap because most 30-year-olds have, at some point, seen an RTS (real-time strategy) game on a PC. They may have played Warcraft, Age of Empires, Rise of Nations, Command and Conquer, or Civilization. Or they may have played games like The Sims, SimCity, Railroad Tycoon, and Roller Coaster Tycoon. If so, they’re in! These are the PC games cousins of modern board games.
Sid Meyer, Will Right, John Romero, Chris Sawyer
These names are familiar to PC gamers. They created games like Civilization. SimCity, Railroad Tycoon, Doom, Quake, Roller Coaster Tycoon. One of the great things about Designer board games is that the designer of a good board game can become a star in his own right.
If you know the names of PC designers, you can share your enthusiasm for Klaus Teuber, Alan R. Moon, Richard Borg, and Andreas Seyfarth. They must understand respect.
Blizzard and identification
If you miss the note with the names of the designers, just discard these two names and you’ll get a nod of acknowledgment. Blizzard has released several games (all hits, by the way) like Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft. They are also responsible for the online multiplayer game World of Warcraft. ID is the game company that kicked the doors down on first-person shooters with Doom, the most downloaded shareware of its day.
Rio Grande, Days Of Wonder and Fantasy Flight
If you’ve hit the nail on the head when it comes to PC game companies, you can make the logical leap to adult board game companies. These three companies should be at the forefront of the discussion. Most of the “hit” games come from these. Oh, and don’t forget about Mayfair with Settlers of Catan.
Here’s an interesting point you can share with your new connection…
Many PC games are also board games
And they land squarely in the modern genre of board games. This is what some gamers call Amertrash games. But, they are games that you can point to that may appeal to non-gamers. Point them to Fantasy Flight Games. For example, they will recognize Starcraft, World of Warcraft, and Doom. They will also be familiar with Age of Empires and Railroad Tycoon. It really shouldn’t be much of a leap to get them to Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, Memoir ’44, or Power Grid.
What you don’t want to do
Unfortunately, when people think of board games as a hobby, and have never tried it, they have only one image in their head… it’s a bunch of greasy-haired geeky guys in a basement or back room with funny shaped dice. . , a lot of metal figures and a lot of paper. This image also usually involves someone yelling “Shoot my fireball +3 at the troll on the hill for 2d damage… roll for initiative” What?
They had a friend at one point who was into Dungeons and Dragons. This crowd is always depicted in the same way as the trekkies.
You also don’t act like a snob about how your games are better than the old games from when they were younger. This will simply turn them off.
The best defense is a good offense
Just keep a couple of games in the trunk of your car or at the ready. When the opportunity arises, offer to pull it out and display it. Let them see the rules, touch the game, maybe even give it a try. If they like it, great! If they don’t, fine. You gave it a chance and shared the gems with one more person.
Not everyone is going to be a fan
The one thing in all of this that you can’t forget is that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Personally, converting my wife was not a hard sell. He loves puzzles. However, my sister and her husband, on the other hand, run in completely different circles than I do and I don’t think they’ll ever try a eurogame. I could get them to try Pizza Box Football, but that’s where it will end. My brother could convert at some point.
Don’t let it bother you. Keep talking about it and eventually we’ll create a few more addicts together! Keep playing the best games in the WORLD!