So what kind of game is this? It's a "Heavily Themed Game". It's just that the theme is uninteresting to most of us that like AT games. So the game doesn't feel like an abstract with an irrelevant theme. And these actions have consequences tied to the theme too (feeding the family, etc.). All the actions you take are closely tied to the theme: plowing, sowing, building improvements, baking, having children, etc. It has hundreds of cards that make the game different each time you play it (people have complained about too much randomness, you heard right: randomness). (I haven't played any of those games, btw)Īnd after reading an extensive review from Dale Yu on BGG, learning about how the game works, I'm finding that we might just be wrong about this game. The much praised series of console games where you have to run a farm with all the little tasks, marry and have children, etc. The first thing I thought after reading a bit more about it was, "Hey, this game seems to be very much like those Console RPG farming games". I just thought: "Here's another euro with a pasted on uninteresting theme". For months I didn't even read descriptions of this game because I never thought I would be interested. Farming is not really something I like, especially where animals are concerned (I'm a vegetarian). Now, let me first make it clear that I'm not attracted to this game's theme at all. Incidentally, it seems one of the expansions will introduce direct conflict to the game, so maybe that would make it more interesting.Īgricola, the second example, is interesting because of the attacks it has received from the AT community. So I'm still not sure wether I would like the game or not, but I wouldn't say no if I got the chance to try the game out. Some people seemed to think that the game had an immersive feel and some said they just felt like they were playing cards. So I read about it and asked around on BGG, trying to get a feel of how the theme integrates with the mechanics. It's my favorite theme, so any game that has it will get me at least interested. Right when I learned of the first example, I was interested, if only because of the Sci-Fi theme. (I say debatable because I haven't played any of them.) Two recent debatable examples are: Race for the Galaxy and Agricola. That said, there are a bunch of games that fit this category and have been widely criticized by the AT community. So, would you define this game as Ameritrash? It has a quality that older American games have which certainly seems to put it close to the term, but not quite. Instead, people usually stick to the economic game which is btw a great game. In fact the game has optional combat rules that I don't think anyone that plays the game uses because they're supposed to make the game too cumbersome. You could argue that Merchant of Venus is a multiplayer solitaire (how many times have I heard that criticism thrown at many euros) because there is little direct interaction between players. The theme's premise is a universe where merchants trade from planet to planet trying to find the best routes (in a way, similar to the old Elite and Frontier computer games) and all the mechanics support that premise. So, this game is no abstract and its theme is not pasted on. Too late, and you will needlessly limit your cargo capacity and your profit.) Then later on you have to decide when will it be the best time to buy a new ship (too soon, and you won't take advantage of the new cargo capacities because you have little money left. Whether to pick up that passenger which may take part of your valuable cargo space, or buy an extra shield to protect your ship, etc. You basically decide which planets to fly to, what to buy from the available goods and where to sell those goods. Here's a game with a Sci-Fi theme where your in-game actions are very close to what your "real" actions would be in the game's reality. There is a reason I usually refer to this last group as "Heavily Themed Games" instead of just AT, and that is because there are games in this group that lack some of the main aspects of AT games, especially direct conflict.Īs an example, I'll talk about one of my all time favorite games (which many ATers seem to like): Merchant of Venus. Either the game has some puzzle like quality that intrigues me (this set of games is composed mainly of strange abstracts and the occasional euro) or the game has an interesting theme and manages to integrate its mechanics with its theme (this set is composed mainly of AT games). I find I'm attracted to boardgames in mainly two different ways. This week, Jorge Arroyo gives thoughts on conflict, theme, and Ameritrash. Another week begins, and another great user-submitted article to kick things off.
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