Episode 421 – What to Look for in a Game?

What should you look for in a board game? Let’s look at five elements of games to help you choose. 0:00:00 Fact for 421 The game that is ID 421 on Board Game Geek happens to be pretty well-known among boardgamers. Sponsor Message Regardless of whether you’re trying to figure out how to start saving for your future, or trying to decide if you can afford to retire, First Move can help you. To set up either a 15 minute phone call or a 90 minute meeting go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers today. 0:04:55 What We’ve Been Playing Aspens (w/ Majestic Marvels expansion)A Place for All My BooksMission to Planet Hexx!Got Five!SantoriniTag Team – we think it needs a “cookbook” with suggestions for complementary pairsAdventurous 0:23:00 April Monthly Report Andrew: 9 games played 14 times. No H-index, only played Got Five! more than once. Anitra: 16 games played 25 times. H-index: 3 (Got Five!, A Place for All My Books, Adventurous) 0:23:45 The Family Gamers Community Welcome to our newest community members! We’re glad you’re here. #Backtalk Gamification? You express mixed feelings on the #backtalk channel of the Discord. And we found out Book-It is still around, and you can still get a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza! 0:33:00 What to look for in a game? This is a topic that’s subjective and intensely personal. When you’re looking for your own family, looking for a gift, or simply browsing the shelves at a boardgame store, there are a few aspects you should consider. Keep in mind: who is going to play this game? 1. Duration How long is this game supposed to last? How long is it going to take the first time you play? (Are you prepared to learn the game and teach it before presenting it to your family?) We think that for gamer families, aim for 90 minutes or less. 60 minutes is probably better. (One shot games are an exception.) For non-gamers, shorter is better! Aim for 45 minutes or less. Maybe an hour if no kids in the mix. 2. Theme Heavily thematic games can be a great choice! They’re not the only thing to consider, but it’s still important. 3. Game Type / Mechanics There are certain mechanics that are simpler for non-gamers to understand. Things like worker placement and action selection are generally more challenging, and can get very complicated when they’re done in innovative ways. (This is a big part of why we do the Room to Grow series!) This also includes whether a game is co-operative or competitive. (Some can work both ways.) 4. Chance?! A lot of people don’t like much luck in their games, and others hate games that have no luck. We recommend going for luck-heavy games when you have a wide age range playing together. Having more chance evens out the gap in skills that usually exists between children and adults. 5. Player Count Seems obvious. But it’s related to sea