Newbie's first impressions

[NTJedi]

PCarroll said:
And btw, I haven't yet seen dominion play a real role in the game. Maybe it has invisibly made my God stronger, but I haven't noticed.

So, I think I'm off to find a smaller, shorter, simpler game to play.

--Patrick

The higher your dominion the higher your gods life while he's in that province.
If you enjoy fantasy TBS games then I recommend Heroes_3 and AgeofWonders:ShadowMagic.

[PCarroll]

If you enjoy fantasy TBS games then I recommend Heroes_3 and AgeofWonders:ShadowMagic.

I'm afraid I don't know what I like anymore; I seem to be hopelessly fussy.

I've played HoMM2. Liked it pretty well overall, but I found the game dragged on and on--and I hated it when a last enemy hero was wandering around on some distant part of the map and I had to spend a hundred more turns just hunting him down. The game was over by then, so it was just busy work.

I've also played AoW3:SM. Another good game. But it has too many "moving parts" for my taste these days. Too much fussing around with city improvements, production, resource guarding and harrassment, and so forth. And as often as not, I skip tactical battles because they get too big and long. (The stylized tactical battles of HoMM2 are more to my liking.)

A simple card game or classic board game might suit me. But then it's almost always abstract, and I miss the theme (be it fantasy, history, or whatever). Also, classic games tend to be very analytical; and to me, analysis is work, not play. I don't want to have to work at a game. Nor am I competitive. I play games for fun; competition is incidental.

Yet, it's a catch-22. I want a game to just be a pleasant escape, but I also want it to be worth seriously studying and getting good at. But I don't want it to be worth getting good at just so I can boost my ego by beating other players; I want it to be good for me--good mental exercise, stress relief, a way to exercise the imagination, or whatever. I also want it to suit my taste, and yet I don't want to whine and weasel out every time I run into something that doesn't quite feel right.

Lately I've been thinking of taking up a game like chess or bridge again. I do that periodically, but my discipline never holds out. I can happily while away hours studying at Chessmaster's "academy," but then I find it's really not much fun for me to play in actual games. Too analytical, too abstract, too much hard work.

But OTOH, I get restless when playing a just-for-fun game that has no real value other than just a break from the seriousness of day-to-day life. If a game doesn't somehow seem meaningful to me, I perceive it as a waste of time.

What a weird, tangled-up attitude I've delveloped toward games, huh?

--Patrick

[Alneyan]

PCarroll said:
What a weird, tangled-up attitude I've delveloped toward games, huh?

I pretty much feel that way myself (sometimes, at least), so perhaps I can make a worthwhile suggestion: Deadly Rooms of Death (DROD). In that game, you are a dungeon exterminator (a delver), hired to... well, clear up dungeons and their inhabitants.

The game, while not specifically strategy, still requires reflexion: it is a pretty much "old school" puzzle game, quite different from some recent games in that genre. Once you have figured out what you should do, you have to do that yourself, so the game does have a fun execution part - unlike Dominions, where you cannot direct battles yourself, and can only think about them. (That makes the game better strategically, but also reduces its fun factor for me)

Since it is a puzzle game, you will get that "Aren't I bright?" feeling after having beaten a tough room, and you can compete with other players to see how efficient you are (that part is purely optional). Throw in the level editor, and you have a pretty fun game that will last for a long while.

Their webite is at http://www.caravelgames.com . There are currently two editions of the game: Architect's Edition, available freely, and the superior Journey to Rooted Hold sequel. DROD was formerly a commerical game, known as Webfoot DROD back then, so you might have heard about it already.

[PCarroll]

Alneyan said: I pretty much feel that way myself (sometimes, at least), so perhaps I can make a worthwhile suggestion: Deadly Rooms of Death (DROD). In that game, you are a dungeon exterminator (a delver), hired to... well, clear up dungeons and their inhabitants.

Thanks. Just tried the demo--or rather, a similar demo the company offers now. It was hard to tear myself away. I usually don't like puzzle games, but it was pretty fun.

[Alneyan]

PCarroll said:
Thanks. Just tried the demo--or rather, a similar demo the company offers now. It was hard to tear myself away. I usually don't like puzzle games, but it was pretty fun.

I checked their website yesterday, and noticed they made the older version harder to find; it is still available though, under Dugan's Dungeon More Info, or directly from DROD.net here .

It is not really a demo, of course, but simply the older incarnation of the game; it also lacks some of the nice commands from Rooted Hold, including some sword-swinging macros and Undo.

[Zen]

Try Phantom Dust on the Xbox.

[teal]

PCarroll said:

A simple card game or classic board game might suit me. But then it's almost always abstract, and I miss the theme (be it fantasy, history, or whatever). Also, classic games tend to be very analytical; and to me, analysis is work, not play. I don't want to have to work at a game. Nor am I competitive. I play games for fun; competition is incidental.

...

What a weird, tangled-up attitude I've delveloped toward games, huh?

--Patrick

Hi Patrick,

I too have felt like I had a weird attitude towards games. What you are saying really struck a chord for me, games were getting too long and complex and frankly no fun, and yet the simpler, traditional games often lacked that "flavor" or theme which is what really attracks me to a game in the first place. Then I discovered a little German board game called Settlers of Catan. The game was short (around 90 minutes), it was fun (me and my friends laughed constantly about "trading wood for sheep"), it had some depth (there was a variety of strategies, not all of which were apparent at first glance), the theme was a little pasted on but definately present, and some analysis was rewarded but did not dominate the game. That game launched a whole industry around these short (playable in an evening), simple (rules were easily taught and learned), yet involving (more thought was required than, should I be the dog or the battleship this time?) games. Most of the designs come from Germany, so they are often called German style board games. You can find out more about them at a slightly out of date FAQ here. Or the comprehensive resource that is the Board Game Geek at www.boardgamegeek.com (which can be a bit overwhelming at first due to the huge numbers of these games that have come out since Settlers first made it big, and BGG is devoted to all games, not just these German ones).

Good luck in finding your gaming Nirvana!

Teal

[PCarroll]

teal said:. . . Then I discovered a little German board game called Settlers of Catan. . . . That game launched a whole industry around these short (playable in an evening), simple (rules were easily taught and learned), yet involving (more thought was required than, should I be the dog or the battleship this time?) games. Most of the designs come from Germany, so they are often called German style board games. . . .

I own Setters of Catan and Seafarers of Catan--and the Settlers card game. I also have a freeware version of Settlers on my PC. And I used to frequent rec.games.board, where such games are discussed all the time.

Settlers is a terrific game alright. Next time I get together with three other people for a game, that's probably the one we'll play.

However, last time I got together with three other people for a game was four or five years ago. Last time I played the Settlers card game with my wife was a year or two ago (after that, we discovered Caesar & Cleopatra, which she likes better). The people I know don't play games that often, and I haven't wanted to go out and meet new people just for the sake of playing games. To me, that's the biggest personal benefit of the home computer: it enables me to play games anytime I like without having to hunt up other players.

The Internet came along some years after I'd gotten used to playing games on the computer--and I still haven't really warmed up to playing online games yet. I have played some--but there's a part of me that really doesn't like the tension of playing against other people. Playing against the AI gives me the imaginative immersion and intellectual challenge without any of the interpersonal tension or putting my ego publicly at risk.

But the "German" games are mostly designed for social play. On the computer, Settlers isn't much fun. Trading games don't work well as single-player games, no matter how good the AI is. (I guess poker would be another game like that; in poker it's important to be able to see your opponents' faces--so computer poker would be sorely lacking.)

I briefly had another "German" game on my computer: Through the Desert. I found that one so abstract that I might as well have been playing a classic game like chess or go.

Speaking of classic games, this evening I spent an hour or so playing cribbage, backgammon, and dominoes on the computer--and I enjoyed them all! When I'm in the right mood, theme is optional. And one thing I especially like about playing games like those is that I feel I'm practicing so that I'll know what I'm doing next time I play against another person (even if that doesn't happen for another year or so).

Before I started playing those games, however, I taught my wife to play Dom2. More on that in a separate post.

[PCarroll]

I taught my wife to play Dom2 this evening. She's a longtime Master of Magic fan--still hoping a MoM2 comes out someday. Meanwhile she's been settling for AoW3:SM.

She seemed interested all while I was teaching her to play, and I sat and guided her through several moves. Then she started losing track of her commanders and getting frustrated, so she quit.

She ended up saying, "I don't see how anyone could say that game is a worthy successor to MoM. It doesn't have any of the stuff I like--such as being able to cast spells and see them take effect." She viewed only one battle, then refused to bother with that; she considered it a waste of time since she couldn't influence the outcome.

She also had the impression that Dom2 is an old game, judging by its plain look and old-fashioned user interface. The UI finally did her in; she's unlikely to play Dom2 again. She'll go back to AoW3:SM and keep hoping somebody releases a new, improved version of MoM.

[Tals]

Give her the manual and point out that F1 keeps track of the commanders. I'm a real non hard core gamer but this game in terms of magic is unsurpassed IMHO. A year on I still pick up the manual and go through it - nicely done and the descriptions and attention put to the spells is very impressive.

I'd also recommend an MP game - I could never go through this game in SP, really holds little interest - but in an MP pbem or network game - great!

Tals