Press your Luck games
Mark Mistretta
United States
Lutz
Florida
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I recently did a search for games with the press/push your luck mechanic and found out that there is no category for these games! So, I went to game that I knew had this mechanic (Diamant) and it's mechanic is listed as N/A. Thinking this was a fluke, I went to another press your luck game, (Cloud 9). It too had N/A as the mechanic! Finally, I went to a classic (Can't Stop). Once again - no mechanic.
My purpose for this list is twofold. First I want this list to be a collection of all games with a press your luck element (and hopefully get boardgamegeek to add it as a mechanic category).
Secondly, I am designing my own game with a press your luck mechanic (although it uses other mechanics as well), and I wanted to know people's opinion of the mechanic in general. Why is it not used more in games? What are its strengths, its weaknesses? The games made to date have been of the quick, light filler variety. Could this mechanic work in other types of games? Discuss.
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Drew
United States
Eau Claire
Wisconsin
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The "King" expansion adds a Push Your Luck aspect to Carcassonne. Because the King and Robber Baron tiles go to whoever completes (as opposed to scores) the largest city and longest road, you're pushing your luck when you build long roads. It's always possible someone will close it for you, and nab the Robber Baron. (I don't notice it as much with cities, probably because cities score more and thereby it's not likely you'll try to finish someone's city for him.)
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Drew
United States
Eau Claire
Wisconsin
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Traders and Builders also adds a Push Your Luck aspect because someone might always come by and close your city just to get the goods tokens. Though I tend to dislike Press Your Luck games, I like adding both this and the King expansions to Carcassonne, because the tension (and resulting frustration) really makes the game for me.
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53.
Board Game: Bang!
[Average Rating:6.75 Overall Rank:466]
Mark Buetow
United States
Du Quoin
Illinois
Best game company ever?
GMT Games, of course!
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Not all the time in Bang! but as soon as you drop that Dynamite, it's pretty dangerous not to take it back off the table with a "Panic" or "Cat Ballou!"
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Eddie H
United States
Los Angeles
California
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One more monkey will pick up three other monkeys sitting atop other players' stacks. But draw a dingo and your turn ends with you getting zilch. What do you do?
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55.
Board Game: Terrapin
[Average Rating:6.20 Unranked]
P.D. Magnus
United States
Albany
New York
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A betting game for the Decktet. The betting element is poker-ish, but the ranking of hands involves a press-your-luck component. You may draw as many cards as you like, but as you add cards there an increasing chance that your hand will bust and be worth nothing.
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Christopher Satterfield
United States
Florida
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Finally! A press-your-luck dice game all dressed up in empire building regalry. While entries like Ra or Carc on this list, are, um, pushing the definition, this game is a very well-desiged example of this very well-defined and broad mechanic. Can we finally also get BGG to add this glaring omission of a category to their otherwise near-complete classification system? Tell an admin near you.
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Tony Rupp
United States
Sanford
Florida
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Daddy Cool is a true press your luck game for children.
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Tham Yong Hsiang
Singapore
Singapore
Singapore
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Carmel
Indiana
I recently discovered the same thing you did, that 'push your luck' does not exist as a mechanic. I posted a journal thread looking for push your luck games, you can find it, and a great number of suggestions, here -
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekforum.php3?action=viewthrea...
I personally was thinking of something like Can't Stop, where you have a choice to do something with a random element (roll dice, draw a card)& that something ITSIELF can hose you or help you, but many people added games like Ticket to Ride where the push your luck element has more to do with do I do/use such and such an item/action (like claiming a route in TtR) now or push my luck and risk another player claiming it. These feel like two distinct mechanisms to me, but many people see it the other way.
I tend to think the lighter style of 'you decide to take an action or not & that action itself will help & hose you' is not as popular & seems to be suitable only for filler games. That said, there seem to be some GREAT filler games with that mechanic!
The heavier player interaction push your luck however seems to be QUITE popular!
I will add a couple games to the list that have the lighter mechanic that I have played.
Eden Prairie
Minnesota
Bergen
New York
Lutz
Florida
I am surprised at how many "press your luck" dice games are out there, most that I have never heard of (It must be that dice games are fairly easy to make).
I feel that to get the best use of the mechanics, games of these type should create tension and drama anytime a player is forced to make a decision whether or not to push their luck. Furthermore, these decisions should not be easy to make and have a real impact on the outcome of the game.
Now, which of these games would you pick as utilizing the "press your luck" mechanic the best?
Oakland
California