Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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Blue Steel's recent Geeklist and my own similar one from a few months ago have got me wondering what the BGG community thinks are the essential properties, categories, mechanics, etc. that should be included in a well-rounded game collection.
Based on Blue Steel's list, the thread linked in the comments below, the comments thereof so far, and an excellent article by Dr. Pulsipher (the creator of Britannia), it seems safe to say a well-rounded collection has two kinds of diversity: situational diversity and structural diversity.
Situational Diversity: You want to have a variety of games that can address an array of groups and situations.
1. Family Games, including: Two-player games a significant other is willing to play, "Gateway" games, Fast/filler games
2. Party Games
3. Kid's Games
4. "Gamer" Games, perhaps not mentioned as much because they are assumed to be at the core of a "gamer's" collection.
Structural Diversity: Folks tend to recommend games that vary from the standard in one of the "structures" defined in Dr. Pulsipher's article.
1. Mechanisms for Resource Economies: Deck-Building/Card-Drafting, Auction/Bidding, Worker Placement
2. Interactivity: Cooperative Play and/or Trading/Negotiation
3. Victory Conditions: Abstract Strategy and/or Racing Games
4. Movement/Placement: Wargames
5. Conflict Resolution: Dexterity
6. Information Access: Deduction and/or Player Secrets
7. Turn Order: Variable Phase Order
8. Data Storage: Traditional Card Games
Beyond the properties above, everything else is contested ground. However, if you find some well-regarded games that manage to wrap lots of additional properties into it, then it's probably a safe bet to be a highly unique addition to your collection. Some properties that are on the cusp include Ameritrash, Civilization (pocket-civ), Dice (Liar's Dice), Train/Route/Network-Building (18AL), and Adventure/Storytelling (The Pool). For more possibilities, see the comments below.
I provide an example of how you can build a collection around these properties in a geeklist.
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Darren M
New Zealand
Nelson
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MULRAH wrote: Certainly, on an individual level, the answer to these questions vary tremendously, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that some modicum of consensus arises from the community regarding what the most important elements are.
I on the other hand think that the fact that we are all individuals and have varying tastes, peculiarities, and eccentricities means that we will never come close to reaching a consensus on which games comprise the "most important elements" in a gaming collection.
You are essentially trying to filter and place judgements on 45000+ games in the BGG database to come up with a group of categories/mechanisms/types/styles of games that is supposedly a fit for every gamer.
Certainly I can see why someone would want to do this from the point of view of helping newcomers to the hobby narrow down their choices somewhat but any result is going to be subjective and will fit no one in particular(except some theoretical "average gamer" individual that doesn't actually exist).
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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nexttothemoon wrote: You are essentially trying to filter and place judgements on 45000+ games in the BGG database to come up with a group of categories/mechanisms/types/styles of games that is supposedly a fit for every gamer.
I did not say this, and the BGG database already has narrowed game properties down to 79 Categories and 44 Mechanics. Nobody I know picks their games randomly; there is always some prioritizing involved. The question is: what are your priorities in your own collection?
nexttothemoon wrote: Certainly I can see why someone would want to do this from the point of view of helping newcomers to the hobby narrow down their choices somewhat but any result is going to be subjective and will fit no one in particular(except some theoretical "average gamer" individual that doesn't actually exist).
Sure, the "average" gamer/moviegoer/consumer/etc does not exist, but it is still interesting (to me) to hear other people's opinions about what is important to them in building their game collections. Feel free to share yours when you are ready.
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Ladislav Dobias
Czech Republic
Milovice
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You can also some inspiration in thread:
What types of game are included in a "Well Rounded" collection?
or in this optimal geeklist:
The Guaranteed to Please Collection
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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Importing from Lada's Suggestions
lada wrote:
Yes, thanks a lot for that. I've aggregated the comments in that thread with the list items and comments in Blue Steel's collection list to come up with a "community" list of the most important game properties (categories, mechanics, etc.). They are ranked below in descending order of the number of times they were "nominated" either in comments or as list items; number of thumbs for such nominations are in parentheses.
More Than 5 Nominations
- Party / Large Group Games (40)
- 2-Player Games (51)
- Wargame or "Multiplayer Conflict" Game (44)
- Traditional Card Games, including Set Collection and Trick-Taking Games
- Abstract Strategy or "Traditional Game" (46)
5 Nominations
- Cooperative Play (34)
- Dexterity Games (35)
- Player Secrets/Deduction Game (32)
- Gateway Games (31), including "Pre-" and "Post-"
- Deck-Building/Card-Drafting/Expandable Game (24)
- Auctioning (14)
4 Nominations
- Kid's Game (34)
- Fast/Filler Games (28)
- Variable Phase Order / "Role Selection" (24)
- Trading/Negotiation (10)
- Worker Placement (7)
3 Nominations
- Euro/"Gamer's" Game (Family and/or Heavy) (17)
- Racing/Sports Simulation (14)
- Tile Placement (9)
2 Nominations
- Adventure/Storytelling (1)
Other Nominations: Civilization Game (16), Strategic Dice Game (15), Ameritrash (14), Game You Always Wanted as a Kid (14), Trains (11), Childhood Game You Can't Give Up (11), Drunk Games (10), Personal Favorite (9), Significant Other's Favorite (8), Business Simulation / Economic Game (8), The #1-Rated Game (8), Game That Will be Worth Something Someday (6), "Take-That" Cards (4), Territory Conquering (4), Variable Player Powers (4), Game of Your Own Design (4), Indie (4), Being Evil (3), Dungeon Crawl (3), 1 vs All (1), Miniatures (1), Push Your Luck (1), Gambling/Betting/Wagering (1), Word Game
Notably Not Mentioned (and Therefore Deleted from My Original Post): Action Point Allowance System (Pandemic), Area Control/Influence (Twilight Struggle), Area Enclosure, Hand Management (Dominion), Partnerships (Traditional Card Cames), Pattern Building (micropul), Pattern Recognition (micropul), Pick-Up & Deliver (Finca), Role Playing (The Pool), Route/Network Building (18AL), Trivia, Variable Player Powers (Pandemic, The Pool), and Voting (Werewolf).
I'll incorporate this information into the original post.
Update 4/3/10: Added nominations and thumbs from "The Only Ten Games You'll Ever NEED."
lada wrote:
Indeed, very interesting! A completely different approach but with the same goal in mind. Thanks!
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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I have updated this based on a great article I recently found by Dr. Pulsipher and the creation of new sub-domains.
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Posted Tue Mar 9, 2010 4:17 am
