Having played video games since I was three(literally) and being a part of a family that has often played games(Trivial Pursuit, Taboo, Spades, Chess, Rummy, Catch Phrase, Volleyball, Football, Softball, Basketball, Cranium, Hand and Foot, Dominoes, Risk, Clue, Scrabble, and Monopoly were just some of the standby's throughout my life) I have very high respect for games and what they have to offer. Maybe it has just been ingrained in me since my first game of Othello; maybe playing the magic recorder in The Legend of Zelda just stuck with me. I don't know, all I know is that games of all size and style and difficulty have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
On top of that, I've always played games with people. It didn't matter if a video game was meant for just one person; Di(sister) and I have played through, together, several Mario's, several Zelda's, and a handful of other video games. To this day, I search far and wide for games that Rachel and I, and the rest of the family can play together. I've recently added Settlers of Catan, Polarity, Acquire, Tetris, Dr. Mario, and several others to our repertoire. All I'm saying is that we play games... as a group, as a family. Grandpa has gone to great lengths over the years to satisfy our needs for games(a basketball hoop and a small golf course that he built come to mind)
I realize that games have very little value on the surface. At some point, I have to remind myself that a game is simply the completion of objectives( or "playing") given a set of confinements(or "rules"). However, more important to the game, over rules, strategy or skill, are the players. I'm going to use three games as examples: Volleyball, Dominoes, and Crainium.
Volleyball is a skill based strategy sport. The rules offer a fair amount of variation depending on the size group playing and their skill level. Very rarely do the rules interfere with play. More often than not, especially in our circles, we make and mend the rules as the situation arises. Ultimately, the rules are simply a vehicle for determining points in this game. While the strategy is mildly simple, "hit the ball where no one is", there are many ways to go about doing that. The weight of a simple tap can be far greater than a huge spike in the right hands(or off the right hands, however you want to say it). The strategy is also changed depending on the players. This is one game where different skill levels affect how one plays. The greatest player must play to the skill level of their teammates. While some may view this as a negative, I think it allows for a great variation in the style and competitive level of play. It provides balance to the game and allows players of all skills to compete. Not all of us can be Trent "The Fairy" Vickers(cousin), the rest of us have to resort to trash talk and poor gamesmanship, like Kenny(uncle). However, because of the flexible rules and strategies of volleyball, these two very different players can play together in an equally competitive environment. Volleyball is a situation where the players determine rules and strategy and, therefore, makes a great group game allowing for many players of many skills.
There are many variations of Dominoes, however I'm going to pick out our typical "scoring style" dominoes to compare and contrast. Dominoes is a luck fueled skill game. The rules of Dominoes are incredibly simple. 1) Lead with highest double, 2) play matching tiles, 3) you can't play off of all sides of a double but the first. 4) Make multiples of 5 to score. That is pretty much it. However, where Volleyball has flexible rules that appeal to all skill sets, Scoring Dominoes has the rigid set of simple rules to ensure that all can play. The variations of this style of dominoes are fairly limited. The two strategies are mostly determined by luck of the draw. If you have the ability to score, you typically will, however if you can't, you then lean on blocking others so that you can go out before them. Obviously there are a couple variations determined by situation and the tiles played, but these are the basic outlines of how the game is played. The skill level of the players truly has little to do with the outcome, it is a result of luck and the players choices. The skill involved is a management of tiles assuring yourself of having plays balanced against scoring as often as possible. Dominoes is a situation where a simple, rigid rule set allows players of all skill levels to play and to play with anyone, though victory will usually go to the highest skilled players.
Crainium is a rules based personality game. This game best exemplifies the importance of people in games. The rules of Cranium are long and specific. They are based on situations and actually create several sub-games within the larger game. While the rules are too numerous to mention here, the idea is that each turn is turned into a mini game where one team competes against itself in a challenge to earn a roll of the die. Strategy is relegated to attempting to choose the challenges at which your team is more adept when you can, however, more often than not, it is determined by luck. This game emphasizes the same traits found in games like Catch Phrase, Taboo, Charades, or Guesstures. You have to know how to manipulate language, actions, and sounds to achieve the goals. Coming with this manipulation is the ability to relate to your team members. Often, a team of people who don't know each other well, will perform below a team of close friends. This is what makes this game people centric. It isn't that the game looses its fun when you play with people you don't know; the benefit is what you learn playing with new people. However, in competitive play(which our family tends to lean on) it is advantageous to have a good base of knowledge about your teammates and how they communicate.
I take the time to look at these three games not because I'm bored, but because I'm a geek and these are the things I think about. I love the ideas surrounding how and why people do things. Anthropology, psychology, meta-game, relationships are all things that fascinate me. I love pondering why I enjoy the things I enjoy vs. why others enjoy the things they enjoy. The whole idea here, is that the people make the games. Playing games with people is great because it brings people together that might not normally spend as much time together. Apparently games and families share traits. Only in family and games would you find a farmer, a county commissioner, a video game geek, a soldier, a soccer star, a Fairy, an Ice Flyer marketing manager, three teachers, an organist, a softball player, a diva, a server, a woodworker, and a professional camel rider throwing bones on a table eating frozen peanut butter pie and pound cake... simultaneously. It's a beautiful thing...
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