by Adam Daulton
The other day I contemplating what kind of blog series I could start. Nothing came to me, but tonight it hit! We'll call it the Mechanic Machinations and in these series of blogs I'll pick a mechanic I would like to discuss, mention som games related to that mechanic, and see where I end up.Cooperative games have been, as people say, hit and miss with me. By that I mean mostly miss, though the occasional hit. For instance, as you could tell from my review of Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 I liked it a whole lot. However, there are several co-ops that I'll likely not play again unless coerced, such as The Grizzled or Shadows over Camelot.
As I've thought about it though, I'm not so sure that I don't enjoy the mechanics that are in co-ops, but rather the lack of excitement that I get from playing them. You see, I'm a competitive person and always have been. I grew up wanting to win, especially when I played basketball, it easily consumed me. In board games though, I'm not as cutthroat as I was in basketball and often don't care who won after the game is over, but during the game I like the idea of playing to beat someone, not just the game. So co-ops don't do it for me. It isn't the alpha player problem people often talk about, it is the fact that I don't get to beat my friends (or lose to them) that makes co-ops less exciting for me.
Now I see the place of co-ops in the gaming world. For instance, I've played Forbidden Island with my daughter quite a bit and it helps to alleviate the problem young kids can have of not winning, because if we don't win, we don't win together. I think this can carry over to those folks that aren't competitive as well. I imagine they get the same excitement from a co-op game, because they like the idea of not beating someone as much as I like the idea of beating someone. So, you see, I understand and appreciate the fact that co-ops have a place in our hobby. I just don't personally seek them out.
So that is my first Mechanic Machinations. I hope you enjoyed it. I think I'll leave each of these with my top 3 games that include these mechanics in them.
1. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
2. Forbidden Island
3. Kings of Israel