When/Why is Calculation Fun?
When/Why is Calculation Fun?
When/Why is Calculation Fun?
June 10, 2022
Summary
How much of the board game experience is basic arithmetic? I know that there are some people who actively reject any game that resembles a static puzzle too much.
People talk about "Balance" as an unequivocal good, but flipping a fair coin is balanced and isn't a fun game.
Games can also be too obtuse, making calculation too annoying and/or long to perform.
If a game manages to present to us a series of computational puzzles that exhibit those sorts of features, we start to appreciate the game design itself as an aesthetic object Mechanical games use the language of incentives to create ambiguity that the players must struggle with and attempt to solve.
A board game can certainly stumble and feel like "Merely" calculation.
A game can also capture a bit of that magic, spinning calculation into something satisfying and beautiful.
Do you like these sorts of mechanical games? What do you believe is the cause of our enjoyment of calculation in board games?
Reference
When/Why is Calculation Fun?. (2022, June 10). Retrieved June 17, 2022, from https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2022/06/10/when-why-is-calculation-fun/