Episode 98 The Ideal Board Game Player Part 1

The Ideal Board Game Player Part 1

Hi and welcome to Experience Points by University XP. On Experience Points, we explore different ways we can learn from games. I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. Find out more at www.universityxp.com

On today’s episode, we’ll answer the question “What makes the Ideal Board Game Player?”

What makes the “ideal” board games player? Some say that it takes someone who fully understands the rules. Others would say that it’s more about those who pay attention to the game rather than be subjected to distractions.

Some feel that it’s tactical play and strategic thinking that makes the ideal tabletop player.

There are many reasons why someone would want to play with - and against - the ideal player. This episode will go into depth into the characteristics, qualities, and attributes of what makes good board game players and how you can encourage compatible play styles and overall positive group interaction.

This topic will bebroken up into two separate and distinct episodes. First, this episode will address and explore the different aspects of successful tabletop gameplay within groups.

This includes specific areas such as teaching and game hosting as part of a collective process as well as formal game elements such as structures,rules, and feedback.

Board game play is very much a social and collaborative process. What often hinders successful groups from playing well, socially, and equitably with one another is the establishment of both personal and group outcomes of play. This task goes hand in hand with establishing and adhering to group norms and needs.

Both processes address and impact the expectations of the “Magic Circle” of games and how the expectations from individuals and players form a collective for players.

Those players in turn create a “cooperative social contract” for play that is necessary for successful intra-group interaction. The results of which come about through successful communication, establishment of player roles, and embodiment of play styles.

The second half of this topic is addressed in a separate episode that includes a survey study that encompasses anonymous survey results from players within various tabletop communities.

The results of this survey will be discussed in aggregate and structured into different thematic elements based on the responses provided.

The responses provided within the survey were divided into ten major themes which included sportsmanship, expectations, rules, communication, attention, distraction, agency, physical space, cooperative hosting, and strategy.

While the results of this study and this episode can help other tabletop and board game players better administer and host groups of players; there exists applications for applied games in games-based learning.

Therefore, this topic will close on applications from this study to teaching, training, learning, and education with games.

Tabletop games, board games, and card games can be incredibly difficult and challenging to teach to new players. Often this means that one of the biggest barriers to entry for new players is learning from a “host” how to play these games.

New players often turn to these experienced individuals to establish their expectations for the experience.

This means that if the host already has a difficult time explaining and hosting the game; then players may feel unmotivated or lack confidence in the entire play experience.

Therefore, one of the best ways to get new players to buy-into and invest their own agency into the game would be involving them in the teach, setup, and overall tutorial for play.

This can occur by asking fellow players to unpack components from the box; setup the initial board; sort tokens and components and do otherwise collaborative actions to aid in the game setup.

Likewise, when the teach begins, the host can start by highlighting key mechanics that are major factors in determining the overall winner of the game. Bringing attention to these mechanics helps players associate what components and actions are tied to successful game outcomes - namely winning.

Hosts can go one step further by allowing players to take “sample turns” in the game to test out the action and feedback from them. Such activities better align the feedback loop of the game with expectations.

By providing opportunities for players to take part in the setup and teaching process, players build a model of positive interdependence between themselves, their actions, and the outcomes from the game. This results in an outcome of cooperative learning.

It should always be stated that the successful outcome of game play hinges on both the group members and the host working with and cooperating in turn with each other to ensure that all are prepared and equipped to play the game to the best of their abilities.

Perhaps one of the best ways to be an excellent tabletop or board game player is to be familiar with how tabletop and board games work. Knowing how to play the game in question is a given; but also knowing how similar games and game mechanics also work is incredibly useful.

This is particularly important when attempting to determine what causes the game to end. Sometimes this is the same as the “win condition” for a game – but it isn’t always the case.

Knowing what the win condition is, as well as triggers for the end game, also helps you prioritize how to focus your actions as a player.

Many players can then use logic and reasoning to determine how a game works. This is due to the structure of many games forming a puzzle whose solutions are determined by the game state and actions of other players.

This is where analytically minded players will thrive at strategy games where logical connections between game mechanics and victory conditions are more lucidly affixed.

Sometimes these connections are more straightforward: such as with games that employ area control as a mechanic when a player piece or part of the board is completely segmented off from other players.

Otherwise, the connections could be more opaque such as with deck-building and engine building games when it comes time to pivot away from building an engine and focus on game winning points.

This doesn’t mean that all analytically minded players will win at all tabletop games. Other games such as social deduction games; dexterity games; or acting games require different skill sets from players involved.

No matter the type of mechanics employed in the game; astute players should focus on the factor or factors that most closely influence how they can win the game against other players or help their fellow players win the game together for cooperative games.

For more experienced or advanced players, these factors are easily discernible. For others not so much.

Tabletop and board game players can become better by paying attention and analyzing actions in games and the potential results of those actions to determine the best play they can make.

Game rules form the basis of the structure for interaction in the game. The rules outline the game’s objectives and what players objectives are in order to win or successfully complete the challenge of the game.

Therefore, all players should at least know the basic rules of play for any game they engage with.

Furthermore, there may be some scenarios included in the game. Knowing how these situations resolve themselves should be focused on in-depth. Some examples include when there is conflict or contention in a game and how the conflict resolves.

Another example includes tie-breaking or resolution for when one or more players produce or create an equivalent output.

Knowing these cases is necessary for determining and creating a framework for how players can best succeed. Doing so provides players with an educated structure for how they can use their own agency to affect their desired change inthe game.

Board games are unique in that there are often competing objectives from both individual players and the group playing the game.

One of the most common expectations for game groups is to play the game for fun. While this is understood for many; the same definition of “fun” may not be shared by all.

Sometimes these aspects of “fun” could be defined by spending quality time with other players. Others could interpret it by playing the game as competitively as possible.

Whereas others could interpret “fun” by using the game as a framework to have conversations and discussions with the other players around the table about subjects other than the game.

Therefore, this means that being a successful board game player with others in a group requires that you also be a “team player” to others’ expectations for the game.

You can successfully do this by respectfully considering others’ viewpoints of what they want to achieve through play.

Many tabletop and board game groups are successful when they share and support each other’s interpretations and valuations of fun. As such, they do not take any action or forgo any activity that another player’s expense for their experience.

This means that successful groups of tabletop and board game players share and navigate competing personal and group priorities for play.

These priorities can be interpreted widely but include how information about the game is transparently shared with all.

Doing so could help less experienced players play more competitively when they have equal access to information that helps them make informed decisions.

Competitive personal and group goals form the “social contract” of the game. Different groups of gamers have nuanced and evolving social contracts that grow, develop, and change over time.

While this social contract isn’t necessarily a formulized document; players’adherence to it creates and supports both individual and group priorities for play.

Often enjoying the game makes a person more intrinsically motivated to become a better player. Therefore, adhering to the norms of the social contract for the group helps make the experience a more tolerable and acceptable one for all involved.

To do otherwise, would create opportunities and rifts for conflict: putting personal and group objectives out of alignment and lessening the experience for all.

The balance of both personal and group outcomes directly influences and affects the establishment and creation of group norms and needs. This is most often reflected in the creation of a social contract.

While not always formally agreed upon with the group, it is still good practice to determine these basic level expectations from everyone else.

This could be as simple as asking others how much time they have to play; if they have played the game before; and what about a particular game looks interesting to them.

The reason why questions like these are both informative and helpful are that it helps groups and hosts establish the bare minimum of expectations from everyone else such as how much time they have to dedicate to the game as well as their level of experience playing the same or similar games.

Groups that open with these kinds of collective efforts help to establish the norms and expectations of other group members as well as the play session in general.

Some specific aspects to this establishment of norms stem from commitment. This is particularly relevant for tabletop and board game play as the session will require that players must dedicate their time, effort, and energy to the teach as well as the full play of the game.

In addition, hosts and other players will need commitment and competence in game play tomake the experience a positive and worthwhile one for all players involved.

These often simple and base line commitments, are significant to ensure that all players are good “teammates” for one another in the endeavorof playing the game.

Demonstrating this commitment and competence early on,ensures that you and the rest of the players are ready to embark on this activity together.

However, this doesn’t mean that all players need to share the same level of experience or competence. Not all gameplay sessions require that all experienced players be present for the teach. However, their absence may result in gaps in experience and skill between players.

As such, one positive contribution to group norms is for more experienced players to collaborate and share with less experienced players their working knowledge about the game and how it’s played. Doing so ensures that all players can engage and play competitively with one another.

Group norms and needs are part of the expectations and establishment of the social contract of game play. While it is not a fool proof way to prevent a game group to devolving into a toxic environment; it does serve as a good activity to get all players to commit the same level of expectations with one another.

In addition, social contracts need not fit all groups for all games and all sessions. Rather,social contracts can be specific to a group of individuals for one game at one time and place.

This is necessary in order for this consensual and group agreement with one another in order to establish a successful play experience. Furthermore, it serves as a steppingstone for the dual cooperative and competitive nature of board game play.

The social contract may inform the group and players norms and needs for the play session. But an overall element to all games is the creation of the “magic circle” which establishes a new form of expectations, desire, and drive for all involved players.

This is because as play groups form and persistthey also often change over time. This could include different expectations, different levels of commitment and competence, and overall differing levels of efficacy between group members.

Therefore, the magic circle of game play is important for players to re-establish during each play session the unique and common expectations and understanding of the game and the players involved.

This means, that when a player enters the magic circle of the game they tacitly agree to the rules of the and the requirements that they suspend their disbelief for the duration of play.

This is especially helpful for challenging games or games that don’t directly address specific competencies of certain players.

This is because while the technical skills of playing the game are useful; the magic circle offers a certain level of common expectations for all players where equal parts cooperation and competition inform each other to create the player experience.

This enables less experienced and skilled players to benefit from multiple iterations of play and to overall improve their performance over time.

This means that the “magic circle” of games contains equal parts cooperation and competition given the specific game played. Cooperation is necessary for players to help one another learn to play; play competently; and eventually play competitively in the game.

Conversely, the formal structures and elements of the game itself could encourage more competitive actions that could subvert these initial cooperative activities. This includes lying, betrayal, and subversion for many social deduction games.

The combination of personal and group objectives; establishment of personal and groups norms and needs; and the magic circle all inform and create the table top game group as a cooperative social contract.

This means that the group of tabletop and board game players first form a cooperative team whose ultimate goal is to successfully play the selected game.

This is not an easy expectation to meet: particularly when tabletop and board games include both cooperative and collaborative games as well as competitive ones.

Despite this, the creation of a cooperative game group is wholly necessary towards achieving a successful and positive play experience. Especially when it comes to how players will engage and behave in the company of one another.

The creation of this cooperative social contract is needed in order to direct and inform members for what actions and activities help the group ultimately achieve the ideal experience.

This means that players in the group need to work with one another to support the positive experience for the group which will in turn positively affect their own experiences.

However, this ultimately means that conflict and disagreement can and will arise in the group. This often requires that one or more players serve as an intermediator for the conflict.

Such a request often involves the game host; but is not necessarily limited to just them. Because of this, other players should be ready to step in to negotiate, navigate, and mitigate conflict should it arise.

This could come about from unclear ruleset; edge-cases; interpretations of rules; or other circumstances not decidedly covered in the game’s included literature.

Establishing this cooperative social contract with the group is not easy. Especially as it relates to larger tabletop and board game groups that include transient players that have varied and diverse histories of what they consider acceptable behavior around the table.

Therefore, it’s often necessary to re-establish expectations for the group regularly, often, and at the start of each session.

To avoid doing this invites mishap as the lack of understood and established expectations could mean not all players playing to the best of their abilities; or players taking advantage of the goodwill of others while not similarly investing the same amount of commitment and competence into the group’s play experience.

One of the most common aspects to any kind of cooperative and interactive experience is communication. Particularly good communication when things are going well and bad communication - or lack of communication - when things are going poorly.

Therefore, well performing groups rely onexcellent communication to engender a positive experience. This means that all members commit and rely on communicating well and with each other during the play.

However, communication alone doesn’t make high performing groups of tabletop and board game players. Rather, there also need to be a focus on cooperation, collaboration, and active listening when communicating and working with one another.

This is particularly important when focusing on the “group” needs versus personal needs when creating a positive environment for tabletop play. Specifically, when it addresses the needs of players tounderstandand play a competitive game to the best of their abilities.

However, there may be competing interests for other players on what “communication entails.” Sometimes this means that players will want to chat and discuss topics other than the game at hand.

While this is often welcomed in other game groups; it is tolerated so long as the expectation for all players is still the experience of game play.

Therefore, active listening is more important than ever for successful tabletop groups as learning what is important for the group to play the game versus what casual conversation is being held is important.

This is especially relevant in cooperative games where players must communicate- discretely - information about their play and their intentions to others, within the confines of the game.

Communication through game play goes together with transparency for new games brought to the tabletop. Therefore, it’s important for all new players for a new game to narrate their turns and actions in the effort to support transparency through their play.

Doing so ensures that everyone else can observe each other’s actions to inform their own play as well as to learn from others.

Remember that the cooperative-competitive environment of games makes it so that there are competing interests for players to help each other play the best game that they can.

They must do this while also adhering to the framework and the magic circle of the game to honor the intended focus and design for its player experience.

This means that effective tabletop groups and players will ultimately communicate clearly, explicitly, and transparently with other members of the table.

While communication serves as an overall general and necessary skill for positive group interaction and tabletop play; sometimes the roles of individual players and their experiences influences and affects the overall group dynamic.

Perhaps one of the most common roles in this group is the game host or “teacher” of the game to others joining the play.

This is often a critical role for successful play as the host serves as both the ambassador of the game as well as its “scholar” who will teach the rest of the group.

This expectation could be both complicated and demanding; especially for games withasymmetric roles and abilities that greatly influence what players can and will do during the game.

Specific games such as Mysterium and Not Alonewhere a single player takes on game specific roles that are wildly different from everyone else.

However, working with the other players of the group, and remaining flexible throughout play will help ensure a positive play experience. When gaming groups work cooperatively as teams towards a positive play experience, they often must walk a fine  line between their own personal needs and the group’s needs.

Therefore, the most successful and often most amicable players are those that able to negotiate with player styles, abilities, experiences, and character foibles to ensure that the group is working together as best as possible.

Oftentimes this means that individual players in the group can always make decisions that favor themselves over others. Sometimes this includes foregoing the teach; avoiding helping new players; or remaining absent or inactive during the setup process.

However, effective team performance in the game group depends on how these individual players feel about their roles and how they can best support team goals.

While a focus on individual versus group needs can be easily discussed and shared with one another; there remains an uncommon denominator between all players which is less easily controlled.

That is the play style of individual players. Play styles are diverse because players’ backgrounds; experiences; and needs are all different. However, these can be mitigated to support the group goals while also honoring the expectations of the game and the magic circle.

Once players have been on-boarded and explained the game; players must then turn inwards towards to their own motivations and strategies towards winning a competitive orthogame.

This means that for many games; players must aggressively pursue opportunities where they can claim initiative and ideally put themselves into the best positions to claim critical objectives and points whilesimultaneously denying those opportunities to opponents.

Many times, these actions can be taken within a bubble. However, examining other players motivation, strategies, style, and overall play will help you adjust your strategy to best mitigate others’ goals.

Games really support and enforce experiential learning through its feedback loops and iteration through many game plays. Learning how to play the same game multiple times with different people helps players observe and examine different play styles.

Often playing against the same players multiple times makes it so that different tactics and strategies can be utilized in order to discover new avenues towards victory.

The previous sections covered the major elements that not only go into being a better tabletop and board game player; but also the environmental factors that influence how these expectations work in practice. This was examined on two levels: from a personal perspective and a group perspective.

Game structure, goals, and feedback from the game; game rules and formal game elements were aspects that were mostly associated with an individual’s grasp of these concepts; their experience with them; and how they’ve applied them in the past.

These experiences in turn affected and influenced a more group focused aspect of tabletop and board game play which requires that players think about themselves as individual agents who are playing against other people; or with them according to the game. In addition, these players must also consider the needs of the group.

This means that players as individuals and as team members must establish and support group norms and needs. This goes hand in hand with acting within the “magic circle” of games.

As such, the group is comprised as two halves. The first one works as a cooperative with each other to support each other’s successful play of the game, and other half working with – cooperative- or against – competitive - each other according to the design and spirit the game.

There existed three major factors that influenced how a successful tabletop group of board game players would interact, play, and engage with one another.

The first was through active and transparent communication with one another. The second was based on player roles within the group – for instance the game host and players.

The third consisted of play style. The last was most dependent on the type of game being played - either competitive or cooperative - as well as the experience of the player.

All of this informs the original statement offered in answering the question “Who is the ideal the ideal tabletop player?” Which was summarized down to the phrase:“Be easy to play with and hard to play against.”

In essence this statement supports the cooperative and group goals of the tabletop group to support, communicate, and engage transparently with one another.

The other supports the dedication to the game’s magic circle and the desire and motivation for players to play against each other - or the game - to the best of their ability.

These factors alone don’t inform all aspects of suitable and acceptable tabletop and board game play.

Therefore, a study was constructed and offered to the grater tabletop and board gaming community to garner their responses to the question “Who is the ideal tabletop player?” This study will be covered in the following episode of Experience Points.

I hope you found this episode useful. If you’d like to learn more, then a great place to start is with my free course on gamification. You can sign up for it at www.universityxp.com/gamificationYou can also get a full transcript of this episode including links to references in the description or show notes. Thanks for joining me!

Again, I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. On Experience Points we explore different ways we can learn from games. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing.

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Also make sure to visit University XP online at www.universityxp.comUniversity XP is also on Twitter @University_XP and on Facebook and LinkedIn as University XP. Also, feel free to email me anytime. My email address is dave@universityxp.com Game on!

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