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Tabletop games come in a huge variety with many different mechanics - and in this article I want to focus on a number of action selection mechanism which I think are interesting. I am not talking about things like worker placement or dice rolling specifically, but how these general mechanics allow you to choose an action and sometimes affect what other players can do or how effective the action is.
We all know classic dice rolling games, like Yahtzee, or games using dice to decide the outcome of battles or events. You may also have heard of, and probably even played, roll and write games, such as Roll to the Top, Avenue, The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game and many more. However, more recent games use dice in quite different ways, creating interesting game mechanics that I want to talk about.
If you like buying tabletop games, you probably have either read or watched reviews or even playthroughs, so you can make a more informed decision about what you want to spend your money on. However, how much information is there actually in reviews - and how much is just opinion? Can we trust some reviews more than others? Are positive reviews more objective than negative ones? So many questions.
A lot of games are aimed at three or more players, even though most state a player count of two and up. That makes sense, because there is a large market for games aimed at games groups. Many of us enjoy playing tabletop games with friends, so it is easy to get three or more of you together. However, there is an ever growing number of games at single players - because there is an increasing demand for solo play.
We all prefer different types of tabletop games, but there is now a trend towards games that take longer to play - and we are talking several hours. These games aren't necessarily heavy or difficult to play, but use simple mechanisms to tell a story that simply takes a long time to explore.
If you regularly play tabletop games, you will come across a situation where someone is trying to lose intentionally. However, I'm not talking about a sore loser who just can't be bothered to try and catch up or continue playing just for the fun of the game. That does happen, but there are more reasons why someone justifiably tries to lose a game - which I want to discuss below.
All games have some sort of rules - even if they are very basic or very fluid. Rules give a game the structure it needs so all players know what they need to do. Rules allow everyone to know what to expect from a game, even if the game includes a lot of randomness or unpredictability. Rules aim to prevent disagreements among players. Without rules there would probably be chaos - but then sometimes that is what you want from a game.
A relatively recent trend in tabletop games is the idea of creating your own, custom version of a game. You use stickers to add new rules, tear up cards to remove them from the game and write names into boxes to personalize locations or characters, creating your unique game. These so-called legacy games are all about permanence, and it is this permanence that divides players.
People play tabletop games for different reasons. If you are part of different game groups, you probably know how the attitude to playing games can change. Some people are really competitive and do everything they can to win the game. Others are quite casual and often like the social side of playing games.
If you play in a regular games group, you probably play certain games several times - you may even have one game that is your group's go-to game. If so, you may have started to record game end totals, so that players can try to beat their own score, or even aim for the group's high score. You may even start to record more details, such as the factions played, number of rounds or game time. Maybe you also have an end of year awards ceremony, where people in your group with the highest score in each game, or with the most games won overall, get a small prize - or everyone gets a printout of their scores.
