Intro
Welcome to this week’s gaming post! This is the follow-up to a post I wrote a few weeks ago discussing five of my board gaming pet peeves, specifically on production and design; except this time, I thought I’d discuss five pet peeves specifically about gamers. As a note upfront, I’m sure we’ve all been culpable of at least some of these in the past, and this is entirely meant in good fun. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it!
The Analysis Paralysis Diagnosed
Leading off with a heavy hitter – gamers who are prone to analysis paralysis (AP). Look, I’ll admit that I fall prey to this from time to time, particularly in complex games with a lot of moving parts. However, nothing is worse than playing a four-player game that takes more than an hour over the specified time length because players are taking too long on their turns. That’s partly why I tend to enjoy games with snappy turns, and I look to avoid AP-prone games at higher player counts.
Now some of this is likely mitigated when players are more familiar with the game – another reason why some games, particularly heavy asymmetric games like Root or Hegemony, are better played with gamers who already know the rules. However, as someone who plays a lot of different games, my spidey-sense goes off when I see some of these telltale signs in a game.
Perhaps even worse than the AP gamers are the ones who don’t plan ahead before their turn. Nothing is worse than reminding someone that it’s their turn only for them to go “oh, what should I do” or “what was I going to do again”. Look, I know in some games it’s difficult to plan ahead, but the next time you’re playing a game, look out for your fellow gamers and attempt to plan ahead to not keep them waiting.
The Scatterbrained Teacher (or Students)
I have an immense amount of respect for anyone who attempts to teach someone a new game. A lot of effort goes into learning the rules, and then trying to synthesize those rules into something easily digestible. However, I’m sure we’ve all been a part of poor teaches. Maybe the teacher does a poor job of explaining the mechanisms or maybe they explain things out of order, such as explaining the different actions before outlining the round structure. And sometimes a poor rules teach can lead to a bad experience that puts you off of the game altogether.
Likely even a bigger pet peeve of mine is gamers who don’t pay attention during the rules. Look, I know some games have a lot of rules to comprehend and sometimes you’ll have to explain them more than once before everything sinks in. That said, nothing is worse than explaining a rule and then less than a minute later, someone asks a question that was just explained. All that said, if you’re someone that struggles to teach games, practice and look for ways to improve, and on the flip-side, when you’re listening to a rules teach, please try to pay attention.
The Potential Spiller
This next one might be a tad controversial, but I’m someone who doesn’t like food or liquids anywhere near a game. I’ve seen my share of spills, and all it takes is an accidental bump for the cards and components to get damaged. And on a similar note, please be respectful to games that aren’t your own. Nobody likes a bent card, and if you’re eating food, please wash your hands before touching any of the game’s components. I’m likely more particular than most, but please be mindful the next time you’re playing a game that isn’t your own.
The Rage Quitter
“Rage quitting” or giving up partway through a game is huge pet peeve of mine. While I don’t tend to enjoy games that have knockout or pseudo-knockout mechanisms, nothing is worse than seeing someone throw a tantrum when a game isn’t going their way. I’ll touch on this more with the next pet peeve, but I personally enjoy board games for the experience. I’ll always believe that board games offer a unique way to bring people together, and when someone isn’t having a good time, it’s a huge mood killer for the rest of the group. Look, mistakes or poor luck happens, but it’s almost always worth seeing a game through to the end and enjoying the experience more than focusing on the results.
The Ultracompetitive
I touched on this in the last pet peeve, but I play board games for the experience rather than winning. I could care less whether I win or lose if everyone in the group is having fun. I’ll admit, I like to do well in games, but that’s more a reflection on judging my ability to be able to solve the puzzle, not whether I was better at it than the gamers I’m playing with. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not a big fan of a lot of “take-that” in games, and I believe there’s better ways of introducing player interaction. Right up there with the gamers who give up partway through a game are the ones that take games too seriously, or they’re not having fun unless they’re winning.
Over the years, a larger percentage of my games have become cooperative games, and on longer board game days, I like to throw in a lighter cooperative game after something competitive just to lighten the mood a bit. I’ve also had plenty of gaming nights that are just devoted to cooperative games, such as a long session of The Crew, The Lord of the Rings Trick-Taking Games, or the ever-addicting Bomb Busters. Heck, my favorite game of all-time is a cooperative game. So, the next time you find yourself getting a bit too competitive, try to focus less on trying to beat the other players and more on the shared experience of spending time with friends and family.
Closing
With that, those are five more of my gamer-specific pet peeves. Now, I’d love to hear about some of your board gaming pet peeves (please be respectful) or future content suggestions in the comments below. Happy gaming!
If you liked this post and want to be notified when new content is released, then follow me on Instagram @themeepledigest.
Leave a Reply