Intro
Welcome to this week’s gaming post! This week we’re changing things up and talking about what grinds our gears. It’s no secret that everyone has pet peeves – not holding the door for the person behind you, or taking phone calls on speaker in public. But we also have our fair share of board gaming pet peeves. So, this week I thought I would try something a bit fun and light by discussing five of my gaming pet peeves, specifically focused on production and design of games. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it!
Lacking Player Aids
Let’s start with an easy one – games without player aids. Luckily, most newer releases have them, particularly heavier games, but nothing is more frustrating than a game with a lot of icons that are only explained in a rulebook. Having to flip through often can be quite tedious and is not conducive to new players. I don’t mind summaries on the back of the rulebook, but often they are not a good substitute for player aids.
A few standouts for excellently designed player aids are the ones in SETI, Civolution, or Galactic Cruise (which even has a section to explain the ways you can acquire the different resources and victory points). Hegemony also has both large and small player aids, which come in handy when teaching the highly asymmetric classes to new players. I don’t always need a highly detailed player aid for every game, but a handy turn structure and/or iconography guide is always appreciated. And on a similar note, if there are player aids, would it hurt to include one for every player?
Poorly Designed Rulebooks
Another pet peeve is poorly designed rulebooks. I recently played a game that in practice had relatively simple rules, but I swear the rulebook went out of the way to make the game more confusing than it needed to be. The game’s setup started on a page in the double digits and key rules were buried within walls of text with practically no visual examples.
Galactic Cruise is a great example of what to do. The game is by all definitions a heavy and complex game, but its rulebook goes out of its way to make the game easier to learn with key concepts clearly called out with tons of examples throughout. As someone who frequently learns new games, well-structured and clear rulebooks are thoroughly appreciated, and nothing irks me more than a rulebook that is unnecessarily confusing.
Misleading Player Counts
Most games are clearly better at certain player counts. Rarely does a euro work well with five players, and I often don’t enjoy solo modes that are beat-your-own-score. Even though I recently praised Emberheart, I much prefer it at three or four players, even though it has a two-player mode. Additionally, I often only play trick-taking games like The Crew or The Lord of the Rings with four players. And even though I love games like Caverna or Viticulture, if someone suggests playing either of those games with five or even worse – six people, I’m fleeing as fast as possible. All jokes aside, very rarely do I find a game that works equally well across all of its stated player counts, and rather than tacking on a fifth player or a beat-your-own solo mode, I’ll happily settle for a game that’s clearly best at only certain player counts.
Inaccurate Play Times & Boxes
It’s always a mystery how publishers decide on what play time to include on the box cover. Some games say 30 minutes per player, but very rarely can I finish a solo game in under 30 minutes, particularly if you include setup time. Other games might only specify a specific time length like 90 or 120 minutes. But unless that game has simultaneous play, games at 2 players are almost guaranteed to take less time compared to four players. Unless I’m playing a game with all highly experienced players where there’s little to no analysis paralysis (AP), more often than not I tend to find the box times severely underestimate the play time. Selfishly, if I pull a game out at game night, I just don’t want the other players to blame me if a game ends up taking longer than advertised on the box.
While we’re on the subject of game boxes, not all are created equal. Sometimes the box is unnecessarily large, while other times it feels like you have to play tetris to get everything to fit. And don’t get me started on the dreaded box lid lift. Included inserts are also often a mixed bag. Sometimes they’re thoughtfully designed, while other times I just end up throwing them away. Again, I’m not asking for anything fancy, just a box that has ample room for all components, and if you’re going to include an insert, please make sure it’s actually functional.
Pasted on Themes
This last one might be a bit controversial. While I prefer mechanics over style, I can’t help but feel like it’s a wasted opportunity when a good game is saddled with an uninspiring theme. Look, I have plenty of dry euro games on my shelf, but when a game is able to weave theme into its mechanisms, the game is better off by it. Even though Galactic Cruise is a heavy euro, worker-placement game, a segment within the hobby that tends to have a more niche appeal, the innovative theme elevates the game. And if you want more examples, just look at some of the most popular Vital Lacerda designs like Kanban, On Mars, Lisboa, or The Gallerist.
I’ve discussed Hegemony earlier, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving! Its unique theme of managing social classes in a heavy political and economic simulation is brilliantly intertwined with its mechanisms. There are some games where it feels like you could easily swap out its theme with something else entirely different and you wouldn’t even notice, but Hegemony is not one of those cases. Just to be clear, I don’t need every game to have a new and unique theme, but if I could easily do a 180-swap of the theme, then that’s not a great sign.
Closing
With that, those are five of my board gaming pet peeves. Keep on the lookout for my future follow-up post on my pet peeves about…gamers! Now, I’d love to hear about some of your board gaming pet peeves 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