F@#$ Point Salad Games

Overcompensating blogger overcompensates with two posts this week.


Today, I examine games classified as 'point salads' in a format I'm calling The Good, The Bad and The Whatever.

Last week, I played 5 Tribes for the 1st time.  And that is most definitely a points salad.  In fact it seems like a majority of the games I've played for the 1st time these last few years are points salad.  Including, but not limited to: Aquasphere, Castles of Burgundy, 5 Tribes, Libertalia, Terra Mystica, etc etc.

In fact, the game I designed (and shelved), Yellow Journalism probably also qualifies as a point salad.

So what makes a Point Salad a Point Salad?

A game in which nearly every move advances your score is considered a points salad.  The 'etymology' is imagine yourself at a salad buffet.  You can take a little of this and a little of that to build your points.

The Good

The best point salads games inherently have multiple ways to win.  I like multiple ways to win.

I mean, I really like that in games.  A one dimensional game is boring.  Most point salads have multiple paths to victory.

A points salad game has lots of moving parts/conflicting mechanics.  It's inherently re-playable, at least a few times.  They are complex and will take a couple runs through to figure out the strategy.

The Bad

Not all, but a good amount of point salad games lead to analysis paralysis.  And not a minor case either.  Too.  Many.  Options.  

The implementation of multiple paths to victory usually fall short.  After only a couple of plays, typically several moves become the pickled beets of the salad bar; no one ever takes them.  This is a huge huge deal for a game built on choices!  If about half the choices are obviously sub-optimal, the game devolves into a race for the other half.

The Whatever

A point salad occasionally has wildly divergent connotation with board gamers.  Seems like a bunch of people have decided there's a lot of people wrong on the internet.

It is a mechanism.  That's it.  

Like...

Most of the games that are ranked high per BGG, that I don't really like are "Area Control" games.  Does that make Area Control games stupid?  No it means that your friendly neighborhood blogger is wrong on the internet.  

But I'm not really wrong either.  I would be wrong if I refused to play a new game simply because one of it's mechanism's is "Area Control" or if I went into said game embittered and waiting for it to suck.

to me, Point Salads, Area Control or whatever kind of mechanisms occur in a board game are like musical styles.  I love punk/ska, but there's plenty of awful punk/ska out there.  I don't like country and western, but there's plenty of really good C&W too.

F@$ Captain America: Civil War

YIKES
YIKES
YIKES

2 months without a post.  Sorry New Years Resolution.


Anyways back with a movie review.

The Verdict first

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  It is not my absolute favorite MCU movie, but it's easily in the top 5 with Ironman, Avengers 1, and Cap2: Winter Soldier.

The Conception

once again, the Marvel producers conceived this movie well.  It's based on the "Civil War" cross over series, which pits heroes against heroes after the passage of the Super Hero Registration Act.  It's a great story, and to me, it seems like obvious source material for a film.  I speculate that this arc was included in the MCU timeline early on, and a whole bunch of films built to here.

The other thing Marvel does well here, is diverge from the source material as necessary.  The law is an international treaty instead and the story is otherwise really stripped down.

But who cares?  The core of the story is the argument on who should control a 'super heroes' power.

The Writing/Directing/Acting

Writing:  Good for what it was.  Like you're not making Citizen Kane.  I'm going to compare to Mad Max Fury Road here.  MMFR was fantastic because it didn't ever delve into exposition; it kept the story moving and didn't explain stuff when it could show you.  

Now I don't think CA:CW was as good at that as MMFR, but it really didn't have any agonizing slow parts.  

Also, the script gives several characters a chance to shine without derailing the central story line.  That is actually  hard to do (see any number of ensemble films or TV series).  

Directing:  Very very good.  The fight scenes are epic, and the stunts/special effects never look ridiculous.  Again, that is very very hard to do.

Acting:  Again, good for what it was.  The MCU is not casting Olivier, Hoffman or Newman into the key roles.   These films have a knack for getting the actor to buy into the character motivations.

So what specifically did I like about it?

I liked how the previous films shaped the principal characters motivations.  

Captain America :  Wary of organizational interference because of the events of Winter Soldier.  He will not submit to UN control.

Iron Man:  Plagued by guilt from Age of Ultron, confidence in his own judgement shattered, Iron Man wants someone else to hold the reins.

No who's right and who's wrong?  They're both right, they're both wrong.  And that is an interesting dynamic to explore.  

Oh yeah, and the awesome shots and quips.  Antman's big reveal was worth the price of admission by itself, and so was the Spiderman post credits scene.  The final showdown was also epic.

F!@#.  Awesome and Epic in the same paragraph.  Time to quit while I'm behind.