Today’s episode….THEMES
I am going to discuss 5 games that I think really work with theme they are trying, as opposed to slapping some art onto a workable mechanic. In approximate order of how they work in the themes: Bohnanza, Alhambra, Genoa, Automobiles and Fresco.
Bohnanza, aka the Bean Game - Plot: you are a bean farmer. It’s not so much the theme integration so much the flavor. The beanish art is silly and friendly which really ties into the cooperative game mechanics. 3.5 jumping beans out of 5!
Alhambra – Plot: build the bestest palace in the city! The scoring doesn’t really fit the theme well at all, but the construction of your palace really does. It twists and turns and has walls that appear for no reason, just like I imagine centuries of additions to a palace would do. 4 Hidalgos out of 5!
Genoa – Plot: acquire money in Renaissance Italy as a trading family. I really don’t like this game. But the reasons why I don’t like it are the reasons why it fits the theme so well. Everything is negotiated, everything is for sale, and you deal with conniving competitors at every turn. Yeah that fits the bare knuckles capitalism I picture when I think of Renaissance Italy. 4 Credit Default Swaps out of 5!
Automobiles – Plot: make money selling cars! This game really does a great job of giving you a history and a sense of what running a car company is like. Closing factories are a terrific tactical move, Ford helps you build a lot more cars, Chrysler helps you get government bail outs, and the demand queue does a great job of modeling marketing. Honestly, the only thing this game fails thematically to do is provide sleazy salesman. I mean the game has salesman, but you can’t say for certain that they are sleazy. 4.5 Edsels out of 5! |
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Fresco – Plot: you are a Renaissance painter painting a church. Everything about this game screams Renaissance art. First, the game is just beautifully constructed. Designer board games tend to have higher quality pieces than most, but Fresco goes beyond that. Even the inside artwork of the box fits the theme. The mechanic of an early wake up time making an artist grumpy and less productive is also right on. And as VP tiles are claimed, it reveals a Sistine Chapel styled painting in the church. 5 starving artists out of 5!
Granted this is a very subjective category you are discussing here... so here are a couple more that fall into it:
ReplyDelete- Small World
- Age of Empires III
- Samurai
I don't think I could disagree more with Samurai. The game is hexagonal dots with three goals instead of one. You can transplant that mechanic into several different settings and it would work about the same.
ReplyDeletethis post needs counter of games that have a theme slapped on. Ra should be on that list!
ReplyDeleteTEASER - bad themed games will probably happen this weekend
ReplyDeleteWell, these are my thoughts on Samurai:
ReplyDelete- The game mechanics are go'ish
- The game is simple but deep (see above)
- It is minimalistic in a Japanese way
- The doobers and art of the game imitate really well Japanese aesthetics (or Japanese aesthetics as interpreted by a Spaniard living in USA)
I just can see this game being played by samurais... and ninjas.
...but not pirates. see? perfectly themed.
ReplyDelete