Page 3 - spielbox_0717_EN

EDITORIAL
The Win Has Gotten Competition
Why do we actually play? The obvious answer is: for pleasure –justforthefunofit.Agame differs from mere fun activity through its purposefulness. In the end, the scoring determines how each player made out and who wins. In most cases, the result consists of a number value, so that it is easy to determine the ranking from first to last. Good if a (successful) tactic fos- ters the playing fun. But sometimes, one cannot help thinking that the one thing is in the way of the other. In Privacy, for example, many a player simply can’t be convinced to vote as it is applicable to him personally.
The enthusiasm about the new title When I Dream (see p. xx) obviously also depends on how seriously the point scor- ing is taken. In contrast to the usual slumps in the sales of Repos Production’s party games (such as Time’s Up) in Germany com- pared with other countries, Concept has been surprisingly successful. The publish- ers suspect that this may have something to do with a rule that has been introduced specifically for the German market – a rule that says that players can completely leave out the points. So, do we trip over our own feet by being fixated on the win? Do we Germans really need an instruction that tells us we don’t have to follow it?
But isn’t it games, of all things, that are characterized by orders that players
need to follow? However, games are not alone in that. In other arts, people play in compliance with prescribed rules, too. There, it might be not the originator of a game, but the theater director, the book author or the screenwriter who deter- mines how to play. The actor, just like the player, abides by the rules. But beyond question, there are some fundamental differences between a board game and a theater play: First, the rules don’t dictate down to the last detail what players have to do, but (ideally) offer action alter- natives to choose from. The stage per- former also has a certain scope for inter- pretation, but a considerably narrower one. Secondly, the outcome of a game is open, whereas the finale of a theater play is subject to strict specifications. Shakespeare’s Juliet always has to die. At the theater and in the movies, what matters more is impressing the audience; when we play games (with the exception of tournaments) we play for ourselves, first and foremost. But recently, a type of game has begun to flourish where play- ers have to solve puzzles, usually coop- eratively. The author has come up with the only permissible and true outcome. The players’ task is to get to exactly the right end; anything else is considered a failure. The essential difference to a the- ater play is that the game doesn’t come with clear stage directions. In the Escape
Room games, there is only one correct way, apart from dead ends and just a few possible loops. Once the players have found this way, the fizz has gone and cannot be reproduced since nobody is interested any more. T.I.M.E Stories is different at this point, insofar as the players work towards the solution over several attempts. The same applies to Friedemann Friese’s Flucht (see spielbox 6/2017, p. 12); but he is too much of a player for going so far away from the essential nature of the game. The way to outmaneuver the monster consists of a variety of moves that can be combined in very different ways.
Lately, the win as the objective of the game has gotten competition: What matters most is the story – be it that players relive a story, or be it that players together create one, that every- body invents his own or just talks away without a context. Undoubtedly, this approach comes from the “storytelling” as it is used in computer games; they are much better suited for the implementa- tion of dramaturgical concepts than the game board that requires multiple pro- tagonists (except for solitaire games). As interesting as bringing this aspect into a game is, it appears clear to me that a captivating story still is much better suited to a book or movie
Christwart Conrad/sbw
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12-99 2-4 45-75min
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15.11.17 10:39
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