I’ll get to that title in a bit, stick with me here…

I’ve been on a board game kick lately. I’ve always been a “gamer” but I’ve grown increasingly disgruntled with computer games as of late. Most of them value flashy graphics over clever game design or originality. My ability to win computer games is seldom about strategy or wits. Instead, winning most computer games is about how well I’ve memorized the map, how quickly I can click something or which ridiculous combination of keys I know how to do to pull off a special move of some kind (“Fatality!”).

The other problem with computer games in general is a lack of interactivity with other warm-blooded humanoids. Now I know that most modern computer games have some sort of online component, but what good is playing a faceless opponent? And don’t even get me started on how the anonymity of the internet in a gaming context can turn the majority of the population into a complete jack-ass.

Board games can be extremely engaging. I would argue that some of the better ones have even better gameplay, balance and mechanics than the best computer games. To be clear here, I am NOT talking about any board game that you can buy at Target, Wal-Mart or even Toys-R-Us. For some reason, the games that are sold there are generally crap. Monopoly, Clue, Risk – all junk (for the most part). No, I’m talking about “designer” games, so-called because they prominently feature the designer of the game on the box. You’ll also sometimes hear them referred to as “eurogames” because a lot of them emanate from Germany for some reason. There’s a high probability you’ve never heard of these games – and that’s a shame.

If you want to see a “light” example of what I’m talking about, pick-up a copy of the award-winning game “Carcassonne” by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede. It’s a very clever game where players take turns drawing tiles depicting roads, cathedrals and city parts of the medival region around Carcassonne in present-day France. You have to match your tile against those already in play (i.e. field against field, city against city, road against road, etc.). In this way, the game is NEVER the same twice. What you try to do is complete structures for points and this is where the strategy really comes in. In order to score points, you have to claim a structure on the tile you just played with one of seven little “followers” (called “meeple” by gamers). When that structure is completed, you get the points and you get your meeple back. Trouble is, there’s many more things to grab than you have meeples to claim…thus the strategy! What do you try and claim? When do you hold back? How can you place tiles to increase your score or make it more difficult for your opponents to complete their structures?

It plays fast. It’s fast to learn…and at the risk of sounding cliche, it takes a while to master, but it’s fun right away. The other thing you’ll notice is the quality of the components of the game. The cardboard tiles are extremely solid and feel like like they’ll stand up to years of abuse. Heck, even the box feels solid…how many of you have seen the box of Candy Land (or pick your typical game title) disintegrate after about a year? This high production quality is another hallmark of designer games.

Anyway….

Here’s some pictures of a game we played this afternoon with my youngest son, Harrison (4) playing Carcassonne (thus the title, see, I said I’d get to it ).

“My city!”

“I built a church!”

Oh yeah….the little poop won too (with a little help from mom and dad ).

We could easily have popped in a DVD or turned the Xbox on to some zombie-inducing game. Instead, we spent some quality time around the table as a family and had a good time together…talking and joking and laughing. In the process, we all played a game that everybody finds enjoyable and flexes your brain a bit (heck, it even helps teach the youngin’s basic math skills because you have to add up and keep track of your own score).

I’ve got more of these games to play and a bunch more on my wish list. I’ll share the good ones with you. I highly recommend this one.

Be sure to read my other board game reviews too.

• Previous Entry: Captcha WTF?
• Next Entry: “The Blindness” Not Really A Movie…