Very very fortunate for us to get to hear a person like you speak about board games. I’m happy to have found your channel!
@kaytee8716
4 жыл бұрын
Hi Jamey, great to know that you put so much thought behind making your game accessible to all the categories of players.
@Stephen-Fox
5 жыл бұрын
Sorry if this comes across as nitpicking terminology, but: I'd argue that icons only is more of an approachability rather than accessibility issue - they're similar, and possibly related, but I feel it's useful to distinguish the two - Accessibility is stuff that makes games easier (or possible) to play to people with specific needs; e.g. card holders helps people play games who can't hold cards, and most of the examples you gave. Approachability makes games easier to get into the first time you play them, or get going every time you play them, and that would be things like important decisions before you know the impact of those decisions in your first game, icons with no text, setup instructions on page 3 of the rulebook that are difficult to remember such as how many resources each player receives. I think they're related topics which are often conflated, but they are distinct things, and I feel it's useful to make that distinction, especially becuase sometimes things that increases approachability will hurt accessibility (Which isn't something I recall noticing in games much)
@sebasculin3739
5 жыл бұрын
I haven't seen it mentioned yet; Meeples Like Us have a website dedicated to reviewing the Accessibilty of games based on Socioeconomics, Visuals, Usability, Representation etc
@gamedirection_us
3 жыл бұрын
Having just launched my first game on Kickstarter, I have been doing some research on improving accessiblity in gaming. One of the reasons I made my game was because I was sick of games with rules so long that my dyslexic brain just didn't want to read. I ended up refining my game from a small 6 page book to simply 1 playing card. I really think it's something not enough game designers think of when building there games.
@ThymeKeeper
5 жыл бұрын
So glad you mentioned glare in particular. That has become a thorn in my side recently as my vision has gotten worse. Even if you can read the board, glare reduces the aesthetic impact, which is not an accessibility issue, but is still a design consideration I think.
@davidpicha8531
3 жыл бұрын
Hello, I have a few questions for my Bachelor thesis related to iconography in tabletop games. - Please put an explanation to every answer. 1. Is guide and communicate the only purpose of icons in tabletop games? 2. Do you think it is important to follow some rules when using icons? 3. Do you think it is possible to ruin the whole game only thanks to the bad usage of icons? 4. Do you remember any tabletop game that used icons badly? 5. Do you remember any tabletop game that used icons perfectly? Thank you very much! David.
@jameystegmaier
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your questions! I'll answer from my perspective below: 1. Is guide and communicate the only purpose of icons in tabletop games? In addition to guiding and communication, I think the icons can also represent the theme of the game. 2. Do you think it is important to follow some rules when using icons? Perhaps, though I think different graphic designers and creative directors will have different rules for icons. 3. Do you think it is possible to ruin the whole game only thanks to the bad usage of icons? Maybe not completely ruin a game, but icons and graphic design are an incredibly important of the user interface and experience. 4. Do you remember any tabletop game that used icons badly? Probably! Though I try not to focus on such negatives. 5. Do you remember any tabletop game that used icons perfectly? I think Ryan Laukat (Red Raven Games, which most recently released Sleeping Gods) does a fantastic job with icons.
@mathieu7921
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the video. I'm color blind (red deficient also) If like to add my two cents about accessibility for a color blind person. You discussed how token/component colors were important. I'd like to add that the board or background of those components are also important. As a color blind, I mix up red, green and brown. When I go apple picking in an orchard, I often don't see the red apples in the trees until I'm next to a tree. The red sort of becomes invisible to my eyes if surrounded by too much green/brown. In many games I'll ask to be the yellow player because that is a color I usually don't mix with others (though I sometimes mix it up with some light-lime green). This enables me to clearly see my trains in Ticket to Ride for example. An example of a less accessible game I'd like to play would be Raiders of Scythia over Raiders of the North Sea (as they are pretty similar games) but the color palette of RotNS is way friendlier to me than RoS (but it might also be the Where's Waldo art style of the board). I'm glad designers/publishers like you are taking this into account when making games. Love wingspan by the way.
@twothirdsanexplosive
4 жыл бұрын
Decision for the game works in cooperative games well with asymmetric abilities because it's part of the teamwork aspect for people to start with benefits and downsides to their role.
@draheim90
2 жыл бұрын
A lot of great points here. You touched on something related but I really dislike when games give endgame scoring/objective cards and make players pick one before the game has started. Inspired by Ark Nova, I strongly advocate for a houserule to keep said cards until the first round is over and then discard unwanted ones once you have more information. It can slightly complicate things in games in which you can draw more objective cards (PARKS and Wingspan come to mind), but you can either just use the honor system or have players discard their unwanted objective cards before taking on more of them in those cases.
@jameystegmaier
2 жыл бұрын
For me it depends on the impact on the end-game goal (lots of points vs just a few points), but I agree that the Ark Nova system is really clever.
@draheim90
2 жыл бұрын
@@jameystegmaier That's fair. I don't pretend to understand enough about designing games to appreciate why some games force an objective choice at the beginning and others let you choose during the game. I just haven't noticed any negative effects of doing the latter in any game thus far.
@jameystegmaier
2 жыл бұрын
@@draheim90 I agree, it seems like something that could work in most games (particularly if the goals aren't something you can also obtain during the game in some other way).
@kmieze
3 жыл бұрын
My wife is actually colorblind and has made crucial errors in games when the colors were not distinct enough. There seems to be more awareness in recently published games.
@ernanilucenaneto6776
5 жыл бұрын
Hi, Jamey! Awesome video as always! You talked a lot about reasons why we could have more symbols in some cases or more text in other cases (especially on cards), and regarding this I would like to point the brilliant job done on Terraforming Mars. They managed to explain all unique complex cards with symbols and still included text on all of them! Sometimes people are not confident enough with their English language skills and the symbols complement the information and vice-versa. As a Brazilian who often plays games with english speakers and portuguese speakers, I really wished designers went down this route more often!
@tmax3309
5 жыл бұрын
We recently played Ra, which uses tile set collecting as its end-game scoring. The guide for the points for the various sets is printed along one edge of the board. It was clear that the two of us sitting nearest this edge were more frequently doing point counts and estimates than the other players who were further away. My victory felt a little tainted. :/
@alexriley5580
3 жыл бұрын
Very late commenting on this but, I'd like to add on that games requiring players to move often can be an issue. I've got inflammatory arthritis and there are some games I love but hate to play because I have to stand up and reach across the table to move a piece, or even just to see the other side of the board. Party games tend to be the worst offenders in this category, but there are several heavy games with massive boards, and tiny pieces and thin cards that are hard hard to pick up and hold. For someone who can't walk, it would be even worse.
@paulmayer8782
4 жыл бұрын
Regarding Setup: If you require specifi cards to be removed depending on plaer count we tend to just leave them in and discyrd them if you happen to get one. This way setup is much simpler and it shouldn't affect the odds or anything. High prices can also be an issue as not everyone can afford to spend a lot of money. I also fail to see if a game is expensive ehy they don't include something to sort stuff. (Thinking of you Mansions of Madness) I mean it can't be so expenive and it's a nightmare to get the setup done if you just have a box with stuff in there.
@tomasxfranco
3 жыл бұрын
I think you in particular do a great job in general. The language-dependence and colors are the ones I face issues most often when not taken into account. The representation aspect I don't like to get into on principle because I don't think we should really be telling people what to do or not do with their art. Like people wanting to include non-Scandinavian Vikings...
@testoftetris
5 жыл бұрын
I'm glad that you mentioned how a game's theme, diversity, and cultural sensitivity can affect it's accessibility. I think that's one of the biggest areas I see board games continue to struggle. I appreciate that more designers are beginning to use "accessible" themes, but it seems that this growth has been most visible with gateway/family games. Many heavier strategy games (arguably the games that would benefit the most from a lower barrier-to-entry) tend to still lean on very dry, even sometimes socially problematic themes.
@nebelung1
5 жыл бұрын
I personally don't like modern war themes in games (especially WW2), naturally a sensitive theme, but I wouldn't want to rob people who want that thematic experience from it. I've kinda just accepted that there will be games out there that are not my thing. But it's a good thing to keep in mind for sure, especially if you aim to target a much broader audience than just fans of that specific theme.
@refreshdaemon
5 жыл бұрын
One fix I really appreciate that some games do for the "crucial pre-game decisions" is creating a "starting setup" for the first game which balances those decisions out. Rex Arcana does this by replacing the draft with a preset deck of cards to make sure you have some kind of plan that you can follow. The D&D Adventure Game series gives you a suggested list of powers for the first game too. This way you can learn with a setup that's designed to work well and if you feel like you're ready to make those decisions yourself in the future, you can. Or you can always simply default to the first-time setup if you don't feel like pregaming.
@MrAgdavis
5 жыл бұрын
I played tapestry with a blind friend of mine. Worked fine needed just two rule changes: all tapestry cards are public and no trap cards. The placement of tiles I gave all the options. And the capital grid we improvised with a chess board for blind people... Lots of fun hahaha
@gooddaysgames_1252
5 жыл бұрын
Its almost surprising that rule books aren't just a thing of the past. Publishers have technology to include a QR Code that goes straight to their website or KZitem that could easily enough have a video tutorial.
@BoardExplored
5 жыл бұрын
I think communicating how to play a game is a real skill and one I haven't fully developed. I would love to see games include a "how to teach the game" section in the rules or on its own separate card/booklet/sheet. There may be games that do this and I know in scythe there is a card that can take a person through their first goes which obviously helps, but I would be greatly helped by being told the best sequence to follow to make it easiest for players to digest.
@ManEatingHippo
5 жыл бұрын
Time - Time is a huge accessibility issue. Many of us are reformed RPG junkies and we transitioned to board games when finding 5 hours available for 5 people becomes difficult. When games play times balloon to and then past a normal RPG session (I'm looking at you Twilight Imperium and Arkham Horror), you have to ask yourself, why?
@purrceys7959
5 жыл бұрын
Great video. I appreciate that you have talked about accessibility from several different points of view. Two games I recently played which I've had issues with visibility are Ex Libris and Cat Cafe. In Ex Libris, the location cards and special assistant cards have a white font on a busy background, making it very difficult for my 63 year old eyes. I ended up downloading player aids from Board Game Geek to mitigate this issue. With Cat Cafe, they used very small icons. Even worse, they are grey on a cream background which make it very difficult for me to see. I ended up reselling this game for this reason.
@rickadam6051
5 жыл бұрын
Great video Mr. Stegmaier! Gloomhaven is very hard to get to the table because of set up and tear down, it just takes too long. I think including trays that could have easily been passed around could have helped, and there has to have been a better way they could have done those many many map tiles. Very fun game! Pain to set up and tear down.
@boardgamebeacon
5 жыл бұрын
Great video, with a lot of topics and issues covered - some of which I hadn't even conceived!
@cynthialandon
5 жыл бұрын
I can’t agree enough about Catan and other games that require a crucial decision to be made before the game even begins. I often only play games once or one in a several year time period. I really enjoy learning games but it becomes a LOT less enjoyable if I feel like I can’t do well because of a mistake I made before I understood how the game works. I most likely wouldn’t choose to play a game like that again. We also almost always have new people in our games... I wouldn’t want to cause someone else to have that experience either. I think theme is also important for accessibility to non-gamers. Although sometimes I’m surprised. I worried Wingspan wouldn’t be accessible enough for gamers and I vastly underestimated the interest gamers would have in that theme... and non-gamers I think find it much more interesting than some other common gamer themes such as fantasy or medieval farming. :-) I guess that goes to show that having a diversity in themes can really expand the gaming world and make it more enjoyable for more types of people. I’m glad someone took a chance on it. :-)
@twothirdsanexplosive
4 жыл бұрын
Yep different themes can be both interesting to non-gamers as well as be a more intuitive game. The common themes we see have already been considered uninteresting to many, and so it makes sense for them to be uninterested in a game with the same theme. On top of that genre-based games also have tropes built in that aren't familiar to outsiders and don't make any sense without the prior knowledge. My partner never wants to play board games but she is willing to play Spirit Island with me occasionally because the theme is so strong. I think it's a 4 weight on BGG and she learned how to play it without much issue despite little/no experience with crunchy games.
@Lines42
5 жыл бұрын
Always amazing to see how much thought and attention to detail you put into you games! Happy to see solo modes mentioned. My personal annoyance (you mentioned this) is when publishers desperately try to make all components language independent. Sometimes having iconography only can be really hard to remember and teach. And sometimes a simple thematic title on your cards / tiles can help a lot to get immersed. For Prosperity I created stickers with names for all those building tiles to give them more meaning...
@StevenStJohn-kj9eb
5 жыл бұрын
Two examples of games that I think did something really helpful for ease of play: 1. Terraforming Mars. While it must create a headache for making the game in many languages, the text on every card (like hundreds of unique project cards!) really helps a ton. Every card can be understood from just the icons, but they also give complete instructions in text of what every card does. Given that 75% of your decisions in the game involve these cards, and you make several card-based decisions each turn, this dramatically improves ease of play. 2. Viticulture. No matter how often I've played it, I still read the step by step end-of-year instructions printed on the game board. I heard Viticulture used to have a double sided board so one side had art only, but I'm glad it evolved to even putting instructions on the board itself. Really helps. It was interesting to me that you used Catan as an example about crucial decisions during setup when one of your favorite games does the same thing (Terra Mystica).
@floriank3606
5 жыл бұрын
Hey, I thought about Terra Mystica as well, especially because I teached it twice last week (both time in rounds of five, 2 new players in the first and one new player in the second game). Yes, it makes a huge difference where you start on the map and it may decide the outcome of the game, but it's easier to help someone picking the right Starting point. I think in Terra Mystica it's okay, if you just tell someone, where they should place their starting buildings. In Catan it's basically the main point of the game analysing the map and picking the best starting location (one of the problems of catan imo). The point here is, I think, the teaching persons ability to even out the starting conditions of a game, without lowering the fun level for themself. A Stonemaier game where I did exactly this was Wingspan (until now with the Starting Birds). I used to give out three random birds in the beginning (myself included) instead of five and let them just decide, which two foodtokens they want to take. In that Way they just have to decide, which one of the three birds they want to play first and not the more complex decisions the normal start provides. Another Thing Terra Mystica proviedes, is a starting Setup for all Player Counts, which basically means, that you can play it without the choice in the beginning for quite some games. Here I come to another point in making a Game more accessible and that are recommended setup instructions like in Quacks with the bookmarks / Dominion with starting Kingdoms/ Rising Sun with starting Gods / Root with Starting Matchups...) They often help to transport the various Strategies a game may offer, while keeping the option to randomize them in later plays.
@StevenStJohn-kj9eb
5 жыл бұрын
@@floriank3606 I forgot about that starting setup for Terra Mystica. That's a good point! And now I understand why they put that in the rulebook.
@antonkhorolskiy7149
4 жыл бұрын
The Horror of accessibility is Arham LCG. Game is exceptional, but it takes too long to set up, and the LCG factor basically makes any game of that type not friendly for newcomers.
@MeepleMentor
5 жыл бұрын
I agree about requiring players to make important decisions early in the game. That's not great for new players. I face this issue everytime I play and teach Food Chain Magnate.
@SenseiJae
5 жыл бұрын
my biggest roadblock are games with too many choices. Unfortunately, one of my ten favorite games, Scythe, suffers from this. I can't get it to the table because I have a friend who takes 15 minutes per turn going through all of his options. Our last game of Scythe took 8 hours. I've played this with other groups in 90-110 minutes, and I've genuinely enjoyed every play. But, this is one of the decision spaces for what games I take to game night.
@twiceasnicedice7337
5 жыл бұрын
Fast thinkers vs slow thinkers... I totally agree
@FrankMinogue
5 жыл бұрын
Agree on reading across the table. It makes it harder for me to enjoy the game. I do like the Wingspan card holder, it makes it easy to pick them up. I am blue green color blind, and I appreciate your support of the games that don't have similar colors in the spectrum. Also, you mentioned solo. But for us, it's just the two of us. So the three player games are pretty much out for us, and some of them are pretty cool looking!! Good topic.
@2532robh1
5 жыл бұрын
So true about Legendary Encounters. Great game, but even the way it came in the box made it even more extremely hard to set up and get to the table. I had a non-gamer friend that loves Alien theme and I got him willing to play, but it got so late after sorting through all the cards and trying to figure out what was needed and no that we only had a short time before it was too late at night to play much.
@Reggie1408
4 жыл бұрын
If you take 45 min once you can sort the game and reduce setup time to 5 minutes. The dividers that came with the game are there for a reason.
@joshuabigden841
5 жыл бұрын
The issue mentioned with Catan can be avoided IF you use the suggested setup for beginners in the rule book. While it is more fun of course to go random, I always default to the suggested setup when teaching someone new.
@DenisRyan
5 жыл бұрын
I literally just played Legendary Encounters last Wednesday as a Halloween "scary" game. It's been my favourite deck builder for ages now. I especially love how cards enter and move through the corridor face down, leading to a lot of anxiety! Haha. But, I had it on my "for sale" list for a while because of exactly your issue. It's such a chore to set up, it's hard to get to the table, so I decided to get rid of it. Until last Wednesday. It's just too good. I'm keeping it for now.
@thomaswiseman4893
5 жыл бұрын
As far as solo gaming goes, I recently wrote a blog post about how solo gaming is the reason I really got into modern board games. I still play solo some times even though I have people to play with pretty regularly, but it's always nice to have the option, for sure! www.coolcardboard.com/2019/10/solo-gaming.html
@amieridley1150
5 жыл бұрын
This was a great discussion - thank you. I also really liked that you were open about your own companies games (we have had that issue with Between Two Castles) as my husband has significant eye issues (including red/green colourblind). I also loved that you mentioned language dependence as we have both young and dyslexic players so we will often play open handed with them. This has a positive side effect of also making games feel less cut throat and more positive for all involved. And it was great to hear theme mentioned! One of the reasons we have played so much Wingspan is that it has become one of our "go to" games for introducing people jnto games - not only is it easy tk play open handed when teaching, but the theme is relaxing and non-combative. We also like Tokaido for the same kind of non-combative feeling. And one last note - as a mum of 2 board game playing girls (one who will always want to know where the women are being represented) it has been really great to see more diversity in characters of late. They both love the characters in Scythe because there are lots of strong women, and again, Tokaido represents well in this too. So many things to think about - but it is encouraging to see these topics engaging in the community to bring more people into what I personally really love about games - having fun and usually a laugh with people 😁
@joshestes6427
5 жыл бұрын
One of my favorites Raiders of the North Sea has both grey and black workers, easy to tell the pieces apart, but the board icons not so much.
@boardgamebeacon
5 жыл бұрын
Josh Estes agreed - to help with this, the key thing to remember is that white and black workers never appear together on the board, so if there's any doubt, it'll be a grey worker you need :)
@jiritsu0
5 жыл бұрын
There's few things I'd add to the part I call "hand accessibility". It's just little more on the meeples and cardboard chips you touched on. The first thing to check how everything holds up if there's just slight nudges from people moving around table and if score tracks and such are large enough and aligned so that a sneeze won't push someone from 50 to 70 points by accident. The second big thing is in the name - some people have shaky hands which can be from any number of reasons. Manipulating pieces with precision and aligning things can be tedious so giving enough room and pieces that can be handled somewhat roughly is a good consideration. The Legendary Encounters part of the video brought another one in mind that has been a big problem for me, but don't know how to categorize it. It's not games that make you to reach for the rulebook, it's the ones that make players constantly reach for the box. This is party because me and my friends usually play on somewhat small tables, so the box has to be left on a nearby counter, stool or on the floor beside the table. Table space is limited resource so only the essentials come to the table when setting up, but there always tends to be some unseen part that brings yet another piece that was left in the box.
@jeffmackey2740
5 жыл бұрын
Is accessibility subjective? We don't get games to the table when they're too simple - which is where we put Catan and others. Only mentioning Catan because it was cited in this topic. For us simplicity is the limiting factor for accessibility. Part of the joy of a game is trying to figure it out. And if that's too easy then it's less fun. A strategy game that doesn't punish someone for a bad decision isn't much of a strategy game at all. Finnicky components are annoying - I'd pay a king's ransom to fix that in Antiquity but when the deep strategy is there, it can be overlooked. This was an interesting topic for me to watch as I hadn't realized until now that I very much prefer inaccessible games.
@Reggie1408
4 жыл бұрын
"Is accessibility subjective?" Definitely!
@Harbinjero
5 жыл бұрын
I love to see agame that has summaries for setup, player-turns, and end game scoring. Basically anything you only do once per play, or anything thats complex enough that a summary will be helpful, especially for new players. Including, but not limited to, card indexes, icon charts, game-flow chart/summary. Related: if you've got a blank side on anything, please consider what might be useful to put there. Alternate game board? Yes please! Setup summary? Excellent! Really awesome artwork no-one will ever see? No. Find a better place for that artwork. Last thing. this is not accessible-related, but you got me started: the components inventory does NOT need to take up so much space, nor does it have to be in the front of the rule book. Make it a separate insert: I'm going to look at it once, if that, and then it can line the cat box.
@mkitten13
5 жыл бұрын
You mentioned rulebooks, but for me the even more important thing for accessibility is the existence of player aids. To give an example of a recent game that did not provide this; Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North. It has a very structured way a game round goes, with several specific phases and what happens when, but you have to have the big rulebook open to a specific page in the middle to reference this. This information could have easily fit into a small player aid. I don't mind it so much if for instance the back of the rulebook has a summary of the rules, iconography, keywords, etc. It's still a chore to dedicate table space for a big square rulebook, but if I don't have to look up a specific page for these things, I'm way more forgiving. But in general, I think most games ought to have player aids, whether it has to do with knowing the structure and general order of things, or a reminder of the scoring conditions or simple iconography explanation. Some games even have set-up cards, whether it's basic/advanced gameplay or for different player counts if set-up changes significantly. That kind of thing is extremely helpful not only with getting a game back to the table, but also in helping newcomers get into the game.
@bestjoshforbes
5 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for this! My kid is 8, is legally blind and loves Pokémon. But unfortunately the text is too small for him to see. Same with MTG. So he just collects them and watches his friends play. He can use a magnifier buts it’s kind of embarrassing.
@jeffgood2394
5 жыл бұрын
I have pretty poor eyesight and I'm always picking up the face up birds in Wingspan if I'm considering taking them. I also really like Between Two Castles but between the tile size and the textured finish, they're really tough. Making the tiles like 50% bigger might improve the table presence and make it more attractive too. Castles of Burgundy has this issue too. Strong agree on too many symbols-especially when there are no industry standards. It does help when a publisher has standards, like XX of the North Sea/Western Kingdom. If you've played one, it's easier to understand the others. Feathers or two feathers have become more common for VPs across publishers, but still far from 100%. Also: Props to every game with double-sided player boards with different-looking but mechanically identical characters on each side.
@jeffgood2394
5 жыл бұрын
Oh,also: "linen" texture is great for shuffling and card feel, but awful for legibility. Text on linen cards needs to be at least a couple sizes larger to be as legible. Several co-op games with many decks shrink cards to save space/weight without taking this into account (Battlestar Galactica, Arkham Horror).
@ManEatingHippo
5 жыл бұрын
I can't disagree more about including Catan on this list. I think this complaint is based on people teaching the game wrong. First there is a first time play set up that can be used where people are assigned their spot that comes with the rule book. Secondly, the person teaching the game needs to point out two very important things. First, the importance of diversity in your resource production. Second, pick numbers that are as close to 7 as possible as these will have a higher probability of rolling. As a more experienced player, you don't have to do a standard snake draft and you may just choose last each round, so you are picking 4th and 8th overall and the other players are using a modified snake draft (1P, 2P, 3P, 4P, 3P, 2P, 1P, 4P). It works well, the person teaching can still play their best game and it gives people a fair chance. I think if you live by the rule of 'don't be a jerk when teaching a game; you don't have to win all the time' you will have a richer gaming experience when teaching. This applies to game with asymmetry as well; don't pick the best/favorite faction, choose the weakest/least favorite when teaching. Yes, the decision at the start of Catan is difficult, but it is also a very interesting decision and we shouldn't have to say this is a liability because the basest actors do also play games and cannot control their instincts very well. As designers we should assume people are going to behave well and we should not design for the poorly self-disciplined.
@twiceasnicedice7337
5 жыл бұрын
When I am learning a new game especially a card game.... And I have to discard or pass 2 or more cards immediately... I'm like why and how is this going to effect me later. Another for me is rules are sometimes hard for me to decifer....so when there is a lot of design all over the pages like in Gizmos.... I get very overwhelmed and can't concentrate on the wording to figure out how to play. The art or components or icons are already different from other games so the other stuff really gets in my way when learning the game.
@PetrVojtech
5 жыл бұрын
I love a good arwork or design direction... but I hate when it makes the game inaccessible. I've been playing Efemeris lately - lovely lovely game. It's a shame they decided to make the design priority. There are 2 resources in the game, but they look almost the same. There are only several planets to keep track of, they also look very similar. It's also a shame special powers of players characters are written in very small font (the card itself is huge), so there is no way one can look and see what the special power is - in case they forgot. And there are other small things like this. I've also played the last AZUL in Essen and while the game is very good and colorful, the player tokens are black, white, grey, natural wood. There wasn't the best light at Essen so we had a hard time telling which color is which. Also the icon reminding a players color on their board is very small and hard to locate.
@gaillardlionel
5 жыл бұрын
If players don't want to play first, that's a very good sign that the game is not accessible
@stephenspackman5573
5 жыл бұрын
I think the intersection of theme and inclusivity is very interesting. Personally I have little to no interest in playing ‘myself’ in terms of race or gender-I get to to that all day-but I have huge sympathy for those who can't find any reflection of themselves in a game because I certainly get that in another way: so many games are about fighting and/or acquisition and deny the value of intellectualism and empathy (and, trust me, the easy excuse is wrong-there is no lack of real world game theory in intellectualism and empathy!). Yet so often nowadays theme is sacrificed to a view of inclusivity that smooshes contemporary American values into every setting. Surely just as interesting to the player and just as challenging to the designer as ‘how can we fit female/foreign warriors into such-and-such a setting’ is ‘how did foreigners, women and non-warriors fit into the picture and contribute in this time and place?’ Or in the case of fantasy and science fiction settings, what is going on in the entire rest of society *other* than the part that fits the stereotype that first spring to mind? What's the context that makes this all cohere? So don't get me wrong, I thoroughly agree that we are making progress when we learn to cease to deny people the paths that bring them joy and fulfilment and allow them to contribute to society, but when exploring cultures both real and imagined I suspect we learn more from seeking the depth beneath our stereotypes of them than we do from levelling them and reducing them to a reskin of contemporary mores. And that can be true even if, upon leaving the magic circle, we are glad to be home.
@gaillardlionel
5 жыл бұрын
Fidly rules, too many rules to digest before the first game, too much complexity, too much downtime, overwhelming choices, too much assymetry, too mean, etc... Another lack of accessibility I can think of is when you have to reach across the table to borrow worker placement spots on other people's tableaux (like in ora and Labora)
@onepingonly1941
5 жыл бұрын
You could make a video just about rulebooks. Without rules you can't have a game, and rulebooks are the downfall of modern board gaming. I've waded through many, many poor attempts, with anything from micro print to relevant rules for a particular section scattered here and there and everywhere to evidently poor translation into idiomatic English, vague or contradictory wording, lack of explanation of card effects, and the list goes on... and on. Every once in a while, along comes a game with a great rulebook, but if there's one glaring deficiency in the industry that leaps out at me it's the overall, overreaching, impact of poor rules presentation.
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