A Look into the Board Games Scene
What do you think of when someone mentions board games? Monopoly? Scrabble? Well, truth be told, those are merely the tip of the iceberg.
I am sure that almost everyone who has this impression of board games is influenced by their childhood memories of playing Monopoly and Scrabble. In fact, when I mentioned that I was going to be joining SMU’s board games CCA, Strategica, I was met with blank faces and stares. Some friends even exclaimed how boring they thought board games were!
These photos show game pieces from Blood Rage, one of the board games that I have played during my time with Strategica. As I was learning the rules of the game, I found myself really impressed at and admiring the workmanship in each of the game pieces. Even I have to admit that the game pieces are cool. I hope that these photos have piqued your interest into the board games scene, and keep you interested in reading the rest of the article!
I don’t mean to say that Monopoly and Scrabble are not board games. They are, however, really basic board games with rather simple rules. Due to their simplicity though, I feel that it is unfair that they are used to represent the board games scene. There is so much more to explore in the world of board games!
While playing board games, I have found myself brewing ales, conquering territories, building pyramids, managing zoos and surviving zombie apocalypses. Each board game has its own premise and story, with unique game pieces, cards, and boards. For the fashionistas, Prêt-à-Porter is a board game about designing and producing clothes to showcase at fashion show seasons!
However, I will have to admit that I found board games rather daunting at first. Some board games involve a large number of pieces, and feature complicated rules and game mechanics. The game boards can end up rather messy halfway through the game. Some games like Chaos in the Old World can take up to half a day to complete! In fact, in Strategica, a “short” game could well take up to two hours!
Get past all of that, though, and I guarantee that you will find yourself enjoying board games a lot. Due to the large variety of board games there are in the market, you will not easily find yourself bored. Each and every player will find a genre of board games that suits them.
Now that I have, hopefully, gotten all of you interested in board games, I will do a small bit of shameless advertising. Like I’ve mentioned above, there is a board game CCA in SMU, Strategica. We hold sessions every Friday evening. If you are interested in coming down for the sessions, do look out for our weekly EDMs detailing the location and timing. Feel free to bring along snacks and/or dinner if that can help you feel more at home during the sessions. We hope to see you there!